A Special Sort Of Apocalypse: Reviewing ‘What’s The Furthest Place From Here?’ #1
by Tony Thornley
We’ve been waiting for years now for the reunion of Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss. With What’s The Furthest Place From Here? The creative team hasn’t just reunited, but created a unique new world to inhabit.
Rosenberg, Boss, Courtney Menard and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou come together for this first issue, a triple sized story with as many layers as an onion. It’s a tale of survival, love, family and music.
Sid lives with her family, the Academy, a group of survivors who have made it through the end of the world… The mysterious return of one of their number could change everything. But only if they can survive the night.
The plot summary of this issue may sound simple, but this issue is clearly so much more. This is a love letter to music, which might seem strange for a medium that is almost 100% visual. However, Rosenberg and Boss do everything to establish how important music is to the story- album covers show up, the Academy lives in a record store, an individual’s favorite record is part of their identity to the point that it’s part of funeral rites.
Without that, this would feel like most any other post-apocalyptic scenario. Its inclusion here creates a tapestry that makes the characters richer. These kids feel like real kids who have been thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Music is clearly what grounds them in the middle of their trauma, and Rosenberg does a great job at establishing that.
Boss’ work is exemplary. This is one of the strongest books of the year visually. He uses a specific color palette for each scene to evoke feelings that the script is trying to portray. Each of the characters are visually distinct, with different races, body types, heights and so on. You can tell ages and social standing within the group at a glance just by how Boss portrays them. This is all on top of great, clear storytelling that we saw with Boss’s past work.
Otsmane-Elhaou does some fun things with the letters that add to the storytelling. By using non traditional fonts and bubble shapes, he contributes to both the setting and the emotional impact of what’s happening.
This is a book I’m going to be following closely. I had an absolute blast with it and can’t wait to check out more.
What’s the Furthest Place From Here? #1 is available now from Image Comics.
Overview
This is a gorgeous and sweet coming-of-age story set in an apocalypse that has taken adults out of the picture. A nearly perfect must-read.
