feature Amelia Sky Issue 4 Review
After barely surviving the aftermath of the alien invasion, she has little trust to offer when she encounters Abigail and Rubi, ex-soldiers contracted to retrieve Amelia Sky. What seems like a simple recovery operation for these mercenaries turns into an impossible survival mission. Anthony Pollock, our marketing lead reviews.
Credits
Writer & Co-Creator: Jermaine M. Boyd
Artist, Letterer & Co-Creator: Martina Niosi
Editor & Kickstarter Consultant: Brittany Matter
Narrative Consultant & Co-Video Editor: Steffanie N. Graves
Review
This latest instalment of Amelia Sky takes us deeper into the cold wintery wastelands of an earth that is dying ever so slowly. As Amelia’s journey, amidst a pursuit by two ex-army soldiers continues, you begin to empathise with our hero as feelings of loss, loneliness and despair wash over her. The usual “saviour of humanity” trope is there but it’s accentuated as The Shriekers begin to close-in.
When you look at classic post-apocalyptic texts, especially the ones involving the last vestiges of humanity being overrun by a virus, a plague, zombies or, god forbid, giant killer spiders - you think of works like Richard Matheson’s “I Am Legend,” Simon Clark’s “Night of the Triffids” or George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead.” The idea of claustrophobic isolation as death slowly creeps closer with its stranglehold around your neck. And there’s the usual social commentary courtesy of Romero et al which would have us believe post-apocalyptic tales speak on issues like the degradation of society, capitalism failing and the ruling class. But it was several years ago, during a rewatch of The Walking Dead, that made me think “we really need to dig deeper on this genre.”
Post-apocalyptic stories, especially ones involving mass takeover often feel claustrophobic. Like you can’t trust your own friends or family. And your neighbour? They will definitely try to kill you at some point during this no win scenario. It’s during this rewatch of The Walking Dead I started to think about how other non-Caucasian cultures would view a zombie apocalypse and what metaphors would play out. Interestingly, or not so much, the majority of the zombies are white and are always trying to kill Rick Grimes and his crew. So that’s one really basic analysis about a zombie apocalypse. The other thought is “what if you’re not white?” What if you’re a black person, brown or hell, what if you identify as queer, how does the looming threat of mostly white zombies intent on killing you resonate in the real world?
We all know how society has treated POC folks. So end of the world scenarios could overtly be related to the constant struggle of dealing with a mostly white society trying to do them harm. Just like zombies. At least, that’s how I would imagine it would feel. Just like the threat of a world intent on killing you, even though you’re trying to do the best for it, could be another metaphor of trying to get through your day in a society where the odds are stacked against you.
This is where I applaud Jermaine M. Boyd leaning into his heritage and depicting a world usurped by darkness as a black woman tries her best to survive the odds stacked against her. A story that feels epic as it unfolds, with the tension of Book of Eli, but the horror of The Last of Us.
Amelia Sky #4 introduces two new players who help Amelia get closer to her destination. Danger lurks in every possible corner courtesy of Martina Niosi’s art style.
About Anthony Pollock
Aussie, Comix Marketing Lead, Host / Writer at My Kind of Weird, 5+ years spent writing about Comics, Equally passionate about Horror and Science Fiction. You can follow him on twitter / x here.