Black River

You wouldn't want to be a character in a Josh Simmons story. The artist/writer has become a real master of surrealist horror. There is no predicting where one of his stories will go; you just know it's going to end in tears, or some less pleasant bodily fluid. "Black River" is no exception. It's his longest and wordiest story, with the most characters, and most potential for fear and dread.The story seems simple at first. Some undetermined apocalypse has reduced civilization to husks, occupied by tired, dirty, heartless scavengers. Simmons focuses on a shifting crew of women, plus a quiet man who seems to be along for hook-ups, as they travel to something more secure. If you've read any post-apocalypse survival stories, you think you know where it's going, and you can probably predict one of the plot pivots. But Simmons is too weird to tell you something familiar. His narrative becomes unmoored from time and place. Elements of fantasy creep in. Striking images appear on the page, unexplained but ominous.Like the best of his work -- much of it collected in the "Furry Trap" anthology -- it gnaws at you. Simmons's art is cartoony but highly detailed, and makes the moments of horror even more disturbing than they might be in something photo-realistic. I do think his short stories work even better, but like them, this refuses to leave my brain alone.

In fiction, when given the choice between utopia and dystopia, I tend to fall into the more pessimistic camp. At the movies, whether it's lighter (as in "Mad Max: Fury Road") or a bit darker and sardonic (as in Terry Gilliam's cut of "Brazil"), dystopian visions seem more realistic. Which is more likely to come to fruition years from now -- the gleaming electronics of "Prometheus" or the dessicated dank of "Alien"? The future strikes me as more likely to be parched and rusting, the beginning of "WALL-E" rather than the end, and while I hope for otherwise, I'm preparing for the worst.In the dystopian literature that I've actually read, there is only one masterpiece: "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Relentless in tone and economical in prose, it's the kind of work that I wholeheartedly recommend to everyone despite the knowledge that it might devastate the reader with images that you'll never be able to shake. (I even bought it for my father, which is sort of horrible if you've actually read the book.) To unpack everything that McCarthy pours into nearly each sentence is to admire a master of craft at the apex of his abilities, and I'm not sure I'll ever read anything so moving and memorable again in my life.Having said that, "Black River" by Josh Simmons is a new graphic novel that comes as close to McCarthy's magnum opus as any graphic novelist ever will, and it's hung with me all day. Mordantly humorous and bleakly harrowing, with an ending that offers as much hope as one can see with one's eyes squeezed shut, Simmons has written and drawn a richly detailed universe despite the brevity of presentation that a slim black-and-white tome offers. Where ongoing graphic novels such as "The Walking Dead" detail periods of hope as humans interact within the ruins of civilizations past, "Black River" offers no such illusions of conciliatory contact. When the s*** goes down -- and "Black River" is snapshot after snapshot of a world of unrelenting and pervasive s*** -- you'll never be able to wash the s*** stains from your soul. And if you're like me, you can't get enough of these snapshots, even if they can be hard to look at from time to time.

After enjoying the polished gems in "Furry Trap" this was a major disappointment. I also love post-apocalypse stories. This book-length comic felt totally rushed and slapdash. Just a bunch of junk thrown together. None of the characters or situations had any substance. It was hard to tell the characters apart, as well. Not enough effort was made to make them distinct. I had been a fairly loyal fan up till now. I was also very disappointed by the first "Jessica Farm" book. It'll be a while before I trust Simmons again. Maybe Simmons can't handle long-form stories.

Reminded me of a certain group from The Stand. Dark and brutal but what do you expect from the apocalypse?

Shipped early. got it today. read it twice. this seller and this book is amazing

I didn't like the art the story is slow and con diluted. I decided to branch out from image and I might make that mistake again.

Waste of money. I read three pages and deleted it from my kindle.Total garbage.

This is one of those stories that only covers a snippet of a groups life/experiences. It starts by throwing you in the middle of a groups survivor situation. With barely any dialogue or explanation, you follow a group trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world for a few days. The graphic novel relies heavily on shock value and its art. It succeeds in what it is trying to achieve: to make the reader uncomfortable.I personally like stories that are small glimpses in people lives, but if you are looking for a strong fully developed story - you will be disappointed.

Passable... definitely not for the squeamish.