When things took a different turn.
Creative Staff:
Story: Stephanie Phillips
Art: Tony Shasteen
Colors: JD Mettler
Letterer: Troy Peteri
What They Say:
America, 1957. Elvis dominates the airwaves and apple pie is served after every meal. But, with the dark cloud of nuclear holocaust looming, Korean War vet Tim McClean’s major concern is taking care of his family in the atomic age.
When the first bomb does drop on an unexpecting Midwest city, Tim and his family find themselves plunged into a strange new world, where what’s left of the United States has gone underground while continuing to wage war on Russia with unthinkable tactics.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I love a good alternate history storyline and there are plenty of time periods to choose from. While we often see the 1940s and the 1960s used a lot, there’s something to be said for what you can work with during the 1950s. Stephanie Phillips is giving us that with what looks like an alternate 1950s storyline, though I’m willing to give room to this being something else entirely. I’ve enjoyed their works before so I’m game for what twists and turns come here. This time, they’re working with artist Tony Shasteen and his style combined with JD Mettler’s color design come together to give us something that plays to the period in its visuals and colors so that it feels of the time while being richly detailed and well laid out so that it flows really well throughout.
The premise for this takes us to Milwaukee in 1957 as we’re introduced to Tim as he works at Bob’s Used Cars dealership. It’s a tense time in America with Sputnik now in orbit around the world and fear of communism and the deepening cold war are intense. Tim’s doing his best to sell cars, however, but it’s his friend Dan that helps him with a sale that we see taking a rough start. Both of them had served in Korea as radio operators but just a little mention of their service helps smooth the sale over, which Tim doesn’t care for. It’s something useful to show what kind of person Tim is and for him and Dan to talk about Tim’s family when Dan tries to invite himself over for dinner. We get a good hint about them in basic this way which then leads into the introductions.
And it is a classic kind of nuclear family, though one that’s given a bit more to it. Tim’s engaged in some of his radio equipment in the basement while his older daughter Robin is struggling with her mother’s rules in the house – just as Tim catches her smoking again. The youngest is his boy Tommy who seemingly gets away with everything but is generally a decent kid. I do like that even though we have learned how Tim’s wife Linda doesn’t care for Dan that we see how Tim and Linda seem like they connect well, and not in a Stepford kind of way. It’s all basic introductions and classic 1950s white mainstream living presented here. At least until the air ride siren goes off in the last few pages and the bombs start falling, destroying houses all over and knocking Tim out. What we see surviving that is unclear and a strong tease into the next issue, especially as the text hints that some time has passed.
In Summary:
I’ll admit, there’s not much in the way of story in this issue. Well, plot-driven story when you get down to it. And that’s not to diminish the character story we get here because it is critical for setting up what’s to come because we need to understand the baseline of who these characters are, the bond they have, and how they’ll work together or break apart in the face of what’s to come. I like what Phillips has set up here for the foundation of the characters and the tease at the end is certainly the right kind of shock/horror for a character like Tim to experience. What happened and how the world has changed is left to be discovered but with what’s here and with Tony Shasteen’s fantastic visuals present, it’s going to be an exciting ride.
Grade:
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: February 24th, 2021
MSRP: $4.99
