Five best friends come across a bunker in the middle of the forest, containing letters written to them by future versions of themselves. What ensues is a stellar character study about five flawed human beings navigating a world that has changed for them forever. They can no longer go on living the way they once did, not with the knowledge that they will bring about the end of the world.
It’s a high concept book, but even as events begin to fall in place, and no matter how dense the plot becomes, this story remains grounded and centered on its five main characters. The Bunker is driven not by its plot, but by its characters, who’s relationships with one another remain the best part of the first volume from start to finish. The titular bunker consistently takes back seat to the characters, and their creator, writer Joshua Hale Fialkov, has an excellent handle on who these characters are and what he wants to do with them.
Fialkov throws idealistic characters out of the window entirely here, in favor of exploring nuanced, flawed people. Every member of the five person main cast has their own set of flaws, all of them different from those of the others. No two characters bleed into each other here, and each and every one of them has a distinct identity about them, certain characteristics that no other character in the cast has. That is the real beauty of these five characters, they’re all best friends, and have been for a long time, but they actually have very little in common, and none of them are even close to being perfect. And yet, it takes letters from their future selves for cracks to begin to appear in their friendships. And despite an initial period in which it appears that they’re all fed up with each other, by the end they’ve all come back to each other.
The through line for The Bunker, taking precedence over all the wonky time travel stuff, is the powerful theme of friendship and loyalty, and maintaining that even as one’s world is altered forever. It’s a coming of age story, essentially chronicling these five young adults growing up and coming to terms not only with themselves, but with their respective pasts. All five deal with the revelations from the future in different ways. Some try to better themselves, while others stay the course and follow instructions given to them by the letter. As a result, Fialkov takes the opportunity to flesh them out. We may never know exactly who they were before they found The Bunker, but that doesn’t matter. There is some back story concerning these characters, some essential bits and pieces here and there that are essential to who they are. But, again: None of who they were before matters. For better or for worse, they were changed by the discovery of the bunker, and as far as the book is concerned, that’s what matters.
Fialkov handles all of this exceptionally well, deftly balancing time between all five of the main cast, as well as the plot itself. Even though the plot does take back seat to the characters, Fialkov has an excellent concept here, and is writing an excellent story with it. There is still a good deal of mystery surrounding the plot, and every reveal about the future is one to be cherished. Of course, it’s not exactly the most ground breaking of plots, but in this series, that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because The Bunker looks at this scenario in a unique light, thereby differentiating it from every other time travel story in a similar vein. The Bunker runs the risk of feeling generic, but Fialkov prevents it from ever doing so, and even if it were ever to come close, the art would pull it right back.
The art, courtesy of one Joe Infurnari, is probably not for everyone. However, it’s abstract style provides a great visual aesthetic to the book. It’s a great example of how art can advance storytelling, as Infurnari’s art is a tool used to tell the story, rather than just support it with visuals. The abstract style is different from most other art out there, and that’s a good thing. It serves to solidify The Bunker as a unique book, unlike others on the market. It may, however, take a little bit of getting used to for readers accustomed to DC or Marvel’s “house style,” since it looks nothing like the art that one would be able to find there.
All in all, the first volume of Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari’s The Bunker is an outstanding way to start a series, and a near perfect comic. This is what comic book writers should strive to achieve. The creative team gets everything in this book right, and even if it falls apart in later volumes (which I doubt) at least this masterpiece of a character study will still exist for the pleasure of readers.
