REVIEW: Apocalypse 91: Revolution Never Sleeps

To celebrate the anniversary of Public Enemy’s critically successful Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Black, hip-hop and comic book fans are gifted this sequel in graphic novel form: Apocalypse 91: Revolution Never Sleeps.

Yes it was 30 years since MC Chuck D, the time-keeping hype-man Flava Flav (because he carries a huge clock around his neck!) and the sound maestro Terminator X created their fourth and one of their best studio albums.

Apocalypse 91: Revolution Never Sleeps is a tale told from different eras as well from different perspectives yet the message is consistent, art out rules hate!

It begins in Los Angeles 1991, a time of turbulence as news coverage of police brutality against black people in the United States hit airways from all corners of the globe! It was the era of the angry rapper; a time where poetic messages were shooting through microphones targeting oppression and the heavy handed police as well as politicians at rates unseen or unheard before! The time then shifts 100 years into the future in 2091 about three music loving siblings, Tatiana stumbles onto an old storage facility which used to be Tower Records and then ultimately stumbles unpon the vinyl record of Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Black in pristine condition and presents this to her DJ brother. Then the story spills into Mars in 3091, 50 years after World War III where Earth is no longer inhabitable, a future where music and art is removed from the human mind just like it is from a forgotten time – like hieroglyphics! We can all imagine what this world would be like as we know what music does for our mind, body & soul!

Jumping into this, the expectations were somewhere along the lines of a Public Enemy and/or Chuck D autobiography as he is listed as a creator on this book, another expectation were a gritty vengeful story based in the streets in 1991. Thankfully the cover is not a dead giveaway by any means to prove how wrong I was.

From the opening pages there is interlude pages with the signature Public enemy cross-hairs logo in a patterned design on the front and back matter of the book and then pleasantly surprised with the art as it is clean, sharp and beautifully coloured, from the eye of comic book fans you will be drawn in and hip-hop fans will also rejoice. The book is set up as an anthology tale with different creative teams at time I struggled to identify the rotation between artists – this is my only gripe! The coloring is the ultimate standout as it consistent throughout regardless of the artist involved.

Another standout is the pacing from the writers; the transition between stories were smooth, the characters are interesting and the messages are very compelling. When you take notice of the talent on board, yes Chuck D is listed as writer as well as artist (yes, it’s true!) in addition are industry heavy weight writers Evan Narcisse (Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales), Regine Sawyer (Dark Nights: Death Metal), Che Grayson (Batman: Urban Legends), Troy-Jeffrey Allen (Villain: All Caps), and a collection of artists. I wish there was an index of what pages each artist and writers worked on.

Cover art by Mike del Mundo sells this book as if it were to gently slide into a vinyl LP sleeve and fit straight into a record storage crate!

Do Y’self a favor and pick this up!

stories by the industry’s leading creators, including Evan Narcisse (Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Black Panther), Regine Sawyer(Dark Nights: Death Metal), Che Grayson (Batman: Urban Legends), Troy-Jeffrey Allen (Villain: All Caps), and many more.

Author Profile

Shane Tydeman

The Wonder from Down Under,
Dodgy is a senior contributor to Comic Crusaders. Co-Host of The Yeah-Nah Wepa Show! An advocate of indie comics and is creator of Indie Comics podcasts Flipside Focus, Sunderkatz and Think Indie Podcast!

An unapologetic movie fan, NBA fan, action figure, trading card fan! Also an advocate for Depression awareness!