# Pre-Reading:

Nothing! This is a standalone and self-contained series.

# Story:

I’m not usually one to give a blow-by-blow of the plot, and honestly, for East of West, I don’t know that I could. It’s quite difficult to summarize succinctly, but it’s sort of like a futuristic western Game of Thrones. The story takes place in an alt-history US where the country was divided into 7 nations after the Civil War, each with their own distinct culture. The nations are united by a central religion, “the word,” and has a high-ranking “Chosen” individual that serves on a council whose goal is to bring about the Apocalypse in its intended fashion. The nature of the apocalypse is fascinating, retaining elements of the classical Christian apocalypse while remaining largely secular.

At any moment, there are a half dozen interconnected storylines dealing with members of the various nations, the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and a child named Babylon, who was engineered to be the Beast of the Apocalypse. The closest thing to a central character is probably Death, the fourth Horsemen of the Apocalypse (and father of Babylon) who has gone rogue, shirking his responsibilities to try and rebuild a life with his family.

If you’re familiar with Hickman, you probably know that he often drops you into the middle of things and starts throwing a lot of concepts and information at you very quickly. This is no different. There were times, especially in the first volume, where I felt a little lost not knowing the backstory of this world, but if you just go along for the ride, the threads start coming together as storylines intersect and more is revealed in flashbacks. I’m eager to reread this one, and I’m curious how much knowing the ending and character relationships changes the experience.

The world building itself is immaculate, with elements of westerns, high-tech dystopian futures, and the supernatural blending together in a way that feels surprisingly cohesive while you’re reading it. The world feels complicated, and highlights the consequences of division, tribalism, and single-mindedness as the Apocalypse progresses across 3 years. In particular, the factions that the United States has been divided into are particularly fascinating and divided both on geographical and cultural lines. While certain factions do, as the storyline progresses, appear more benevolent than others, none come across as truly noble or blameless, which keeps this from devolving into the simple “good versus evil” story that most tales of the apocalypse fall into.

Included in the back of Year 1 (and I believe in the compendium as well) is a guide to the 7 Nations and a timeline of the world that I found myself referencing throughout the read. I’m a sucker for immersive extras like this, as it helps to provide background and context to a story that really just kind of drops you in the middle of a complicated world.

This might be my favorite work of Hickman’s that I have read, and it is very good, but not completely perfect. The story stumbles a little bit in fleshing out the fairly wide cast of characters. So much effort is put into the world building and high-concept ideas, that characters can sometimes seem a bit 2- dimensional. The story is still immensely enjoyable but this does soften some of the emotional beats in the final arc. 

I do also think the ending feels a bit rushed, and even with a double-sized final issue, I feel he needed more issues to breathe. I don’t want to give too much away, but after so much time was spent setting up different nations, cultural motivations, and tensions, the ultimate resolution of the apocalypse felt a bit too tidy, even if I appreciate its overall optimism. 

# Art:

I could spend a very long time talking about how much I love the art in this series, but I’ll try to keep it brief. Nick Dragotta is getting a lot of well-deserved attention for his work on absolute Batman, but what he does here is beautiful. The line work is clean and expressive with clear manga influences and a strong sense of action. 

East of West has a very wide array of characters, but Dragotta is able to make them all look distinct. He does a particularly good job drawing child/teenage characters in a way that actually makes them look young, as opposed to just short adults, something that is pretty important in a series where multiple main characters are children, at least at the start. 

How easily he is able to draw different environments is also impressive. The setting ranges from technologically advanced cities, to ruins and western deserts, none of which ever feel like an afterthought. Sometimes I would find myself just staring at the landscapes long after I finished reading a page.

Also worth mentioning are the beautiful colors by Frank Martin. I feel like colorists don’t often get enough praise, but the pallete he implements feels fresh, and his use of complementary colors makes the line work pop. There is a greenish undertone to a lot of the blues that he uses that I find very appealing; it also drives home the sense of alarm/danger when more red-heavy action sequences are shown.

# Binding/ Presentation:

I have the hardcovers, which are sadly out of print, but the presentation here is wonderful. Hickman loves his all-white title pages, and the paper stock here is thick enough where there is minimal bleed through. The binding on each volume is solid as well. 

I can’t speak to the compendium from my own personal experience, but I haven’t heard many complaints about the binding and it looks great whenever I see it on a shelf.

# Final thoughts:

I love this. I don’t think it is 100% perfect, and I wish there were a few more issues to decompress the ending and allow for more character moments, but this is still an exceptional comic. The world-building, exploration of tribalism, and interconnected plot make this well-worth a read. It’s a book to be savored instead of binged, and the absolutely beautiful artwork encourages you to slow down and do just that.  Though the OHCs are long out of print and go for obscene amounts on the secondary market, the compendium seems readily available at the time of this writing. I would heartily recommend picking it up, if you don’t mind a chonky softcover.

# Rating: 9.5/10

The End is Here! A review of East of West