REVIEW: ‘Post Americana,’ Issue #2

Post Americana #2 is published by Image Comics, written by Steve Skroce, art by Steve Skroce, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Fonografiks. For Mike and Carolyn, it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire. Having survived one brush with an overly violent psychopath, they now find themselves the prisoners, and potential entertainment/main course, of a bizarre regional gathering of cannibals who call themselves The Followers of the Path. But with Carolyn temporarily incapacitated, can Mike hold things together till she can get back on her feet?

As issue one introduced readers to this new, violent and bizarre world, Post Americana #2 takes everything the first issue did and cranks it up to eleven. With more violence, profanity, and pointless crudeness, this sophomore issue takes the fine line that its predecessor managed to walk and leaves it far back in the distance. If the first issue left you on the fence about what you think falls into the category of good taste, this issue is quite possibly not gonna be for you.

Our story begins with a return to The Bunker as the President goes about cleaning up after the attack that opened the series. With the remaining perpetrators in custody, his iron-clad control has been restored. As he gives the hardest of right-wing speeches, we are shown more glimpses of life in the bunker. This is the usual dystopian blend of oppressed workers and elites holding their emotions in check with robot-served dope trips.

From here, Post Americana #2 returns to our primary protagonists just as Mike is regaining consciousness. Though I’m sure, he would’ve preferred to stay asleep instead, given the situation he awakens to. As Carolyn, now deprived of her cybernetic limbs, quickly tries to catch Mike up on the circumstances they are in, and readers are introduced to The Followers of the Path.

The group is most directly represented by a lone speaker, perched upon a mountain of human remains, as he screeches out profanity-strewn announcements to the gathered throng. There is an ingenious mix of the perverse and the mundane in the broken speech presented here. Coupled with the extolling of the virtues of eating human flesh, there is the reminder to pick up 50/50 raffle tickets for great prizes. This mixture of the mundane with the outlandish almost creates something unique and noteworthy, if not for the ableist langue and overwrought profanity that weighs down the moment.

Once the speech is done, though, it’s time for the entertainment. And our dynamic duo soon finds themselves in a fight pit filled with even more mutilated human remains. Apparently, these cannibals have been eating well. With Carolyn out of commission, Mike must face their monumentally sized foe alone.

For its part, the art of Post Americana #2 leans into the themes and tone of its narrative. Skroce holds nothing back in his depiction of the depraved debauchery at this brutal feast. The imagery is almost constantly gore-filled, though never what I would call brutal or impactful. It is gore as window dressing. Violence over substance, if you will.

The only thing that has a measure of restraint here is the lettering. While Fonografiks’ letters make use of some bold texts to try to give some of the energy to the script, it holds back too much to feel right for the story.

While I thought its predecessor had some potential, Post Americana #2 seems to have leaned into all the wrong aspects of its original issue. With so much profanity, violence, and gore being delivered for nothing more than shock value, this story feels bereft of any purpose other than a poor attempt to gross out its readers.

Post Americana #2 is available now wherever comics are sold.