5 out of 5

A mini-comic, done in a duo-tone style of a light, cooler pink/orange and grey, and in a faded printing style, on off-white pulp that has some visible grain in it. The austere title font and creator Matt Emmons’ clean, detailed linework – I don’t really have a reference in mind yet for their style, except there’s some Andrew Maclean to its density, while also being a much tighter and more “realistic” look than that – give the book just such a professional and serious vibe. It’s a mini that sticks out if you were browsing through a pile of ’em; it’s something you just want to read.

The cover image of an animal pondering an unexploded bomb (like one dropped from an airplane) atop a human skeleton should set the tone, but the “humans are horrible and nature conquers all” theme is nowhere near overwrought, instead being written as seemingly just the natural outcome of how things are, in a short tale that imagines animals convening underground to wait out a war up above. …And then it gets weird. Again, though, Emmons writes as if this is just How Things Are; it’s not presented as weird.

While its theme is pretty straightforward, this is a gorgeous, unique way of representing it.