Illustration from Thomas von Kummant, Benjamin von Eckartsberg: Gung Ho. CrossCult Verlag
In the near future: The world has ended. It’s not the fault of a gigantic meteorite impact or zombie hordes, but of the “rippers”, a vicious new animal species that looks like a cross between a gibbon monkey and a polar bear. First appearing globally in isolated regions, it quickly succeeded in destroying civilization. The surviving humans have laboriously entrenched themselves in fortified towns and settlements, and are always in danger of being attacked by a “white tide” of their bloodthirsty enemies.
As in other post-apocalypse series, the danger here not only threatens from the outside, but also from within, through the wolfish behavior of people among themselves
The brothers Zack and Archer, 16 and 18 years old, come to one of these settlements, named “Fort Apache” after a John Ford western. They have been kicked out of a city orphanage for insubordinate behavior and are to be brought into line. However, this turns out to be difficult, especially with Archer. Because “Gung Ho”, the title of the comic, could also be his life motto: the American slang expression, corrupted from Chinese, means something like “hot-headed” or “without regard for losses”.
As in other post-apocalypse series, the danger here not only threatens from the outside, but also from within, through the wolfish behavior of people among themselves. Archer plays the big-mouthed, petty-criminal pick-me-up, but he’s not a bad guy at heart. The situation is different for Holden, the leader of a youth gang whose uninhibited behavior is reminiscent of William Golding’s novel “The Lord of the Flies”. Some of the adults aren’t much better, most notably Bagster, the storeroom manager who ruthlessly uses his privileged position to sexually enslave teenage girls.
Thomas von Kummant and Benjamin von Eckartsberg design a complex world and occasionally touch on moral issues. Her five-parter is intended for an older youthful audience. There is bloody action, but the violent excesses that are typical of “The Walking Dead” are missing. “Gung Ho” is not a horror, but an adventure comic. “Fort Apache”, idyllically situated on a lake, almost resembles a holiday resort, and the young protagonists have all the qualities of a model. The most visually impressive are the landscape pictures, especially when it comes to hazy twilight scenes (from 16 years of age).
Thomas von Kummant, Benjamin von Eckartsberg (text and drawings): Gung Ho, five volumes. CrossCult Verlag, Ludwigsburg 2014 – 2021. 88 – 104 pages each, 22 or 25 euros.