Pages

Nov 2, 2016

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 616: Gammarauders #5, July 1989

http://www.comics.org/issue/74878/

Apologies for the break in Gammarauders - a busy few days, so I actually resorted to using my back-up comics. Guess I'll have to read a few more and put them on ice.

Issue #5 continues the story of Rosebud, the giant, carnivorous plant that was causing such havoc in the first few issues - though the cover of this issue appears to herald the beginning of a new story arc, I'm realizing that the whole series is one extended story. Perhaps Gammarauders would have worked better as a standalone graphic novel.

The puns are less-frequent now, and though the humour of the setting is still evident, there's definitely a privileging of the science fiction and dramatic elements in the story. Even when the Factoids show up with illicit video of femme fatale Natasha nude in the bathtub, the footage ends with Natasha being attacked by a mystery assailant. There's a grim-dark undercurrent to the comic that reflects quite nicely the similar undercurrent in the game - this is, after all, a post-apocalyptic future, and a story of humanity attempting to rebuild and survive in a radioactive wasteland. It can't all be laughs.

The more I read of the series, the closer I get to the premature final issue, the sadder I get. I really do love this setting, and the characters, human and borg, are fantastic. Perhaps it's time to spearhead a Gammarauders revival...?

Onward.

No comments: