About this episode
Once again, fear and dread shroud the world outside our window. Chris Condon and Jeffrey Alan Love offer assistance with their terrifyingly relatable News from the Fallout, a zombie story that chews on the military-industrial complex, belief in apocalyptic certainty, and humanity's stumbling response. You can read their series as a scary, thrilling, atmospherically rich shock-fest or recognize its narrative as our past, present, but hopefully not future.
The zombie genre has served humanity well since Night of the Living Dead hit drive-ins in 1968. The Walking Dead subgenre allows creators to house all their political anxieties into a thrilling narrative, offering cathartic relief to their hungry audience. When there's no more doom to scroll, the dead will stalk your imagination.
Of course, News from the Fallout's shambling creatures is not necessarily zombies. They're the Rotten, poor fools who followed orders and got their face full of some unknown agent after a military test goes wrong...or right. Only Otis Fallows was smart enough to slap on a gas mask and flee across the Nevada desert. With beasts on his heels, the soldier finds solace in a diner full of patrons. They should all listen to reason and band together against a ravenous horde. Tune in next month for the second issue.
Until then, enjoy our hearty conversation with Chris Condon and Jeffrey Alan Love. We discuss George R. Romero's zombie legacy, the Criterion Collection, and how it feels to work in a terrifying narrative that doesn't look much different than what we see daily on TV and our phones. News from the Fallout looks unlike anything else in comic shops right now, thanks to Jeffrey Alan Love's incredible work, which embraces distortion and atmosphere to achieve emotional reality. So, naturally, we gotta dig into the whole look, too.
News from the Fallout #1 is out now from Image Comics. It's written by Chris Condon, illustrated by Jeffrey Alan Love, lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and designed by Michael Tivey.
Follow Chris Condon on Bluesky. Follow Jeffrey Alan Love on Instagram and his Website.
