Wasteland #2 (1988)

We open back in the long ago, where the Great Genghis and his army have taken over yet another land.  He is delivered the Headman of this region… who refuses to pay him tribute.  The Headman pleads with Genghis for mercy… and, it turns out our conqueror takes that as a slight.  He feels this character is mocking him… taking him for a fool… all that jazz.  And so, he orders his men, more or less, raze the land.  Oh, and do whatever they want with the people, so long as they’re dead at the end of it.  So, if we’ve learned anything it’s… don’t make the Great Genghis think you’re laughing at him.  I wonder if that’ll come up again?

We shift scenes to… the present day!  It’s a crazy faaaabulous yuppie party at the home of Actress/Singer/Dancer, Shirley McKee… hmm, wonder who that might be a reference to (I was going to put a link to Shirley Maclaine’s website here… but, it autoplays music… and I ain’t gonna put you through that).  This lady has written a book called “Off On Your Own”, about something called “Trance Channeling”, wherein you (yes, you) can learn all about drawing your “past selves” from, well, the past, and letting them speak through your lips.  She even decides to give a demonstration for the cameras.  Any guesses where this might be headed?

Naturally, one of her past-lives is… the Great Genghis.  Once in his body, she begins to sing!  And dance!

Genghis’ men think this is a sign… a Goddess speaking through the lips of their leader!  This melding of the selves is short-lived… but, long enough to make an impression.

When the Great Khan is back in his own body, he tells his men that he had been whisked away to another place… a place of madness, where they flashed lights in his face and… laughed at him!  When asked how he responded… Genghis states that he “stopped their laughter”.

Which, brings us back to the “present”, where it would appear that li’l ol’ Shirley McKee murdered (slaughtered, even!) everybody at the book launch party!  She attempts to explain, however, just like in real life, ain’t nobody buyin’ what she’s sellin’…

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Wow, talk about “ripped from the headlines”.  Not, uh, the yuppie massacre… I’m talking about ribbing on the square that is Shirley Maclaine.  She has written many books of an, I dunno, “mystic” or “new age” bent?  She is a believer in spiritual techniques, reincarnation, and, really, a whole lot of things that I personally do not put much stock in.  I mean, your mileage may vary, but… I dunno.  Not my deal.


One thing she’s pretty good at is sparking outrage.  In my, admittedly shallow, research… I’ve found a few “odd” comments and excerpts from her books… even as recent as 2015, where she made some comments regarding the lives lost during the Holocaust.  Another thing, which we have a clip of, is… I dunno, I wanna choose my words carefully here… is, “exploiting” the desperation of people.  Telling people that those they’ve lost can return.  I mean, again… mileage may vary, but that just seems irresponsible and, just not cool to me.

If you watched the video, you’ll undoubtedly see that she says a whole lot of things… that really don’t mean anything.  A lot of “that is your truth”, and “what’s true to you is true” sort of non-answers.  That non-committal probably bugs me most of all.  I mean, if you’re going to push something… push it.  If you truly believe the words you’re saying… don’t give half-answers.


I guess there’s a school of thought that might ask “what’s the harm?”  I mean, in a way, she’s giving (usually desperate) people some peace of mind… and, perhaps even a measure of closure.  So, is there anything wrong with that?  Well… that’s probably a deeper subject than a humble little comic book blog ought to be tackling… but, definitely some “food for thought”.


Oh yeah… almost forgot that we are a humble little comic book blog… so, what’d we think of the story?  It was… clever, I guess.  A bit “on the nose”, as most parody and satire tends to be… but, serviceable… and far better than the opening chapter of this issue.

Our third and final story opens in a hallway, where three folks from Child Welfare are meeting with an Officer Krupke (likely fresh from the West Side) who brought in a boy for making some pretty wild claims.  The boy is Jimmy Mitchell… and the claim in question is…

One of the Agents (Sandra) sits down by Jimmy to get some clarification.  Is this “werewolf” thing just some sort of game he and his step-father play?  That doesn’t appear to be the case, as the boy is rather adamant that he’d seen Step-Pop (Art) literally transform into a beast!

When asked if maybe he dreamed it, Jimmy presents his bruised arm.  He tells the Agent that, when he saw this go down, he pinched himself to ensure he was awake.  The Agent doesn’t like the way this is going… and asks if Art might have ever hurt or touched him.  Jimmy says no!  Art’s a good dude… it’s just, he’s a werewolf!  The trio of Agents huddle up and decide they’re going to need to call in Jimmy’s folks.

The parents arrive, and are kinda mortified.  They feel as though their guilt has already been decided.  The Agents assure them that they just want to ask some questions… more of a “ruling things out” approach.  Worth noting, Step-Dad Art looks kind of creepy… sort of like that Snyder from One Day at a Time… who always gave me the creeps.

We jump right into the interviews… and learn that Jimmy’s mother got pregnant, and was forced to get married.  Jimmy’s biological father ran off… Jimmy’s maternal grandparents disowned them… just an all-round unpleasant scene.  Art was a Marine, who kinda drifted after being discharged… he wanted a normal life… a wife and a kid… and, as luck would have it, wound up finding that here.

After the interviews, the professionals put their heads together and try to come up with a hypothesis.  Jay thinks it’s Oedipal… as in Jimmy’s making all this up because he’s jealous that Art has taken his mother’s affection.  He’d run Art through a battery of tests, and nothing really “pinged” to the effect that he’s some sort of predator (though, I’m not sure there’s any psychological test for werewolfism… then again, I’m still early in my post-grad studies) Sandra isn’t sure.  All Norbert can offer is, the bruises on Jimmy’s body don’t seem out of the ordinary for an active boy.

Sandra wants to talk to Jimmy one last time before sending the family on their way.  Second verse, same as the first… he feels as though Art’s a good dude… it’s just that he’s a werewolf.  Hey, nobody’s perfect!

The Child Services Trio has no reason to keep the fam… so, they send them home.  We learn via a little caption that Jimmy was dead one month later.  Wait, what?  That’s our ending?  Ya kidding me?

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Um… ya know… I’m thinkin’, maybe I just don’t like Wasteland.  This was one of them “tackled on the one-yard line” sort of deals… where the story was decently told, and intriguing… but, that ending?  Woof… what in the hell was that?  What were we supposed to take away with that?


Jimmy’s dead, right?  Well, in one-month’s time he will be.  But… is that even relevant to this story?  I mean, it’s called “Warning Signals”, so we might be able to assume… but, really… without any sort of context, who can say?  Maybe he was beaten to death by Art… maybe Art actually is a werewolf?  Though, then… perhaps it would have been more appropriate to end this with a caption that read “Jimmy died during the next full moon”?  Maybe Jimmy just fell down a well, and there wasn’t a dog nearby to go alert the townsfolk?  Yeesh.


Maybe this is a commentary on how handcuffed Child Protective Services can be?  But, again… Jimmy’s folks haven’t given us enough of a reason to be concerned.  All we have is a wild claim that Art’s a werewolf… but, otherwise, is a really good dude.  Sandra and Company, even if they were in full agreement (which they weren’t), wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if they decided it would be in Jimmy’s best interests to separate him from his parents.


Just don’t know what to think about this one.  Lots of great build-up… but, just like most episodes of the Twilight Zone, had an almost aggressively weak ending.  Almost feels like all of the build was just time wasted.  Good art though!


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