Publisher's Weekly Review
A band of women struggles to survive a dangerous, dying world in an amazing depiction of bleakness that manipulates familiar post-apocalyptic tropes. Simmons (The Furry Trap) is no stranger to creating atmospheric horror, using dense black-and-white linework for vivid depictions of destroyed cities and people with nothing left to lose. Dead, angular trees, plain, grimy clothing, and eyes that range from burnt-out to sheer insanity mix with swirling, angry backgrounds, setting a scene better than any horror movie could. The women, who are physically and emotionally varied, literally walk through set pieces designed to show how hellish the world has become. This culminates in their capture by a male gang, and unfortunately, Simmons opts to go for the easy path of sexual violence as the traumatic capstone. Though it's handled tastefully-the worst of the situation is implied-this is an unnecessary storytelling shortcut in an otherwise brilliant story that shows where true horror lies: not in monsters, but in our own fear and desperation. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
In a bleak, frozen, postapocalyptic world, a weary band of survivors all women save for one lone male trudges through the barren landscape with no apparent purpose other than sheer survival. A nebulous rumor of a walled city that still has electricity provides an excuse to keep going. Nearly every encounter along the way from an evening in an implausible stand-up comedy club to an attack by a group of marauding men turns gruesomely and spectacularly violent. The reasons for the worldwide devastation are kept as vague as the backstories and individual personalities of the wandering women. Simmons renders his tale in a blunt, almost primitive visual style; the ink-drenched darkness mirrors the unrelenting blackness of his vision. Known for his dark, subtly satirical horror comics, Simmons ups the ante in this harrowing yarn. The utter nihilism of the tale, amplified by Simmons' refusal to provide sympathetic characters for reader identification or offer any realistic goal or possible resolution for the haggard troop, makes The Walking Dead look like Sesame Street.--Flagg, Gordon Copyright 2010 Booklist
