In recent years independent comics have been increasing in popularity due to the Internet. Primarily this increase is due to crowd funding sites such as Kickstarter and gofundme allowing for comic themed campaigns. One of the successful comic campaigns was the project of After the Gold Rush written by Miles Greb and illustrated by Isaac La Russa. The project was successfully funded back in September and published in January 2016 and can be purchased here.
The Story:
The comic starts off with a scientist name Scout traveling through space in a ship that is malfunctioning. As a result of the malfunction she crash lands on earth. Once on earth she sees that the planet is very different from what she was expecting. To further confuse her humans are not in sight and the planet is green and natural. Due to this Scout begins to explore the planet and discovers that she can breathe in this environment. Furthermore, she learns that she can swim and drink the water. These two aspects of the planet allow her to come to the conclusion that this is planet earth. Due to the pristine condition of the planet it seems that humans have gotten away from science and technology. While she is figuring this out she is attacked by a native group of people. Scout flees to a tree where she is hit by an arrow as the issue ends.
The Analysis:
This comic is very different than other comics as one of the major themes is human advancement. In particular the genre of science and technology is explored as Scout comes into contact with a group of people without technology or science. This interaction and how it is met with violence sparks a debate about if science and technology is good or bad. Furthermore, the comic shows the aftermath of a disaster that has occurred on the earth. This aftermath is that the world has returned to being full of plants and forests as there are less humans and pollutants changing the atmosphere. The scenario is a strong argument of why this world has chosen to forget and abandon technology and science. Outside of the theme of the comic the artwork captures every detail of this world. These details include the wrinkles in Scout’s clothes, bringing the character in the comic to life, which creates realness to the work. The detail is matched by the color palette, which utilizes shades of bright yellows, reds and bright greens primarily. In this choice of color we as a reader are invited into the comic, as the main character is experiencing earth for the first time. This technique allows the reader to become part of the comic rather than a reader of it.
After the Gold Rush explores the concept of science and technology coming into contact with a world that has been forgotten and the consequences that ensue. Miles Greb and After the Gold Rush can be followed on Twitter here .
