David Ferguson dips into some of the darker escapes comics have offers to reality, pondering the reasons for their success…
There has always been with a fascination with bleak futures in comics especially, it seems to me, when the world seems to be a bleak place. It is a weird form of escapism. Perhaps we look at them thinking that things could be worse. There are a lot of comics to look to for this kind of story but I decided to narrow it down a bit. I wanted to give people a complete story and maybe one that you have never heard of. I also wanted to take stories from across the world as a lot of stories are focused on the United States.
Specific book links throughout are largely AmazonUK Affiliates
El Eternauta (“The Eternaut”)
Created by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López
First published in Hora Cero Semanal between 1957 and 1959
Collection: The Eternaut HC (2015). Currently available as a digital edition (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
An eerie phosphorescent snowfall interrupts a gathering of friends in suburban Buenos Aires. Things get stranger when this snow begins killing people outside. It signals the beginning of an alien invasion. It is a story of survival and armed struggle, representative of the politics of the Argentina it was created in, one ruled by a military junta.
Artist Francisco Solana Lopez, who collaborated with writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld on a number of books, said of El Eternauta’s origin “Héctor would ask each of us, the artists that were working with him, what kind of comics we were interested in drawing. I asked him for a sci-fi series, but a realistic one – not like the one we had been doing.”
“Solano López,” Oesterheld once said, “created an atmosphere that exceeded all expectations.” Part of the appeal of the book in Argentina was the almost documentary style precision with which López captures various landmarks of Bueno Aires.
The true meaning of El Eternauta was hidden to avoid punishment from Argentina’s brutal military government. Sadly, the writer fell victim to them in the end and was arrested on 27th April 1977 and, like thousands of others, disappeared. His final “El Eternauta II” strip, a sequel to this story and starring the writer himself, was published in April 1978. The image of a face staring out from the diving-mask visor of a makeshift spacesuit used to survive in the toxic snow, from the original run of El Eternauta remains a symbol for leftist resistance in Argentina.
The book appeared on my radar due to a recent Netflix adaptation. Fantagraphics are due to release a new printing of their English translation later in the year.
The Last American
Created by John Wagner, Alan Grant and Mike McMahon
First published as The Last American issues 1 to 4 via Marvel Comics’ Epic Comics Imprint from December 1990 to March 1991. Rebellion reprinted the series in 2017.
Collection: The Last American (Rebellion, 2017)
Twenty years after a nuclear war, soldier Captain Ulysses Pilgrim is woken from suspended animated. Aided by three affable robot sidekicks he roams the apocalyptic wasteland in order to search for survivors and discover whether he is in fact the Last American. This comic is very much of its time, written in the Reagan Era and before the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is the future that haunted the people of the world during the Cold War Era.
It is also another kind of ending: being one of the last collaborations of co-writers John Wagner and Alan Grant, whose writing sensibilities were veering in different directions. They had argued over the ending of another comic and argued over this too.
Alan Grant said, “Together with ‘Chopper in Oz’, it brought the crisis in John’s and my partnership to a crescendo. We had radically different ideas on how to play it – or should I say, our overall idea was the same, we just couldn’t agree on how to do it.”
This led to a different writing method. “The only time we ever did alternate episodes was on Last American, when our partnership was teetering on its last legs anyway. If we hadn’t done it that way, it still wouldn’t have been published today, we argued so much about it.”
The book also saw a change for artist Mike McMahon. Originally chosen by 2000AD editor Pat Mills as he could imitate Carlos Ezquerra, he gradually developed his own distinct style. The Last American is a radical change of stylefor him, reminiscent of the style of Bill Sienkiewicz, who was also prominent around the same time, although not an influence on McMahon, and someone who probably gets far more recognition.
Kabuki: Circle of Blood
Created by David Mack
First published in a 48 page introduction story called Kabuki Fear The Reaper via Caliber Comics in November 1994. (This is included in the Kabuki: Circle of Blood collections).
Collections: Kabuki Library Edition Volume 1 HC (2015), The Complete Kabuki: 30th Anniversary Edition HC (2025)
In Japan’s near future, Kabuki works as a government operative, being both a star of Noh TV and a cyberpunk-ishstyle ninja assassin. In this volume, we learn her origins,which are intertwined with Japan’s history starting in World War Two. David Mack not only creates a tragic personal tale, but gives the reader some background into the darker parts of Japanese history that they may not be aware of.
The story of Kabuki, and other government agents, continue in later volumes but the first serves as a complete story in itself.
Mack is known for his painted style but here we see black and white art that fits the noir story style. “That the first black and white story was also a departure at that time,” he has said. “That time was at the height of the computer coloured lens flares. I had offers from publishers to do the first story in colour that way. But I saw it as a crime story set in Japan, that would benefit from a stark black and white crime noir look for that particular story.
“Black and white immediately abstracts reality. It has a sense of period but also a sense of timelessness. Like a black and white photograph from a certain era. I was a painter and sculptor at the time, but I tried to learn how to work in black and white for that particular story.”
The Private Eye
Created by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin
First published on the Panel Syndicate starting in March 2013
Collection: The Private Eye HC (2015)
Brian K. Vaughan is probably more known for his other dystopian story Y: The Last Man, but this one hits a bit closer to home than that. Set in 2076, the world is still recovering from a data leak that revealed everyone’s secrets. The Internet is gone and people only appear in public in masks, beingextremely guarded about their identity. In the story, an unlicensed journalist, a “paparazzo” is involved in a mysterious plot.
Brian K. Vaughan says of the story, “I’m obsessed with privacy and the troubling way some of us seem to wilfullysacrifice it at the altar of social media. I wanted to write a story about a future where everyone has a secret identity, in part because the internet no longer exists.” Interestingly, they chose to release the comic on the Panel Syndicate website, Marcos Martin’s idea. His art style, with its clean lines, is not what you would expect for a dystopian future, but it fits the story.
The Hanging
Created by Aaron Losty and Becca Carey
First published following a Kickstarter as The Hanging in June 2025
Collection: The Hanging (2025)
In the near future, every nuclear missile on earth has been launched but they have stopped one mile short of the ground. Literally “hanging” in the air like the proverbial sword of Damocles. In Ireland, three brothers Adam, Mac and Tim try to find work and keep their heads about water in a dangerous environment. The youngest Tim has visions of “ghosts” who supposedly keep the nukes from falling.
A very political book dealing with famine, bombs and an authoritarian regime. Aaron Losty’s colour choices (reds and greens) give the book a disconcerting feeling. It also gives the idea these characters could be from anywhere. His art style, which is very distictive, reminds me of the Sin City era Frank Miller. Becca Carey’s cover design makes the book stand out. Full of warnings about an impending nuclear disaster.
David Ferguson
David is a writer of stuff on comics and pop culture for GCN.ie. He is also a contributor and editor (Hugo nominated) for Journey Planet | Follow David on BlueSky
Head downthetubes for…
• Five Jack Kirby DC Comics Characters That Should be on the Big Screen by David Ferguson
• Pre-orders for the new edition of The Eternaut are being taken on the Fantagraphics website. The page includes a welcome calculator to estimate postage costs outside the US | 368 Pages | ISBN 978-1606998502
• The Eternaut (2015 edition) is available as a digital edition (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
• Fantagraphics announces new edition of The Eternaut
• Totally Epic: 1990: The Last American
• The Comics Journal: An interview with Alan Grant and John Wagner
First featured in The Comics Journal #122 (June 1988) – interview by Frank Plowright
• Follow David Mack on Facebook | Instagram
• Follow Brian K. Vaughan on Substack | Instagram
• Marcos Martin is on Art Station | Instagram | Threads
• Aaron Losty is online at aaronlosty.com | Patreon
• Follow Becca Carey on BlueSky
Aaron Losty about his new graphic novel, The Hanging, out now from Strangers Publishing. Among other topics, they discuss formative works, collaboration, and making genre comics for a small press audience. In the back half, they talk about Aaron’s experience as a co-founder of Cartoonist Cooperative, the state of the organisation three years after its inception, decision-making processes, and recent campaigns.
• Comics Beat: Graphic Novel Review: Ghosts aren’t all that haunt The Hanging
• The Awesome Comics Podcast:Episode 541 – The Archetypes of Comics
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