Craig Barstow has a problem. His acting career teeters on the edge of being as dry as the town of Barstow itself. The drinking doesn’t help, only pushing him further into denial. It may be the dawn of television’s Golden Age, but Barstow’s kiddie sci fi show, “The World of Tomorrow,” has reached the final frontier.
At least, that’s what the network executives think. Science fiction is out; westerns are in. Out west, there’s no room for Captain Cal Armstrong, the role they think Barstow can’t shake. He can’t shake the mob, either, as he owes money to exactly the wrong people. A few people still think he’s great, but he has lost a step.
When the mob catches up and beats him senseless, Barstow wakes up to a new world that’s strangely familiar. He’s become Cal Armstrong, fighting for that World of Tomorrow.
That’s just the first issue of The World of Tomorrow from Uncharted Wilderness Studios. The sixth and final issue (for now) hits comics shops December 20. Created by writer and publisher Giles Clarke with artist Kenan Halilović and colorist Felipe Obando, the series goes from what seems like a straightforward set-up into something closer to the ground than you’d think.
Working on three levels, Halilović recreates both urban and suburban 1950s Los Angeles, cheap TV budget alien worlds, and then real (?) alien worlds. His character work excels, too. Even without the surrounding environment, it’s clear when we’re seeing Barstow, Barstow playing the heroic Cal Armstrong, and Barstow thinking he’s Armstrong. The answer to what’s going on lies in another 1950s classic, but… you really should discover for yourself.
Despite some of the story being outlandishly fun, Clarke rarely lets the characters be cartoonish. The network executives veer the closest, people who believe their relative power makes them larger than life. Even an impossibly old studio doctor starts as caricature, but fulfills a dramatic purpose. It all ties together neatly, and thanks to meeting Clarke at L.A. Comic Con this year, I’ve already read the end.
The World of Tomorrow surprised me. It makes me eager for what Uncharted Wilderness Studios brings us… tomorrow.
