Wasteland, Book 5: Tales of the Uninvited

WASTELAND, BOOK 5: TALES OF THE UNINVITED

Collects WASTELAND #7, 14, 20, & 25

Four separate tales comprise this collection from writer Antony Johnston, artist Christopher Mitten, and guests.  Filling in some missing pieces of the mythology as readers have thus far learned it, TALES OF THE UNINVITED features a heavier concentration of the mysterious Ruin Runner known as Michael than other volumes, and thus might be a good place to start for new readers looking for a way into the masterful Oni Press series.

Before you reach Michael, however, there’s the strange relationship between Newbegin watchman Dexus and Skot, a member of the governing council under Lord Founder Marcus who is chosen to be the new Primate thanks to the kind of political maneuvering that would make any election season proud (or something akin to it).  After a half dozen issues (directly following the events BOOK 1: CITIES IN DUST, actually), readers received a little break from the action.  Skot is caught up in just about everything.  He’s secretly a homosexual, something that’s more taboo a hundred years after the Big Wet than today, probably because society has shrunk down to its most manageable roles, and Dexus is the only one who knows, discovering by accident and thereafter using it as leverage over Skot so he can wield more power.  Skot is also a secret Sunner, making his position all the more precarious if Marcus, who centers religion preferably on himself, were to find that out.

In the third story, some Newbegin youths trade stories of just how Marcus assumed authority over the city, none of them really questioning whether or not Marcus should be in such a perpetual position of power.  He’s always been there, and so regardless of how he got there he obviously deserves it and probably did something great.  Tellingly, not one of the kids suspects anything more sinister, though there is room for doubt as to whether the citizens of Newbegin really know more than strangers who travel by caravan and can offer some alternative thoughts.

Anyway, Michael stars in the two remaining tales.  In the first, there’s a good example of the kind of life he’s typically led up until the start of the series.  Published between the issues collected in the second and third volumes, it’s a little insight into the hardiness required to survive when so few people trust him, even those who might know better.  It begins as he arrives in Providence, the town destroyed by Sand-Eaters in the first issue, years before that time, a generation earlier, in fact (though life is pretty much exactly the same, as is Michael, because he never ages).  He’s asked to explain how he came into possession of a Bible, but he decides that everyone’s better off if he doesn’t.  Not only would he have to admit that he killed the priest it belonged to, but the sad truth of the exact circumstances don’t reflect well on anyone.  Instead he just makes his purchases and moves on.  WASTELAND is a harsh world, and Michael is the one character ideally suited to live in it on his own terms.  They’re just not terms most people would find comfortable.

The last story is taken from the anniversary 25^th issue of the series, the only one to date with color (more like tinted accenting on a golden scale), an extra-sized tale that has a look back at Sultan Ameer, who rules the caravan that brought the survivors of Providence to Newbegin.  Ameer and Michael had a rocky relationship at that time, and here’s where we find out why.  It’s no surprise that the harsh realities everyone’s just trying to survive are the cause, but it’s a fine thing to experience, the best entry in the collection.

It’s also the issue that burned out Mitten, who hadn’t considered the impact of the effort to produce the art required for the tale.  It’s the best art of the series to date, but it came with a cost, as it directly led to Mitten’s later withdrawal from WASTELAND.  Sad as that is, at least the achievement is there for fans to enjoy.

Everyone’s a misfit in a time when heroes are as ambiguous as Michael and villains like Marcus are both celebrated and feared but never challenged.