by Ricardo Barreiro (script) and Juan Zanotto (art)
Eclipse Comics
Issue 1, August 1988
New York: Year Zero was originally published in 1984 as Nueva York: Año Cero by the Argentinian duo of Ricardo Barreiro and Juan Zanotto.
Eclipse Comics, one of the myriad US indie comics publishers that were active in the 80s Comics Boom, reprinted translated versions of a number of Argentinian titles, including New York: Year Zero, which was released as a four-issue series in 1988. The Eclipse Comics version of the series was given color covers by Mark Johnson, which are really awful. The series deserved better.
Since defunct, in their time Eclipse published some good comics, picking the best of foreign-produced material.
Zanotto's artwork has the gritty, 'European' stylings and draftsmanship of the classic Metal Hurlant / Heavy Metal magazine pieces from Enki Bilal, Serge Clerc, Chantal Montellier, fellow Argentinian Juan Gimenez, and, to some extent, Moebius.
Year Zero's story is set in 2015, when our hero, Brian Chester, a soldier in the bloody Venusian wars, manages to escape the conflict and return to Earth and to home: New York City.
Needless to say, this version of New York City is the treasured one from near-future, apocalyptic sf: an overcrowded, ultra-violent hellhole. Brian Chester soon will discover that as bad as things were on Venus, they were nothing compared to the depravity and danger of the Big Apple.......!
Mixing equal parts Soylent Green and Escape from New York, some Judge Dredd ''Mega-City One' flavorings, and nice touches of sarcastic humor, NY:YZ is a great adventure comic. I'll be releasing the other three issues over the next few months here at the PorPor Books Blog.
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