Reviews

Apocalypse Nerd by Peter Bagge

otterno11's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

 Inspired by increased tensions between the US and Nort Korea during the Bush administration, a situation that seemed all too familiar early in the Trump administration, alt-comics legend Peter Bagge sets his grim but slapstick scenario after Kim Jong Il nukes Seattle, ruining the camping trip of a pair of hapless Microsoft workers. Trading in hypermasculine tropes of wasteland survival, with women often being an obstacle to our protagonists' needs, Bagge draws deeply from long-standing pop cultural depictions of nuclear war and its aftermath. As the situation escalates and our milquetoast IT guys become willing to go to any length to survive, people murder each other over candy bars and pop and begin to rape and pillage at will, a common motif of what happens when society breaks down. Betraying a pretty cynical view of human nature, in Apocalypse Nerd banding together for mutual aid only makes you a bigger target for those more ruthless and violent than yourself.

I discuss other works of post-apocalyptic literature focusing on our current US political climate at Harris' Tome Corner 

dawnoftheread's review

3.0

Disturbing, but thought provoking.

rebus's review

4.25

I'm very surprised by the low rating, as this is every bit as thought provoking and often much more realistic than the Walking Dead. 

mountsleepyhead's review

3.0

A look at post-apocalyptia that treads the same ground as EVERY OTHER OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING STORY but still manages to be funny, pointed, and occasionally towards the end REALLY REALLY MESSED UP. However, the question of "how do we humans who have basically bred our survival instincts out of ourselves re-learn them?" There's a lot of gamey deer meat and killing. Basically.

discount_viscount's review

3.0

Politics aside, I normally really like Peter Bagge, but this was a bit dark for my tastes.

invertible_hulk's review

3.0

M'eh.

richard's review

Not as funny as Bagge often is, but still pretty funny.

hollowspine's review

4.0

I laughed until tears came. I loved the progression of the 'nerd.' And how everything came full circle. This graphic novel just shows that no matter what life goes on. So it goes.