Ground Zero of our Nuclear Nerd's Origin Story, Chapter #00, The Beginning of the End, takes us from the streets of Colorado Springs to deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, home to the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the world's most dangerous “launch” button. Thanks to Airman Norm and one exceptionally juicy cheesesteak, suffice it to say, things do not turn out well for humanity.
Chapter #01 finds us, finally, in the post-apocalyptic Wasteland. The bombs dropped a little more than thirty days ago and an ominous orange haze hangs over the bulk of North America, including what's left of the once vibrant desert oasis of Las Vegas, Nevada. As we get a sense for the situation on the ground — violence — we move outward to the suburbs where we meet Zeke & Jelly, our two basement dwelling protagonists. While their spirits may be running high, we quickly come to realize very important supplies also happen to be running quite low.
In the space between Chapter #01 and Chapter #02 our duo, Zeke and Jelly, have made their way to the iconic big box retailer — Wakmart — on the outskirts of Lost Wages. Upended cars and trucks, along with overturned shopping carts, litter the once neatly organized parking lot. Inside the lights appear to still be on, at least in part, thanks to the electricity being generated by the automated systems of the Hoover Dam. As the two stand before the store’s smashed front doors, there’s a sense of heated anticipation — everything they could ever want, including TP, lies just on the other side. But, as we know all too well, it’s never that easy.
Having escaped Wakmart's radioactive, razor-toothed jackrabbits and irradiated tigers, we find Zeke and Jelly out on the open road in a Frosty Freeze, make that Frosty Freaks ice cream truck, riding alongside two new Nerds — Scorch & Mae. Together, the foursome sets off in search of the Promised Land, only to have their journey cut short before it even begins thanks to a must-loot, overturned tour bus blocking their way. Who was on board? Where were they going? And what secrets lie inside? Tear this issue open and find out dear reader…a storm looms on the horizon and danger awaits.
With the arrival of Chapter #04 (BOOK#05), we find the team, ice cream truck and all, inside the impenetrable walls of a clandestine US Government facility — Area 51.5 — smack dab in the middle of the Nevada desert. What strangeness lurks inside? Better yet, what strangeness lurks beneath the ground? Let's peel off the plastic wrap, tear into this otherworldly issue and find out.
Oh shit -- things just got a little spicy. After breaking out of Area 51.5, the gang finds themselves captured by The Marauders and immediately back in hot water. How will they escape? What fair maiden will help them? What the fuck is a “meat jar?” And who will ride to the rescue? These questions and more answered on the pages of Issue No. 05!
When we last left the gang, they were trapped inside the Mad Marauders massive fish bowl which turned out to be a Nerd sized blender/Meat Jar™ Maker in disguise. In Episode #06 — Jail Break — we discover how the gang narrowly escapes becoming chunks of human Spam.™ Will it be Bert's special forces firepower, Jelly's deep romantic history or Zeke's daredevil inventiveness that saves (what's left of) the day? Dive in and find out.!
Down the Rabbit Hole promises a blend of suspense, betrayal, and the surreal, challenging the characters' perceptions of reality and trust in a world where appearances are often deceiving.
In our beloved, if not desolate wasteland, Jelly awakens strapped to Bert, on the back of his bike in a 'reverse Baby Bjorn.' Their journey veers from eerie landscapes to haunting campfire chats about flatworms and power-hungry warlords. Bert, we come to find, is part of a shadowy group known as The Twelve, who believe knowledge to be humanity's salvation, while Jelly cracks wise and craves purpose—or just a good meal. Their uneasy alliance takes a turn when they stumble upon a Marauder parade, discovering Jelly's friends in chains. With wit and grit, Jelly steels herself for rescue, ready to prove she's more than a wanderer in this chaotic, post-apocalyptic circus. To be continued!
Norm and Pandora are bigger, badder, and buffer—thanks to some questionable chemistry and even sketchier life choices. They've turned snack runs into a strategy, the apocalypse into economics, and stupidity, mainly Norm's, into a superpower. But when supply meets demand in our radioactive wasteland, who really holds the power: the one who leads, or the one who whispers in his ear? And who the hell is Homer Stupe?
We travel back to 1979 to meet a young Dr. Homer Stupe — the kind of TV science show host who innocuously made Elephant's Toothpaste on camera—then secretly (and not so innocuously) laced his audience’s juice boxes with radioactive isotopes and maybe-alien DNA. Decades later, after civilization’s Norm-induced face-plant, he circles back to make Jelly and Bert a compelling if not frightening offer…
