Hugh Howey's Wool

Hugh Howey’s Wool
by Hugh Howey, Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti & Jimmy Broxton
Jet City Comics, 2014. 160 pages. Graphic Novels.

The world as we know it ended a long time ago. The earth's surface is a toxic wasteland, and the remnants of the human race reside in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep, governed by strict regulations for their own protection. One day, the well-respected Sheriff Holston unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: he asks to go outside. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic who has spent most of her life working deep in the lower levels. Now Juliette is tasked with leading the people of the silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken...

Hugh Howey’s Wool is a comic book adaptation of Wool, Howey's 2011 novel (the book series has also been adapted recently into Silo, a series currently streaming on Apple TV+). I love a good post-apocalyptic drama, especially one with a big mystery to solve, and this book delivers on both fronts. Gray and Palmiotti have crafted a tightly focused version of Howey’s original story that serves well as a stand-alone read. Broxton’s artwork really captures the paradoxically vast yet claustrophobic atmosphere of the Silo. (Comic art fans will enjoy the bonus "making of" materials included in this volume.) Science fiction fans will find Hugh Howey's Wool is great by itself or as a jumping off point into the larger world of the Silo novels. Personally, I am eager to find out what happens next!

If you like Hugh Howey's Wool, you might also like:

Arca
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IDW Publishing, 2023. 176 pages. Graphic Novels.

The world burned. But the rich and powerful... they had a plan. When society fell apart, a select group of billionaires had an escape hatch: a rocket aimed at the nearest habitable planet, a ship equipped with many of the luxuries of life on Earth--why survive if you can't survive in style? Their every need is tended to by teenagers who are willing to act as slaves in return for the promise of a new life. This is a good story. But, like so many stories, it is not true.

Eden
by Christopher Sebela and Marc Laming
Humanoids, Inc., 2024. 131 pages. Graphic Novels.

The world is dying. As government and the environment crumble, humanity's only hope is Eden, a newly discovered Earth-like planet unspoiled by the folly of man. Massive Edencorp spaceships begin to shuttle millions of people lucky enough to be chosen by the lottery to the bright future of Eden... but a bright future for whom?

-LAH