A mercifully light week is here at last, and it’s led by a very good book from one of my favorite creators. Let’s check in on the world of comics in The Pull, my column loaded with my buys, recommendations and curiosities from the week.

Book of the Week: 20XX #1

As I type this, I’m four hours out from interviewing Jonathan Luna – the co-creator and artist of this comic – right here in Anchorage, Alaska. It’s going to be a good time, especially considering this is the first time a comic I read will have a story set in my hometown of Anchorage since the second season of Zander Cannon’s Kaijumax. It also clearly features my office building on a splash page, which I like. But I’d pick this title up regardless of locale, as Luna’s guaranteed goodness and I dig the premise of this one.

20XX is a look at the world of a future after a virus plagues humanity, with 99% of those who contract it dying and the other 1% gaining powers. It’s the norms – the normal people, naturally – versus the Syms (those who survive actually become symbiotes, but in a real science way not a Venom one), but honestly, it’s all a casing for another interesting exploration of humanity and how we engage with one another. Luna’s provides his usual, exceptional art – it is in black and white, but his art works very well without color – and his collaborator Keely is a newcomer and an ace one at that. This is a very, very solid comic, and one that’s near enough in the future that it’s equal parts haunting and fascinating. I dig it, and you’ll hear more about this on Off Panel…Thursday? Probably Thursday.