Apocalyptic Ecology in the Graphic Novel: Life and the Environment After Societal Collapse

190 Pages·2020·11.242 MB·English

by  Clint Jones

Apocalyptic Ecology
in the Graphic Novel

Apocalyptic Ecology
in the Graphic Novel
Life and the Environment
After Societal Collapse
Clint Jones
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
This book has undergone peer review.
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Names: Jones, Clint, author.
Title: Apocalyptic ecology in the graphic novel : life and the
environment after societal collapse / Clint Jones.
Description: Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc.,
Publishers, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
♾
Identifiers: LCCN 2020007197 | ISBN 9781476668567 (paperback)
ISBN 9781476639703 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Graphic novels—History and criticism. | Environmental
degradation in literature. | End of the world in literature.
Classification: LCC PN6714 .J66 2020 | DDC 741.5/9—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020007197
British Library cataloguing data are available
ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-6856-7
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-3970-3
© 2020 Clint Jones. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Front cover images by Hizir Kaya (Shutterstock)
Printed in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
What happens when the world goes quiet … empty?
—Tommy Jepperd, Sweet Tooth
Men have a tendency to bury the truth in dark places, to hide it behind armor
thick and strong … as if its protections could ever stand for long
against the truly inquisitive…
—Puig Vallès, SnowPiercer: The Explorers
Everyone thinks they know how to “fix” the world,
but we’d all be a lot better off if some of us just stayed out of the way…
you know?
—Yorick Brown, Y: The Last Man
The thing about smart mother fuckers is that sometimes,
they sound like crazy mother fuckers to stupid mother fuckers…
—Abraham Ford, The Walking Dead
All that matters is what you do next…. Give yourself the chance to be better.
—Mary, The Massive
…bonum est mortis meditari…

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface 1
1. Whither Dystopia? Why Apocalypse? 9
2. D ysto-Apocalyptic Hope and the Imagination 31
3. Pathogenic Shaped Futures, Part I: Annihilation and
The Walking Dead 49
4. Pathogenic Shaped Futures, Part II: Reduction and Y:
The Last Man 75
5. P ost-Human Life in a P ost-Nuclear Age in Snowpiercer
and Sweet Tooth 101
6. The Massive and Life on a Warming Planet 127
7. Environmental Theory in an Apocalyptic Age 143
Chapter Notes 157
Bibliography 173
Index 177
vii

Acknowledgments
A project like this takes the support of a lot of people and inevitably,
in spite of my best efforts, I am certain to omit someone who should be ac-
knowledged here and for that I am sincerely sorry. Still, I would like to thank
a number of people and organizations for their assistance and guidance in
crafting this book, as I know it would not be nearly as good without them.
First, I would like to thank my family who continually sacrifice that I may
have the time to think and write. But also for their encouragement and love
and interest in the project even if it was feigned at times—I still appreciate
what you do for me and love you all.
This book would not exist if it had not been for an opportunity granted
to me by the philosophy department at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens
Point. While there I was given the freedom to teach a completely self-indulgent
class centered on the thesis of this book. I am thankful to the members of the
department for many reasons, but I am eternally grateful to the students who
enrolled in the course and helped me unpack the issues central to the ideas
I explore in this book. Their enthusiasm and genuine interest provided me
more motivation to undertake this project than anything else.
The library staff across the University of Wisconsin system, and es-
pecially the staff at Stevens Point, deserve special recognition for tirelessly
tracking down resource material for this project. I am equally indebted to
the University of Kentucky where these ideas first took root and I was able to
find ample encouragement to pursue them. The staff at the UK library also
deserves recognition for assistance in tracking down many resources for this
project and providing a great place to work. Additionally, I had the opportu-
nity to work out some of the ideas contained in this book in the presence of
some truly great scholars at conferences hosted by the Society for Utopian
Studies and the Radical Philosophy Association. I also owe a great deal of
gratitude to many of my colleagues for answering emails, fielding questions,
and engaging in long conversations about this topic.
I would also like to thank the team at McFarland that helped to bring
this book to fruition. Especially Gary Mitchem, who never once faltered in
ix