Rage #1 (Dark Horse – Nelson / Mutti)

The groundbreaking new game from the developers of Doomand Quake is almost here, but first Dark Horse presents an essential introduction to the world of Rage!

The Earth has been devastated by collision with an asteroid, with a tiny fraction of the population surviving in life-sustaining arks, only to awaken in a wasteland controlled by a global military dictatorship called the Authority. But a rescued scientist learns that the Authority has lied to her and the other survivors about how this new world came to be.

From the moment I finished reading the intro page, I knew I would love the book – “On April thirteenth, Apophis [the huge-ass asteroid] smashed into Earth.  Five billion people died within twenty four hours.  They were the lucky ones”.  But, I believed I would love it because I thought it was just a gun-toting, mutant / monster smashing action book, but by the end of the book I loved it because it was a surprisingly in-depth story, while also doing all the fun gun-toting and mutant smashing stuff too!


It’s all here! Mindless post-apocalyptic mutants, mystery military cabals and a regimented social hierarchy made up of soldiers and scientists… oh my!

Arvid Nelson creates an amazingly well thought-out story construct that immediately draws the reader into it. The tensioned atmosphere he creates is part Alien and part Battlestar Galactica. The action keeps the book moving at a great pace but the characters and details of the plot grounds the readers and makes them feel like they are in the middle of this survival race.  Andrea Mutti does a fine job putting the visuals together for Rage.  The blood and gore necessary for a story set in the Apocalypse are present but are not over-done, helping put the spotlight on the story itself.  Very Solid!

The Bottom Line: Out this week, Rage will remind you that science fiction and drama can still be synthesized well in the comics.

Grade: A