Don’t you just love it when you introduce two people who don’t know each other, that are both your friends, and then they become friends? I feel that same giddy feeling when someone writes a graphic novel that has horror elements perfectly executed into the storyline. I had the pleasure of reading Surviving Nuclear Attack, created by the one and only horror film director John Carpenter. This guy is also responsible for making you scared of men with butcher knives and for taking you underground Chinatown with a badass truck driver named Jack Burton.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane together and visualize the 1950’s Cold War era. Poodle skirts, diners, and nuclear annihilation were on everybody’s mind back in the day. Meet George Kutter, his lovely wife, and his two children who were trained to be “legacy survivors” in the event of an atomic war with the Soviet Union. Its 1956 and this family is about to begin their isolated life in what is now modern-day Pennsylvania.
The story fast forwards to the present, where a group of hunters and their kids are out on a camping/hunting trip. You know, some good old fashioned “bonding time”. When one of the characters breaks his leg, the band of merry hunters stumbles upon an abandoned bunker (cue the twilight zone theme). They break in and become trapped, causing them to slowly start losing their minds. Some having flashbacks and PTSD shocks. The two worlds of past and present collide as chaos ensues. Especially for one of the main characters when they discover the Kutter family… (Cue the twilight zone music again). I mean, I’d go on but I’d rather you pick up a copy and finish it yourself!
I was very impressed by this realistic take on a nuclear war scare. It left me chilled, uneasy, and suspended in fear. What I loved most though is that it gave me so much to ponder on. Was the Kutter Family part of an experiment gone wrong?
I enjoyed the art, done by the amazingly talented Cat Staggs. The colors were vibrant yet brought such dark energy to the story. The illustrations are what really brought the story to life for me and I could easily see this being turned into a movie.
I highly recommend this story to readers age 13 and up! Pick up a copy and get spooked!
You can order a copy here
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