Throughout News From The Fallout, Chris Condon and Jeffrey Alan Love have kept the reason why a nuclear bomb slowly transformed a base full of Army personnel into ravenous monsters secret, and the reason why their commanding officer, General McCoy, is obsessed with the bomb’s result. Readers will finally get answers in News From The Fallout #5, but it’s not what anyone would expect.
For starters, there’s the way the issue opens. Each issue of News From The Fallout has opened with a sequence that takes place before the bomb went off. These openings have mostly focused on the staff and patrons of the diner where surviving soldier Fallows holed up, but News From The Fallout #5 takes it way further and opens 65 million years ago. As in “the dinosaurs were roaming the earth 65 million years ago.”
It’s not what I (or anyone else reading this series) was probably expecting. Condon makes it work by dropping a surprising reveal that ties into the main story, recontextualizing everything we’ve seen up to this point. A similar moment happens with Gage, the mysterious man inhabiting the so-called “ghost town” where Fallows, diner owner Joe, and waitress Nancy travel to. Gage had his own encounter with mutant monsters, and there’s a rather tragic backstory behind his gruff exterior.
Image
The shift in storytelling allows Love to draw new figures, such as dinosaurs and dogs (or dog, in the case of Gage’s loyal hound Spirit). While he still applies his signature shadow-soaked style to the pages, there’s new elements that stick out. Many of the dinosaurs in the opening have bright white pinpricks for eyes, and jagged shapes that represent a Stegosaurus’ plates or a Tyrannosaurus rex’s teeth. Gage himself also stands out thanks to his Stetson and scarf, giving him the appearance of a post-apocalyptic gunslinger.
The most haunting imagery of News From The Fallout #5 comes from the infected. Love layers on a skull shape across their faces, giving them the image of ravenous ghosts. If that wasn’t enough, Condon continues to ramp up the different ways infection can spread, meaning that no matter where Fallows and the others run, they won’t be safe.
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou’s lettering is what really sells the horror imagery. The infected let out guttural growls that echo across the page. Spirit’s barks are just as loud, signaling her desire to protect her master from the ravenous beasts that want to eat him. When Gage whips out a Gatling gun to fight the infected, the page fills with the “BRAKABRAKABRAKA” of repeating bullets. Otsmane-Elhaou’s work continues to prove why a good letterer can help define a comic just as much as a writer or artist.
News From The Fallout #5 doesn’t hold back on the reveals or the horror, as the nuclear-fueled nightmare races toward its end. Condon and Love have been thinking outside the box when it comes to this comic, and hopefully, this won’t be the last time that they join forces.
You must be logged in to post a comment.