ApocalyptiGirl: An Aria for the End Times TP
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 16, 2015
Price: $9.99
Creator: Andrew MacLean
Format: 92 pgs., Full-Color, Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-6165-5566-5
Age Rating: N/A
ICv2 Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

Described as being about "post-apocalyptic life and cat ownership," this story makes no effort to bring the reader up to speed before galloping off.  You just have to catch up on your own and go along for the ride.  As a result, for much of the story there is a feeling of "I have no idea what's going on here, but it’s certainly interesting."

If that style suits you, you will enjoy this story.  There's little else but the ride until a conclusion that takes a bit of an odd turn.  Some will find MacLean's artwork to be rough and unfinished, but in this story it works well. The writing is a tiny bit reminiscent of both Mad Max and Tank Girl, but with a more sympathetic central character.  All you need to know is that she’s caught between two or more groups who are fighting for what's left of their part of the world.  Some of the technology will make sense before the end of the story, so you really have to trust MacLean to bring things together.  The ending was strange and only partially satisfying, as if there needed to be more to the story someday.  Both past and future of this story would be worth telling at some point.

For teens and up, due to violence.

--Nick Smith: Library Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.