A giant white reptile bursting out of a cave wall, a winged woman, an armored fighter, a bear in a cloak and a wolf creature all scrambling around it. The Last Generation #2 has the kind of painted fantasy cover you’d expect on a mid-80s paperback, from a tiny publisher most people have never heard of.
The basics
- Title: The Last Generation #2
- Publisher: Black Tie Studios
- Released: 1987
- Cover price: $1.95 ($2.50 Canada)
- Writer: Bill Bryer
- Art: Mitch Faust
- Cover: David Porch (signed and dated 1986)
What it’s about
It’s a post-apocalyptic quest story in black and white. The series description on Atomic Avenue lays it out: five strangers are thrown together by coincidence and set out on a magical quest to learn why the people of Earth destroyed their only home. Along the way they run into talking bears and wolves, piles of the dead and strange technological monstrosities.
That mix of fantasy and wasteland sci-fi is all over this cover. The bear warrior and the wolf creature fit the talking animals, and the cyborg-looking fighter in the middle brings the tech side.
A small-press survivor
Black Tie Studios was a small publisher, and its logo is the little bowler hat and bow tie in the corner box. The book had a longer life than you’d expect, though. Caliber later picked it up and collected the first three issues in a trade paperback, and a fifth issue showed up decades later, in 2016.
This was the black-and-white boom era, when a lot of small publishers were putting out their own fantasy and sci-fi books. Most disappeared after a few issues, so it’s fun to find one that kept going.
That cover
David Porch’s painted cover is the reason to pick this one up. The reptile fills the top half, mouth wide open with a pink tongue and a row of teeth, breaking out of the rock while the heroes scatter around it. Below them, the cave floor is covered in stalagmites. The yellow 3D logo across the top is pure 80s.
Is it worth anything?
Not much. I couldn’t find tracked sales, and copies are listed online starting around $2.50, which is about what you’d expect for an obscure 80s indie. It’s a book to read and enjoy for the cover, not one to flip.
If you spot the Caliber trade, it’s an easy way to read the first three issues together.