The New World #1 Advance Review

The New World #1

Writer: Aleš Kot
Artist: Tradd Moore
Color Artist: Heather Moore
Publisher: Image Comics

Review by Jim Allegro

In these fractured times, it is good to know that there are comic book creators out there willing to speak their mind. Aleš Kot is one such person. His latest foray from Image cements his reputation as a pointed commentator on politics and love in this age of acrimony and division. A post-apocalyptic sci-fi-romance, the first issue of the five-part The New World debuts on July 25. 

Kot’s tale takes place in the aftermath of a nuclear attack which starts the second American Civil War. Two lovers meet at a disco in the free state of California. Kirby is a vegan, straight-edge, terrorist-hacker with a sharp distaste for authority. Stella is a decent cop with her own reality show but she can’t quite get her act together. And, her grandfather is overlord of the government that Kirby seeks to topple.

Tradd Moore’s artwork and Heather Moore’s coloring highlight the tragic nature of their love story. The vivid colors, angular features, and cartoonish expressions clash hard with the dark themes and menacing atmosphere we have come to expect from an Aleš Kot comic book. In addition, the artist does a wonderful job of convincing us that the chemistry between the two lovers is mutual and authentic. These two could be any of us, we come to realize, and the divide between them is more familiar than we would like to admit. The result holds up a mirror to the fears and prejudices of our own troubled moment.

Verdict: Buy it.

Those who were turned off by the pessimistic nature of Kot’s most recent foray into political comics, Days of Hate, will find some relief here. Kot mixes the heavy content with plot twists and humor.