Yellow

Martin (Lost Boy) delivers a fast-paced if predictable redemption story set against the backdrop of a second American civil war. Nick Carson is an apathetic young man who hopes that the political tumult simply “blows over.” Soon, however, he’s forced into the Army of the New Confederacy, fighting on the front lines just a stone’s throw from his hometown. After he’s wounded in combat and is left for dead, he rather miraculously recovers and goes AWOL (“I’m getting the hell out of this bloody war”). Trekking across the ravaged and desolate countryside, he falls in with a pair of scavengers—grizzled Charlie Cuba and his nine-year-old traveling companion, Little Bob. While their predatory tactics help them survive, Charlie’s capacity for violence and cruelty eventually leads Nick to a new crisis of conscience. Martin’s worldbuilding tends to feel boilerplate, with the civil war serving as a canvas for a hero’s journey that skirts direct commentary on contemporary politics. Characters similarly conform to type, from the hard-charging captain with the war movie vernacular to the sociopathic vagabond. But the artwork is a high point, boasting evocative use of colors and energetic body language reminiscent of Paul Pope. The result is dystopian fiction lite—a kinder, gentler, shallower version of The Road. (Dec.)