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First published within a single compilation volume back in October of 2016, the seventeenth instalment in the post-apocalyptic ‘Crossed’ series was entitled ‘Crossed Volume 17: Badlands’ and collected together issues 93 – 100 of the comic series.
The eight comics were written by Christos Gage and drawn by Ferando Heinz and Emiliano Urdinola.
DLS Synopsis:
Before the Crossed epidemic tore the world apart, Cody had made his living building luxury survival bunkers for the rich. Whilst he was building them, deep down he knew one day the shit would hit the fan. That time was gradually running out for our world. As such, he’d positioned himself so he’d never be too far from a bunker.
Because of this, when C-Day hit and the chaos exploded everywhere, he was one of the first down into a bunker. Locked away and safe from the violence above ground, Cody together with a few wealthy survivors, managed to stay out of sight, and off the radar of the Crossed. But they couldn’t go on that way forever.
It was the arrival of the heavyset firefighter, with his fire axe and ability to do more than just rape and murder, that changed everything. This was no normal Crossed maniac. This one could think, plot and rationalise. Most worrying…this smart Crossed motherfucker wanted in the bunker.
Before those in the bunker could react, the Crossed had cut off the external vents. The bunker’s tanks would only provide them with enough air for two weeks. Time was suddenly running very short. The survivors needed to act now. Find a way to get out and away. But with so many of the Crossed in the immediate vicinity, how the hell could they get away?
This desperate situation was all because of this one particular infected. The firefighter they’d dubbed Smokey. Unlike the hordes of infected, this one had plans. Ambitions. He’d become like a god to the infected. Keeping their urges in check purely because he demanded it of them.
In fact, Smokey had plans to make a city of his own making. A new civilisation of Crossed. A future that wasn’t tearing itself apart. An existence that wasn’t raping the world and stripping everything that’s left off its corpse.
There was even a rumour that Smokey wasn’t the only Crossed able to think beyond rape and murder. It was said twin sisters somewhere in Florida had set up their own community of the Crossed. There they ruled as goddesses in their own right.
Smokey had to find them. Maybe, just maybe, there could be a future for the Crossed. Maybe he could create a new world from the blood and guts that remained. Maybe, in these twins, there was finally hope for an infected future…
Here we have the final instalment into the ‘Badlands’ series. And fuck me, is it a good ‘un! A fittingly brutal finale, that goes all out with a storyline that gets to the beating broken heart of the stories with what feel like the swing of a sledgehammer.
What starts out as a relatively textbook setting for a Crossed storyline – a bunch of wealthy survivors hiding away in their plush underground bunker, whilst the world above ground goes fucking nuts – turns into something far more compelling. Something we’ve not seen before. A Crossed evolution. And it’s all because of one particular infected – Smokey!
This guy’s pretty much the equivalent of the ‘Big Daddy Zombie’ from Romero’s ‘Land Of The Dead’ (2005). An infected who’s smarter than the other Crossed fuckers. A powerful, strong and intelligent enemy, with a strangely valiant mission.
It’s Smokey – the bigass Crossed firefighter – who becomes the focal character within this final graphic novel. A sort of antihero for the series. Yeah, he’s brutal as hell. This guy kills and slaughters like there’s no tomorrow. But he’s also able to control his urges. He’s able to let the uninfected live, if in doing so they serve a purpose to him. That’s a fucking game changer!
So, what we see within this final ‘Badlands’ instalment is an evolution of the Crossed. One where we have Smokey trying to build his own Crossed community – ala Smokeyville. Then it moves to Florida where we see him setting up again with these two smart and sexy blonde twins. It’s almost becomes a domestic drama! A fucked up soap opera, with Smokey trying to build a future, whilst every bastard around him doesn’t give two hoots.
Honestly, the evolution exhibited in this story is pretty crazy. It eventually ends up with a ‘I Am Legend’ (1954) style concept, with the tides turning between “them and us”, much like how David Moody’s ‘Hater’ (2006) series evolved.
All through this, the violence, sex and gore that’s served up is some of the most extreme we’ve seen in these comics. For one of the first times we have full nudity. We also have babies, and children seen playing with the tortured and the deceased. We have some of the most horrific and imaginative depictions of wild gore. Bodies stacked on bodies. Blood absolutely everywhere. Sheer crossed chaos at its most extreme.
It would be fair to say this is the graphic novel to end the ‘Badlands’ series. This is a final, full-frontal assault on the senses to leave its lasting mark on you. It’s much more than just extremity, it’s more than just post-apocalyptic, it pushes into concepts and progression, which is a path we probably never thought the series would step a foot down.
Ultimately, what you have here is one of the finest and most accomplished instalments within the Crossed series. It’s ambitious and manages to nail what it sets out to explore. The whole story is tight and paced perfectly. The shifting from survivors as the protagonists, to infected as the lead characters, is well plotted and tightly executed.
This truly is an exceptional final instalment. Long live Smokey!
The graphic novel runs for a total of 176 pages.
© DLS Reviews
