Alexander Luthor

 

"Brendon" is a comics that takes us into a dark world, magical, cruel and violent, characterized by the struggle for survival, a world of nightmares and ghosts, heroes and mysteries, in which destruction and rebirth coexist.
The story takes place in a near post-apocalyptic future, gloomy, supernatural and violent, subsequent to the advent of the "Great Darkness", a period of total obscurity originated from the impact on Earth of a huge asteroid, bearer of an enormous destruction on the entire planet, coupled to the loss of the historical memory of most of the scientific and technological discoveries of our time. It is a comics that tells of a future possible world.
The peculiarity and the uniqueness of this comics is its setting during the "Era of the Rebirth", in a world that is trying to begin again, and not during the same period of the catastrophe or immediately after it, as it is in other titles of the same genre, such as the manga series "Hokuto No Ken" or movies like "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome", "The Day after tomorrow", and many others.
 

The story of "Brendon" starts 138 years after the begin of the "Great Darkness", a period of extreme violence, brutality and disorder: a period of obscurity of the sky and also of loss of the mankind's conscience. The "Great Darkness" began in the 2029 of the "Old Era": on 28 April 2029 the "Three Corporations Combined" of America, Europe and East, that govern the world, are trying to avert the impact of a giant asteroid in collision course with the Earth, by hitting him with missiles in order to divert its route, succeeding instead only in crumble it into smaller meteorites, most of which fall on the entire planet, causing a deluge of fire: a true Apocalypse.

The rain of fire destroys and devastates all over the world, accompanied by earthquakes, floods, conflagrations, upheavals climate and of the geology , famines ... .
Then the ashes and the incandescent materials ascend to the sky, obscuring the sunlight; and the Earth remains shrouded in a dark night without end, caught in a relentless frost. The energy resources are exhausted quickly, and everywhere the violence and the human madness are unleashed : this is the beginning of the "Great Darkness".


    
 But after 70 years of natural upheavals and complete obscurity, the sunlight returns upon the Earth and the murkiness finally ends; slowly the climate returns to be in equilibrium, and the Earth become again fertile. Humanity awakens herself from the "Great Darkness" in a world changed profoundly compared to the times prior to the destruction. A world oblivious of most of the scientific and technological discoveries of our time, plunged into social disorder and political ruin.
But a New Era begins with the end of the "Great Darkness": the "Era of the Rebirth". In the "New England", a woman, called Regina, founds a small community in Norfolk, called "New Hope"; in a short time are founded other small groupings, along the model of "New Hope"; the civilization begins to revive. Each village is in self-governing: the political power is held by a "Burgomaster", and instead the military power is in the hands of the "Chief of the Militia"; the economy is structured on a local basis and tends to be self-sufficient, since the trips are almost impossible because of the dangers and risks of the outside world, still prey to disorder and violence.

The illustrations and the scenery show a world very variegated, in keeping with the "mixed" nature of this comics: there are the deserted and ghostly old cities, like Bristol or London, populated only by ruins and spectres; dry and stony deserts inhabited by monstrous creatures; beautiful and unspoiled fantasy landscapes, caves and underground labyrinths full of darkness and horrors; dreamy places full of mysteries; and the villages of the "New Era", some of whom are oases of safety, but others are imbued with injustice, corruption and violence. Great is indeed the skill and the talent of the illustrators of the series, capables of passing from one register to another and to merge together the horror, the fantasy and the science fiction in wondrous designs.