Massive #13

The crew of the Kapital tracks down Georg one of their own that went rogue to the almost completely submerged and abandoned island of Manhattan. Hiding in a nuclear submarine beneath the murky and toxic waters of NYC, a game of cat & mouse ensues, but then the U.S. Navy wants to play as well. Part 1 of “Americana”
 

The Team

Written by Brian Wood (Mara, DMZ), illustrated by Garry Brown (Dark Matter Vol. 1 : Rebirth) & coloured by Jordie Bellaire. Published by Dark Horse
 

The Pros & Cons

The Big Apple becomes the focus of this new story arc, specifically Manhattan, but when one the world’s greatest city’s 70 feet under water, you can forget about seeing a Broadway show. This is a fresh beginning for the crew of the Kapital, tired of being shot at shat on, they’re going to right some wrongs and first on their agenda is Georg. George went rogue when he stole a nuclear submarine and is willing to sell it to the highest bidder (see the Massive #7-#9). When the world’s gone to shit, you can’t blame a guy for trying to sell his way to a brighter future, bleak as that future may be. Captain Israel and his crew are still trying to keep Ninth Wave’s dream alive and that’s fine, but within the Crash’s aftermath, there’s no good & evil or black & white, just shades of grey like the junk filled waters of Manhattan. So when a character like Georg defects, you can’t really blame him for wanting a bigger piece of the pie.
 
Illustrator Garry Brown owns this title, time and time again he’s amazed me with long panels of underwater drawings or aerial images of the devastation the Crash has left behind. This issue is no different, Manhattan’s streets have been replaced with sludge canals that clutter the bottom with abandoned cars and chunks of debris. It’s a water ghost town and you can almost hear the creepy silence.
 

The Outcome

Wood knocks it out of the park once again, as the story arc goes Water World and reminds me of that scene in The Day After Tomorrow in the flooded streets of the city, but the Massive series is much better than both those movies put together, that’s a given.