“High Level” #3

“High Level” #3 combines several familiar post-apocalyptic story elements, but separates itself from the pack with outstanding artwork and well balanced storytelling. (Warning: minor spoilers ahead.)

Cover by Otto Schmidt

Written by Rob Sheridan
Illustrated by Barnaby Bagenda and Amancay Nahuelpan
Colored by Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Lettered by Nate Piekos of Blambot

Thirteen’s serious doubts about Minnow’s supposedly messianic powers are profoundly challenged when the mysterious child does the impossible to save them both from starving to death in the desert. But survival doesn’t mean safety when the pair’s already-harrowing quest to High Level requires a detour through Nibi Outpost, a treacherous smugglers’ network built under the ruins of the old world…

There’s a half-page panel about one-third of the way through “High Level” #3. White, wispy clouds hang suspended in a pale blue-yellow sky, receding into the distance in concentric arcs. Below, a massive border wall looms, its design immediately familiar to anyone who’s glanced at a TV or computer screen in the last two years: hulking, vertical metal panels topped with coils of barb wire. The wall is rusty and weathered with drifts of orange sand blown against the bottom. Painted in giant red letters, a single piece of graffiti reads, “Borders are death sentences.” It’s an image that perfectly captures the strange alchemy of this increasingly enthralling series. It’s simple, direct, topical and packs a huge emotional punch, even as it leaves tons of room for interpretation and intrigue, in many ways posing more questions than it tries to answer.

Honestly, describing the nuts and bolts of the story, “High Level” may seem fairly rote, not too dissimilar from any other random tale in the overcrowded post-apocalypse sub-genre. The world has finally succumbed to climate disaster and governments have failed. – Probably. It isn’t yet clearly spelled out. – In the wake of this cataclysm, self-governed rogue outposts and anarchic city states dot the landscape as civilians continue to scour the desolate hinterlands for leftover technology, weapons and precious resources, dreaming of the idyllic existence presumed to be lived by the privileged few in an isolated, far off land. Throw in a mercenary with a rock hard exterior but a heart of gold. Charge her with transporting a young prodigy who wields incredible, mysterious powers across the God-forsaken wilderness. Put a bounty on the prodigy’s head. Then, unleash an elite, quasi-governmental military force with a kick-ass name like Black Helix to track them down. Kind of like a fusion of “Mad Max” and “The Hunger Games” with a female Han Solo as the protagonist.

So, how does “High Level” #3 cut through the clutter to rise above and exceed expectations? First off, the art is incredible. Barnaby Bagenda is credited with breakdowns. It’s always hard to assess the inner workings of any art team, but the paneling and layouts are exceptional and everything starts right there. With a huge variety of page designs – from a traditional nine-box on the first page to an epic desert landscape that features page-wide horizontal panels on the facing page – the visual rhythm is fluid and constantly shifting, without ever feeling chaotic or schizophrenic. There’s a ton of dynamism, but it all hangs together in a coherent whole.

Bagenda and co-illustrator Amancay Nahuelpan’s character designs are also top notch. Character renderings that overlap panel borders can sometimes feel a bit gratuitous and arbitrary, but here they are used to great effect. The page that depicts Thirteen and Minnow shopping at the general store, for example, is packed with nuanced facial expressions and expressive body language, telling the reader far more about the state of the pair’s evolving relationship than pages and pages of dialogue ever could.

In many ways the book’s colors, by Romulo Fajardo Jr., are the thread that ties everything together. The palette is dominated by sun-scorched, burnt-out yellow that immediately cements the notion the world is overheated and uncomfortable. With rusty orange accents and other dull earth tones, the landscape feels barren and lifeless, utterly devoid of all vegetation. In contrast to all of this, Thirteen’s hair is bright pink and her jacket is purple, virtually the only splashes of color – other than a red hover-bike – in an otherwise monochrome world. Bagenda and Nahuelpan set the stage with great inks and compositions, Fajardo Jr. drives it home with colors that feel pitch perfect.

Rob Sheridan’s script is solid, even if the dialogue tends to be a little uneven and some pages feel a tad overwritten. Clearly, he’s a visual thinker and so far he’s deftly avoided cumbersome backstories and momentum killing exposition dumps. One of the book’s great strengths is how it walks the tightrope between moments of concrete worldbuilding and a certain alluring vagueness. Not everything is spelled and that feels refreshing, allowing us to experience the story more organically.

The fact that the world as we know it has long since collapsed doesn’t feel like a radical concept. It’s not surprising or strange, but actually pretty standard contemporary pop culture fare. Sheridan is wise not to dwell on the mechanics of how things fell apart and exactly who is to blame. The real hook here is the characters, Thirteen and Minnow, and how they navigate the post industrial-capitalist landscape that often feels like it’s no longer science fiction.

Final Verdict: 8.5 With exceptional artwork, well conceived characters and an intriguing storyline that leaves room for imagination, “High Level” #3 rises above the rest.