Wasteland #2 – Chapter 2

Wasteland #2 (Chapter Two)
“Ghengis Sings!!!”
Writers – John Ostrander & Del Close
Art- George Freeman
Letters – Ron Muns
Colors – Lovern Kindzierski
Edits – Mike Gold


Welcome to our middle Wasteland Chapter.  There are, as far as I can remember, only three stories per issue… so, we’ll be moving relatively-briskly through this series.


Wasn’t the biggest fan of yesterday’s offering… here’s hoping this issue picks up with whatever the heck “Genghis Sings!!!” could possibly be about!


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We open back in the long ago, where the Great Genghis and his army have taken over yet another land.  He is delivered the Headman of this region… who refuses to pay him tribute.  The Headman pleads with Genghis for mercy… and, it turns out our conqueror takes that as a slight.  He feels this character is mocking him… taking him for a fool… all that jazz.  And so, he orders his men, more or less, raze the land.  Oh, and do whatever they want with the people, so long as they’re dead at the end of it.  So, if we’ve learned anything it’s… don’t make the Great Genghis think you’re laughing at him.  I wonder if that’ll come up again?

We shift scenes to… the present day!  It’s a crazy faaaabulous yuppie party at the home of Actress/Singer/Dancer, Shirley McKee… hmm, wonder who that might be a reference to (I was going to put a link to Shirley Maclaine’s website here… but, it autoplays music… and I ain’t gonna put you through that).  This lady has written a book called “Off On Your Own”, about something called “Trance Channeling”, wherein you (yes, you) can learn all about drawing your “past selves” from, well, the past, and letting them speak through your lips.  She even decides to give a demonstration for the cameras.  Any guesses where this might be headed?

Naturally, one of her past-lives is… the Great Genghis.  Once in his body, she begins to sing!  And dance!

Genghis’ men think this is a sign… a Goddess speaking through the lips of their leader!  This melding of the selves is short-lived… but, long enough to make an impression.

When the Great Khan is back in his own body, he tells his men that he had been whisked away to another place… a place of madness, where they flashed lights in his face and… laughed at him!  When asked how he responded… Genghis states that he “stopped their laughter”.

Which, brings us back to the “present”, where it would appear that li’l ol’ Shirley McKee murdered (slaughtered, even!) everybody at the book launch party!  She attempts to explain, however, just like in real life, ain’t nobody buyin’ what she’s sellin’…

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Wow, talk about “ripped from the headlines”.  Not, uh, the yuppie massacre… I’m talking about ribbing on the square that is Shirley Maclaine.  She has written many books of an, I dunno, “mystic” or “new age” bent?  She is a believer in spiritual techniques, reincarnation, and, really, a whole lot of things that I personally do not put much stock in.  I mean, your mileage may vary, but… I dunno.  Not my deal.


One thing she’s pretty good at is sparking outrage.  In my, admittedly shallow, research… I’ve found a few “odd” comments and excerpts from her books… even as recent as 2015, where she made some comments regarding the lives lost during the Holocaust.  Another thing, which we have a clip of, is… I dunno, I wanna choose my words carefully here… is, “exploiting” the desperation of people.  Telling people that those they’ve lost can return.  I mean, again… mileage may vary, but that just seems irresponsible and, just not cool to me.

If you watched the video, you’ll undoubtedly see that she says a whole lot of things… that really don’t mean anything.  A lot of “that is your truth”, and “what’s true to you is true” sort of non-answers.  That non-committal probably bugs me most of all.  I mean, if you’re going to push something… push it.  If you truly believe the words you’re saying… don’t give half-answers.


I guess there’s a school of thought that might ask “what’s the harm?”  I mean, in a way, she’s giving (usually desperate) people some peace of mind… and, perhaps even a measure of closure.  So, is there anything wrong with that?  Well… that’s probably a deeper subject than a humble little comic book blog ought to be tackling… but, definitely some “food for thought”.


Oh yeah… almost forgot that we are a humble little comic book blog… so, what’d we think of the story?  It was… clever, I guess.  A bit “on the nose”, as most parody and satire tends to be… but, serviceable… and far better than the opening chapter of this issue.


Tomorrow: Family Counseling