Apocalypse Nerd

(Dark Horse, 2005–2008)
™ and © Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

Peter Bagge probably gets tired of fans and critics comparing everything he does with his masterful Hate series, but it must be said that Apocalypse Nerd #1 is something of a cross between Bagge’s aforementioned opus, a buddy road picture, and AIP’s Panic in the Year Zero. (The Hate comparison lies primarily in the characters’ exaggerated facial expressions and basic world views.)

A rough–and–tumble pot dealer and a corporate lackey head to the mountains for a week–long getaway. While en route to a cabin, they hear via radio that their hometown of Seattle has been nuked by North Korean despot Kim Jung Il, kicking the less–than–dynamic duo into survival mode. The hardier of the two takes things in stride, while the geek has to work up the courage to wield a flare gun in the face of fear (chuckle, chuckle) and talk himself into a foraging frenzy (guffaw, guffaw).

The art is nice but appears incomplete, since it lacks Bagge’s usual crosshatching technique, which actually does show up in the “Founding Fathers Funnies” backup.

— Brett Weiss

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