A world upended... again.

A tale of three factions.

We've visited this well-used familiar trope. The world has come to an end. Civilization is in chaos. Two factions: the established power called The Centralists is at odds with the rebel force called The Nationalists. The Centralists favor strong authority and a careful control of freedom. The Nationalists are all about self-rule and liberty.

A third faction, The Remorades, just want to keep things stirred up in a roiling sea of chaos. For them, The Remorades like fighting and aggression.

Negotiations.

The comic opens with a scene concerning The Nationalist leader sitting down with her Centralist counterpart. She wants to end the strife and war between them. As a bargaining chip she's willing to control and suppress the Remorades' savage acts of violence.

The Comic's title and main story line then is all about this 'truce.' As a story it holds up well. Frank Martin has proven himself by this time to have the writing chops in any story he takes on. Even though we're talking worldwide events he's able to keep it honed to just the few key players in this book. After all, he only has less than 25 pages to play around with.

Solid writing, but familiar ground.

We've come to the point in the world of entertainment, thanks to Mad Max, The Book of Eli, The Walking Dead and other story lines where the post-apocalyptic world is commonplace. Thankfully, a skilled writer like Frank Martin is able to construct a quick story quickly without preamble, bogging the reader down by explaining why the world is the way it is. However Frank gets charged with the onerous task of having to give the reader something to care about --and it can't be 'will things ever return to normal?'

The Truce is a solid read, but for me doesn't stand out that much from the other few hundred post-apocalyptic stories out there. I don't feel a sense of urgency to know how this world will turn out.

Next Tuesday:

More on Jeffrey Schiller and Daniele Aquilani's modern-setting fantasy Magic Powder part 2!