Written by Victor Grishler
Art by Tazzio Bettin
Published by Titan Magazines
You can’t help but love the cover of Sally of the Wasteland #1. A beautiful brunette in a tiny shirt in the midst of melee combat with a large crustacean of some kind. It’s the kind of cover that should move copies off of store shelves, and I don’t think anyone who buys this book will be in for a surprise as to what’s inside!
The Issue:
In this apocalyptic tale, set after “The Fall,” the world’s become a fairly dangers place to call home. Animals that have survived The Fall have mutated into huge strange hybrids, and some of the people that are left have banding into groups that are even more dangerous!
Grishler doesn’t waste (ha-ha) anytime establishing Sally’s character or getting into the story. Sally’s a bad-ass with a mouth that’s even worse. She’s fiercely protective of the bar she works for, and of the slightly meek Tommy, who’s she’s got a bit of a crush on. When Tommy decides to band together with other locals after a stranger arrives in town with a device that she claims can save humanity, Sally decides to go with him to ensure his safety. Good pacing is important to a well written limited series, and this story has it!
I think most readers will get an Army of Darkness vibe from this book. You have an average person who is dealing with a outlandish situation in the best way she can, with a shotgun and a smart ass attitude. Sally’s one-liners and bravado never quite reach the level of smugness Bruce Campbell’s portrayal of Ash Williams, most of Sally’s quips sadly fall just short of being funny. She tends to come off more crude than witty. Fortunately, there’s plenty of gratuitous nudity to distract readers from the lack of humor, which gives the book the feel of a 1970 sexplotation film. The disappointment that I have with this book stems from the fact the story that Grishler is telling here would be more effective and entertaining as a low budget movie or a Cinemax TV series.
5/10
The Art:
Bettin background art in this book is superb. I typically have to go back through a book after reading it to make note on the art, but I noticed the details he put into the panels immediately. One criticism of the artwork would be the characters’ facial features. It doesn’t match with how well the characters themselves are drawn.
7/10
I would have liked for this issue to end with something that would absolutely hook me into reading the next, but the cliffhanger just wasn’t interesting enough to justify grabbing issue #2. While this first issue didn’t turn me into a fan of this 5 issue series, it’s a book that I might want to pick up in a collected volume in the future.