The sadistic, Wacky racers are onto their next race and tearing through California. Buildings lie in ruin, rotting cars and skeletons litter the streets, and zombies lie in wait. Oh and let’s not forget the flesh-eating nanites. I thought Boston rush hour was bad. What exactly happened to the United States; the world?
Wacky Raceland #2 (DC Comics)
Pontac continues his flashback style narrative with Dick Dastardly as the focus. We know from the first issue that this is how we discover each racer’s motivation and a glimpse of the beginnings of “the apocalypse”. A close up of Dick’s eyes emulates fear and you get a real sense of the terror people faced as their worlds were destroyed. Ultimately, we learn that Dick is racing for more than just a coveted seat in Utopia.
As Dick takes a trip down memory lane the rest of the racers are looking towards the finish line. The artful manner in which the race and fight scenes are captured is worth noting. The angled panels, overlapping dirt spun tires and various limbs flying evoke the chaos of the race. Cars, racers and zombies flying across the wasteland in more ways than one – there is movement in every race panel. You can feel the adrenaline as the racers speed along fighting off the nanites and zombies all the while slinging insults at each other.
Pontac’s style of present and past storytelling provides us with pieces of a larger puzzle. The story is unfolding slowly but the action keeps you engaged. As we discover more insights into what happened I am further intrigued about this mysterious announcer. It’s obvious the announcer has a talent for tapping into fear and guilt to motivate the racers to traverse this radiated, danger-filled wasteland but who is this announcer? Is there an audience? What happened to the planet? These are the questions that keep me reading.
Did I like It? It’s silly and serious with a sense of mystery, how could I not like it? The story isn’t afraid to be fun amongst all this darkness. Each racer has a distinct personality and the cars are characters in their own right. If you haven’t given it a read yet, do so. Wacky Raceland is one hell of a ride!
My Fears? I have so many expectations about the announcer’s big reveal. I hope I haven’t hyped it up so much in mind that I am disappointed to discover the announcer (wizard) is only a man behind the curtain.
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