Wasteland, Book 3: Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos

WASTELAND, BOOK 3: BLACK STEEL IN THE HOUR OF CHAOS

Collects WASTELAND #s 15-19

Fascinating developments abound in these further issues of Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten’s epic post-apocalyptic vision from Oni Press.

The first issue in the collection is a particular treat (as well as something of a challenge), as the story left off in SHADES OF GOD picks up with the Sand-Eater siege of Newbegin, from the perspective of the Sand-Eaters themselves.  What exactly does this mean?  Listening to their dialogue, and yes, their perspective, which is a fun little challenge.

What amounts to heavily-accented English may be translated into workable dialogue with a little work, and helps explain the Sand-Eater perspective.  They call their rivals “Nasties” and blame them for the destructions of the cities.  Very quickly, grotesque monsters that in any other story would have been left as voiceless enemies are transformed into another facet of the grander scheme of things.  Think of Sand-Eaters, if you must, as the Orcs of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books as consequential creatures, who speak a little like Golum, or Jar-Jar Binks (I bet you’d prefer Golum).

Anyway, the siege is just one of the problems facing Newbegin.  As featured in previous volumes, there’s political intrigue to spare, motivations driving the actions of watchmen Dexus, Primate Skot, and Jakob, a survivor of Providence who finds ample opportunity to improve his own circumstances thanks to the chaos.  It doesn’t hurt that he feels he has nothing left to lose, believing his adopted mother Abi to be dead.

The Sand-Eaters have another surprise.  Their leader is secretly Mary, another of the mysterious people with abilities far above those of normal men, who transforms her appearance even to the astonishment of Marcus.  The resulting exchange between them helps BLACK STEEL IN THE HOUR OF CHAOS keep readers invested in the greater threads of the plot being woven by WASTELAND, as well as remind everyone that Abi and Michael are still out there.

Marcus also dispatches an assassin, Gerr, to pursue them.  Ah, and Golden Voice takes advantage of the situation, too, leading a revolt of the Sunners against the tyranny that has been imposed on the citizens of Newbegin (that’s why he’s on the cover of the volume).

As an example of the long-term storytelling style of the series, BLACK STEEL is another indispensable volume, proving beyond a doubt that the ambition of the story is well worth your continued investment.