ApocalytpiGirl: An Aria for the End of Times TPB

Alone at the end of the world, Aria is a woman with a mission! As she traipses through an overgrown city with a cat named Jelly Beans, Aria is on a fruitless search for an ancient relic with immeasurable power. But when a creepy savage sets her on a path to complete her quest, she’ll face death in the hopes of claiming her prize.

This is a great comic book that contains many disparate elements to combine into an effective whole. The story on the surface is a simple one, our hero Aria is looking for a piece of tech on a planet ravaged by apocalypse. She has a cat. She talks to a big overgrown mech that will probably never work, and she occasionally has to dodge hostiles in the pursuit of her work. It’s not a complicated plot but it works.

The writer manages to create a nice degree of tension, easing the reader by inches into the story, which is always more fun and requires less tedious amount of narration and explication. The art is simple, not aspiring to huge or intricate panels, but it somehow works with Aria’s story. The colors seem to leap off the page, giving a sense of depth the apocalyptic vision.

The story combines elements of love, loss, horror and tragedy into an evolving plot that kept me turning pages with anticipation. It’s not a new story. We’ve seen this time and time again since the apocalypse stories first became popular 30 odd years ago. Somehow, Andrew MacLean brings a vibrancy to the trope that I haven’t remembered feeling since the Road Warrior.

This is a great book that combines all the elements necessary for a good story. The art is uncomplicated but brilliant, the dialogue and narration is crisp. ApocalyptiGirl is the kind of story that the reader can get swept up in. It follows the tragedy and triumph which is the human spirit. Pet lovers will get an especial charge out of following Aria’s constant cat wrangling of her beloved Jelly Beans.

To learn more about ApocalytpiGirl: An Aria for the End of Times or other great Dark Horse titles, Please visit Dark Horse Comics.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions belong to the individual reviewer.