Kranburn, #1-3
Created by Ben Michael Byrne
FEC Comics
Release Date: July 15, 2012
Cover Price: 99¢

With the end of the Mayan calendar quickly approaching, reading post-apocalyptic comics, in theory, should elicit some less than positive emotions. But, as it typically is with comics and their readers, what should be never is. The success of post-apocalyptic comics like The Walking Dead and Sweet Tooth are always constant reminders that the end of progress makes for good reading. In that same vein of roving gangs of marauders and the collapse of civilization we have Ben Michael Byrne‘s Kranburn.

This indie comic from FEC Comics is a brutal gray-scale look into life after the fall of society. With constant nods to Mad Max, Kranburn is an unsettling look at the sacrifices we must make in order to preserve our humanity. When I say that Kranburn makes continual references towards movies like Mad Max, I am not kidding around. The opening panels of this comic introduce the story’s main character, Brand, as he races from wasteland bandits in an armored car. This comic repeatedly pays homage to the books, movies, and television shows that built the post-apocalyptic wanderer genre.