Home Columns Classic Comic Compendium Classic Comic Compendium: HIGH LEVEL built a world that was never explored

Classic Comic Compendium: HIGH LEVEL built a world that was never explored

But the glimpse we did get was excellent.

d. emerson eddy

04/28/2025 11:00 am

This one even has a map.

“But folks love a good myth.”

High Level by Rob Sheridan, Barnaby Bagenda, Amancay Nahuelpan, Omar Francia, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Nate Piekos of Blambot is a post post-apocalyptic tale of a smuggler/scavenger tasked with a quest to deliver a chosen-one type child to end all wars. At least, that’s what we’re told. It gets a lot messier from there.

The world that Rob Sheridan and Barnaby Bagenda craft is one familiar and yet new. What appears to be a kind of western and northern Canada ravaged by war and something, but what happened is never really defined. Just fallout from the fallout and seeming never-ending war. It borrows ideas from things like Mad Max and Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, along with another reference point that I feel would give away a twist, but it does so in its own way. With a quest structure that parallels Pinocchio at points and works through some social commentary and biting dark humour.

The art throughout is gorgeous. Barnaby Bagenda sets out a design that mixes futuristic tech with the kind of rustic decay of a world that has gone through a break in society. And what might be remnants of nuclear war. His style is somewhat reminiscent of the angular, manga-influenced art of folks like Humberto Ramos and Joe Maduereira, though not as exaggerated. Amancay Nahuelpan and Omar Francia come aboard for two issues each (3&4 and 5&6 respectively) alongside Bagenda, and I’m remiss to tell the difference. There is a noticeable stylistic shift for both sections, Nahuelpan’s see a more definite line and detail, Francia’s become a bit blockier and less detailed, but I’d be damned if I could tell you which pages either artist did versus Bagenda.

Part of the visual continuity is definitely down to Romulo Fajardo Jr.’s colours. There’s a mix of earthiness and cyberpunk to the colour palette, completely fitting the setting, done with a kind of watercolour application. On top of that are some interesting dialogue box integration by Nate Piekos that give a bit of techno-fairy tale feel to the narrative.

“Faith is a hell of a drug, and fear is a hell of a preacher.”

Of all of that final wave of Vertigo books before the hiatus, High Level by Sheridan, Bagenda, Nahuelpan, Francia, Romulo, and Piekos might be the most frustrating. Not because of the story, setting, art, or anything like that, but because of all of them, it’s one that most clearly is only part of the story. Like Goddess Mode, it sets up a fairly complex and thought out new world, like American Carnage it gives a downer of a conclusion, and like Hex Wives, it’s clear that this is only the first stage, but unlike any of the others, it’s not something really complete in and off itself. It’s just setting the stage for more to come.

And sadly there’s been nothing more. I’m not sure where the rights lay to even do more if that was possible. It’s a great post-apocalyptic tale, with gorgeous artwork throughout, compelling characters, and an intriguing world that we only get the briefest taste of.