Preview Culbard And Abnett’s Return To Wild’s End One Last Time

Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard’s Wild’s End has been an acclaimed sci-fi serial from Boom! Studios, and in June 2018 the third and concluding part, Journey’s End, arrives in your local comic book store.
In the first two volumes, First Light and The Enemy Within we explored the world of Lower Crowchurch with our anthropomorphic heroes, in a tale that was equal parts War of the Worlds and Wind in the Willows. As with the finest examples of anthropomorphic comics, from Spiegelman’s Maus to Bryan Talbot’s Grandville tales, the power of the tale comes through as we put ourselves instantly, easily, into this strange yet familiar world.
The thrill of the work comes from the seamless melding of the sleepy English village world the animals inhabit, evoking memories of Wind in the Willows et al., and the darker visions of Wells’ alien invasion, stylishly brought together in Wild’s End by Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard. Abnett’s work for Marvel, DC, and 2000AD is rooted in epic sci-fi, so it’s no surprise that he’s created a spectacular tale with the Wild’s End books. And INJ Culbard brings his unique graphic sensibilities to this tale, where the immediate cuteness of the anthropomorphic characters is subverted by the brutal realities of the tale, something Culbard, a veteran of the UK comic scene and well known for his terrifying adaptations of Lovecraft’s works, is perfectly able to deliver.
With the third, concluding volume, Boom! have decided to forego their usual serialization and release Wild’s End Volume 4: Journey’s End as an original graphic novel, the perfect way to end what has been an imaginative, inventive, and thoroughly enjoyable series.
From the Boom! press release via Editor Cameron Chittock:

Dan and I.N.J. have raised the stakes in Journey’s End and crafted an incredibly human story of perseverance in the face of unyielding darkness. It’s a rich, emotional conclusion, worthy of the science fiction epic they’ve been telling since 2014.

“Despite the military’s best efforts, the alien invaders have seized a firm grip on the world. Cities have been invaded and the countryside overrun, leaving little hope for humanity’s resistance. With few options left, the survivors will need to look to the very people they once feared to make a last ditch effort to turn the tide of the war.”
And from Abnett:

Both Ian and I have loved working on Wild’s End – it’s a particularly favourite project for both of us – and we’ve been delighted by the immensely positive response from readers and critics to the first two volumes. When BOOM! Studios asked for a third volume, and offered us to do it in the ‘long form’ of a graphic novel, we jumped at the chance, and we’ve been working on it with huge pleasure for the past little while. It’s not necessarily the end of Wild’s End, but this book represents a dramatic closure to the story arc and forms the dynamic third part of the trilogy.

And finally, INJ Culbard has this to add:

It’s really exciting for Dan and I to have had this opportunity to bring this particular arc to a close. It’s been a lot of fun returning to Wild’s End and continuing the stories of Susan, Clive, Peter and Alph, and we hope readers will enjoy the book as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it all together.

Wild’s End Volume 4: Journey’s End will be released from Boom! on June 27th. We’re delighted to present pages from the book for your previewing delight…
From the beginning of Journey’s End, a very explosive beginning!

 
And now a few pages from further into Journey’s End, with Alph and Slipway in a desperate bid to escape the destruction of the alien invaders: