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Tradewaiter: The Massive Volume 1 – Black Pacific

By | April 2nd, 2013
Posted in Columns | % Comments

If you have an interesting enough premise, sometimes the novelty will be enough to garner attention. While “The Massive” doesn’t bring anything new to post-apocalyptic genre, the quality of its storytelling is high enough to make it stand out among its peers on the comic rack.

Written by Brian Wood
Illustrated by Kristian Donaldson, Garry Brown, and Dave Stewart

In a post-war, post-Crash, post-disaster, post-everything world, the environmental-action trawler Kapital– point ship of the direct-action environmental group Ninth Wave – must traverse a planet where the environment and social collapse have changed the world’s landscape. Searching for water, food, and fuel while scouring the earth’s oceans for the Kapital‘s missing sister ship, The Massive, Ninth Wave struggles to redefine its core mission. Captain Callum Israel, a man who dedicated his life to the ocean, now must ask himself – as our planet dies – what it means to be an environmentalist after the world’s already ended.
$19.99

It doesn’t take long to realize this book is one of the very few available today which isn’t written with the trade in mind. The first three chapters are connected but obviously distinct, and the later three are completely stand-alone stories. They have tension-breaking flashbacks, and the narration boxes recap the plot so far. This doesn’t hurt the content, exactly, but it does prevent the collection from being a smooth read.

To summarize the plot would be a disservice to Wood’s work, because there really isn’t much of a plot to summarize. This is a stream-of-conscience comic where you’re treated to miscellaneous scenarios which reveal the depth of each cast member and build the world. Sure, the crew has a vague mission of “find our sister ship because it’s missing,” but it’s not a driving force for the book. The volume comes with three short stories from “Dark Horse Presents,” and they hint at a greater driving force for the book which isn’t mentioned in the series proper. This meandering quality isn’t inherently bad, but it’s not for everyone.

The change of artists halfway through the book is noticeable, but not jarring. Donaldson has a smoother style than Brown, but both of them have a blocky style which helps bridge the gap. Both of them do a wonderful job of presenting a bleak world with distinct characters and easy-to-follow action. In one particular panel, Brown shows some bare feet in the snow, and nails the scene so hard it’ll make you curl your toes for warmth. Colorist Dave Stewart works with both artists, which helps smooth the transition from Donaldson to Brown. His choice of pallet also helps distinguish flashbacks from current storylines, which heads off some potentially terrible confusion.

“The Massive” comes with an introduction from noted futurist Jamais Cascio. It doesn’t say much, and is entirely skippable. The trade is collected at a discount from the single issues. The content, priced at twenty bucks, originally sold for $21, plus three stories in “DHP”, which are eight dollars each. While cheaper is almost always better, this slight price cut is no reason to tradewait. As mentioned earlier, this is a comic which will read better in single issues, and deserves to be supported monthly. If you haven’t tried it yet, there’s a reprint of issue one coming out this month for a dollar. If you like that, buy this trade to catch up and then buy it monthly.

Final Verdict: 7 – It’s not for everyone, but if you like it, you’ll love it.


//TAGS | Tradewaiter

Drew Bradley

Drew Bradley is a long time comic reader whose past contributions to Multiversity include annotations for "MIND MGMT", the Small Press Spotlight, Lettering Week, and Variant Coverage. He currently writes about the history of comic comic industry. Feel free to email him about these things, or any other comic related topic.

EMAIL | ARTICLES


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