Breaklands Vol. 1: A Colorful, Superpowered Dystopia

Super powers broke the world in Breaklands, leading to the dystopian world that the series takes place in. That’s not an uncommon basis for a dystopian world. In Breaklands’ case, all of humanity received some power or other, but only a few, called shapers, have the power to literally change the world. Indeed, it was people with these kinds of powers that ruined the world in the first place.

Stories like this often feature some kind of tyranny with the few powered individuals lording over all the rest. Breaklands tweaks that idea slightly. In this world, everyone has some kind of ability–though they vary in power and usefulness. The result is something not unlike standard superhero comics. Settings, factions, and even action sequences never feel repetitive which can sometimes be a problem in dystopian fiction where resources are in short supply or very few people have special abilities.

Dystopia via super powers also allows for some genre bending. When Kasa’s brother Adam is abducted by a gang intent on selling him (after discovering how powerful Adam is), Kasa is unable to rescue him on her own. This failure is followed by the accumulation of a small party of allies who first fight the gang and then follow the gang to a giant city. Breaklands quickly takes on the feel of a fantasy story. Kasa and her small group of allies, each with a unique weapon and ability, have all the characteristics of a small party embarking on a quest. But the story never turns into a fantasy adventure. For instance, consistent with a dystopia, some old and pieced-together technology remains in this world. The result is a fun blend of the two genres which is Breaklands’ best narrative quality.

Tyasetta uses short, thin lines to add detail to characters in closeup. It works reasonably well to convey feeling through facial expressions (though at times they are exaggerated), but it is less successful when it comes to depicting facial features. With points of view that are further away, facial detail diminishes considerably. Typically, though, a closeup panel is near these wider views so it’s easy to track a character’s attitude.

Paradoxically, backgrounds are meticulously detailed. There is no better showcase for this than an action sequence late in the series. A large number of characters, mostly vague in detail, are scattered in front of a cityscape that features clearly drawn windows, doors, patios–even cracks on the wall in some cases. Tyasetta creates a very lived-in world that works well for Breaklands’ dystopian setting.

Breaklands’ color scheme plays against its dystopian setting with a vivid palette. But this palette does work for the fantasy-esque sensibility that the series takes on when Kasa and her acquired allies go on their quest to rescue Adam. Even darker colors somehow look bright here. And the wide variety of colors highlights the extensive detail Tyasetta brings to his backgrounds. But Stern doesn’t push the colors to so rich a point that it leads to intense contrast throughout the series. It’s a near perfect style match.

Deering keeps Breaklands’ lettering basic and clean. With rare exception, the series’ very few sound effects are done in the same basic font and unobtrusive canary yellow color throughout. They never steal the show visually. The only tweak on the dialogue bubbles is with the series’ most powerful character whose bubbles are black filled with white text. It’s an effective way to set him aside from everyone else.