"A Last Goodbye," is a Fun and Exciting Sci-Fi Read

I previously reviewed, "Bro-D Can't be Broken," for my friends over at Forces of Geek.  Ben Humeniuk created that fun read and is the artist and co-creator of the new upcoming comic, "A Last Goodbye." Created with Travis B. Hill, it is due to come out this June 26th from the publisher Band of Bards and was, in fact, one of the, "Featured Picks," in the April 2024, "Previews," Catalog.  I had the chance to review an advance copy of, "A Last Goodbye," and enjoyed it a great deal!

"A Last Goodbye," is a nice beefy one-shot that is 40 pages (so like two regular-sized comics in terms of length). It follows a man and his dog as they make a journey across the post-apocalyptic United States in an effort to reach an unknown (at least until the story concludes) location. How the World ended or why isn't the focus, but this mysterious man and his dog on their journey. Obviously, obstacles pop up, some quite dangerous and scary!

Humeniuk is a fantastic artist whose style reminds me a bit of Daniel Warren Johnson's artwork while still fully standing on its own (they've both written stories set in ruined Earths too, funnily enough). There is a scribbly-yet-detailed look to everything that helps impart how messed-up this Earth is while having the art retain enough of a loose style it isn't outright terrifyingly gruesome to witness the ruins of cities and the occasional mutated humans. My discussion of the art is not meant to ignore Hill's writing, it just is intentionally minimalist, focused on moving our protagonist and his pet to the next cool set-piece, be it a creepy underground craven or an eerily quiet and threadbare forest.

"A Last Goodbye," is a fantastic read for anyone who enjoys sci-fi yarns and doesn't mind a splash of post-apocalypse horror mixed in (those mutated humans are not nice). It is a gorgeous read and moves at a quick pace, with the aforementioned 40 pages it clocks in at the perfect length. I'd recommend telling your comic shop to get you a copy before the comic's release, or you could always preorder an issue for yourself directly from the publisher (as I mentioned, Band of Bards). I look forward to more great works from Ben Humeniuk and/or Travis B. Hill in the future as this was a stupendous comic!

5 out of 5 stars.