Scan barcode
A review by mediaevalmuse
The Bunker, Vol. 1 by Joshua Hale Fialkov, Joe Infurnari
3.0
Probably closer to 3.5 stars.
Talk about a comic with a fascinating premise! I first became aware of this comic by chance - and I’m generally glad I decided to give it a go. I’ve seen a lot of criticisms, and some are valid, but personally, I think the story is too interesting to call it a failure. I’d love to see it as a miniseries, and I’m interested enough to continue to the next volume.
Things I Liked
1. Premise: Time travel stories and apocalypses are hard to pull off, but I think this comic sets up interest early on. The fact that five friends stumble upon a bunker full of stuff from the future that they themselves put together is interesting. Usually, I’d expect a bunch of time travelers from the future to be running around altering a timeline, but I like that we get people from the correct timeline being forced to make decisions with the knowledge that their choices will possibly lead to catastrophic consequences.
2. Art: I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the art. It’s true that Infunari’s style is extremely rough and sketchy and doesn’t make use of a lot of saturated colors - but I think it works, especially for the scenes from the future. The sketchiness somehow enhances the tone of the post-apocalypse, and although I wish there had been stronger differentiation between the scenes from the present and scenes from the future, I think the style did a lot to convince me of the future’s terribleness.
3. Moral Ambiguity: There’s one major event in this trade that really pushes the moral ambiguity. There’s a bombing that one of the characters knows is going to happen (due to the bunker), but he does nothing to prevent it - he just helps people afterward and ensures people see him being a hero. The trade ends right at the end of the event, so I hope future issues will explore the implications of such moral ambiguity, as well as the tension between all the friends.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Immaturity: For a group of friends that are supposed to be out of college, the dialogue made me think they were still teenagers. Granted, some people out of college are still immature and throw around swear words and revel in drama - but it wasn’t helpful for keeping in mind that these characters were supposed to be adults.
2. Lack of Clarity: There were several aspects of this comic that led to me being confused once in a while. The art style, for one, made differentiating characters a bit difficult. The skips between past and present, too, were a bit abrupt, so keeping events straight in my head was also hard. The plot was simple enough, though, so narrative wasn’t the problem.
3. Natasha: This comic likes to give us topless shots of one character particularly, and while I wouldn’t call it soft-core porn, I would say it’s a bit overmuch.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in time travel and
apocalyptic storylines.
Talk about a comic with a fascinating premise! I first became aware of this comic by chance - and I’m generally glad I decided to give it a go. I’ve seen a lot of criticisms, and some are valid, but personally, I think the story is too interesting to call it a failure. I’d love to see it as a miniseries, and I’m interested enough to continue to the next volume.
Things I Liked
1. Premise: Time travel stories and apocalypses are hard to pull off, but I think this comic sets up interest early on. The fact that five friends stumble upon a bunker full of stuff from the future that they themselves put together is interesting. Usually, I’d expect a bunch of time travelers from the future to be running around altering a timeline, but I like that we get people from the correct timeline being forced to make decisions with the knowledge that their choices will possibly lead to catastrophic consequences.
2. Art: I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the art. It’s true that Infunari’s style is extremely rough and sketchy and doesn’t make use of a lot of saturated colors - but I think it works, especially for the scenes from the future. The sketchiness somehow enhances the tone of the post-apocalypse, and although I wish there had been stronger differentiation between the scenes from the present and scenes from the future, I think the style did a lot to convince me of the future’s terribleness.
3. Moral Ambiguity: There’s one major event in this trade that really pushes the moral ambiguity. There’s a bombing that one of the characters knows is going to happen (due to the bunker), but he does nothing to prevent it - he just helps people afterward and ensures people see him being a hero. The trade ends right at the end of the event, so I hope future issues will explore the implications of such moral ambiguity, as well as the tension between all the friends.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Immaturity: For a group of friends that are supposed to be out of college, the dialogue made me think they were still teenagers. Granted, some people out of college are still immature and throw around swear words and revel in drama - but it wasn’t helpful for keeping in mind that these characters were supposed to be adults.
2. Lack of Clarity: There were several aspects of this comic that led to me being confused once in a while. The art style, for one, made differentiating characters a bit difficult. The skips between past and present, too, were a bit abrupt, so keeping events straight in my head was also hard. The plot was simple enough, though, so narrative wasn’t the problem.
3. Natasha: This comic likes to give us topless shots of one character particularly, and while I wouldn’t call it soft-core porn, I would say it’s a bit overmuch.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in time travel and
apocalyptic storylines.