Apocalypse Nerd #5
By Peter Bagge
Darkhorse

There’s certainly something to be said for picking up everything Peter Bagge releases. After all, the artist, it seems, is no longer beholden to publishing timetables or overzealous fans. Bagge spent decades cultivating an aesthetic which is arguable more indicative of a crucial cultural moment than any artist in the medium since R. Crumb before him.

In the wake of his most productive years, Bagge left behind a subtly epic saga that will long be remembered as one of the defining moments in the world of independent comics, one that continues to trickle out through increasingly misnamed ‘annuals,’ which seek to further distort the identity of the protagonist that made them famous, with each subsequent issue.

With a first installment that dates back to February 2005, the six issue mini-series, Apocalypse Nerd, has also been subject to—to put it mildly—an irregular publishing schedule. After nearly three years, the end of 2007 will also mark the conclusion of the series. Unlike Bagge’s Hate Annuals, however, the artist’s latest mini-series doesn’t come packed with a cast of much-loved characters (well, save for the Founding Fathers Funnies that grace the books’ back pages, but that’s a different story, altogether).

Instead, Bagge introduced a new cast of characters and a goofy—if potentially intriguing—premise: an introverted computer nerd attempts to survive a nuclear holocaust. The artist made a wise decision in keeping the book a mini-series from the outset, but the unpredictably staggered rate with which he has released the half-dozen issues has made keeping up with the series something of a chore. Bagge never allotted himself the same time to develop characters as in his previous series, and as such, it become difficult for readers to pick up where he left off.

All of which makes the events of issue five all the more unsettling. Granted, Bagge’s style doesn’t lend itself to gritty realism, and as we saw in Hate before it, even something so potentially traumatic as watching person get shot through the head is a bit comical, when rendered in Bagge’s cartoony style. As such, it’s tough to know how serious Bagge intends us to take events when, say, a main character murders and rapes a room full of women, or another is forced to shoot a baby in the head.

These are both acts it seems fairly difficult to take to lightly, and if Bagge is indeed addressing them in a humorous manner, his writing has crossed well into Johnny Ryan territory. There is, however, something to be said for envisioning the acts of post-apocalyptic humans in a serious light—truthfully tackling events as they might perhaps unfold, should we ever find ourselves in survivor mode—but again, this is a comedy, right?

Once again, it’s Bagge’s Founding Fathers Funnies that steal the show. The artist’s comedic take on historical figures like Jefferson, Madison, and Adams have thus far proven themselves to be the best vehicle for Bagge’s post-Hate output, but as more of a supplemental piece, perhaps don’t warrant the purchase of each individual issue, in and of themselves.

The Apocalypse Nerd trade paperback is due out early next. It seems well worth waiting a few extra months, in order to appreciate Bagge’s miniseries in a few short sittings. In the meantime, an investment in Fantagraphics’ collected Buddy Bradley books should hold you over.

–Brian Heater