Don’t Spit in the Wind

Heavy Metal regular Cardoselli’s raucous sci-fi solo effort tosses readers into an eye-popping, wickedly satirical postapocalyptic world. Earth is covered in trash, and most of humanity has fled to an orbiting space station, leaving bands of sanitation workers in rusty mecha suits and multistory trucks to clean up. Travis is one such “specialized garbage man,” working for the Atomic Brothers while wooing barge pilot Cassandra. Life in the planetwide dump is cheap, as workers fight locust swarms, trash-worshipping cultists, and an enormous goopy monster. Meanwhile, the socially stratified space station is on the verge of an uprising that threatens the entire project—and is still producing more trash. “Maybe we need to wrap our minds around the fact that this planet doesn’t want us anymore,” the garbage workers reflect. The loosely sketched plot is largely an excuse to visually explore this weird world, populated by mangy animals—including incongruous flocks of flamingos—and drowning in bright, funky color. Cardoselli’s hyper-detailed, endlessly creative art suggests a chunkier, funnier version of artists like Moebius and Geoff Darrow. The action moves quickly, leaving readers wanting more. It’s a cheerfully nihilistic ramble through a wild, deadly wasteland that feels eerily prescient. (Oct.)