Review by Ian Keogh

This isn’t the place to begin Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss’ weird road trip. Yes, it provides some answers, but what’s the point of that if you don’t know the questions? Start with Volume One, which introduces a world in which adults appear to be absent and groups of young teenagers adopt identities connected with the place they occupy. The viewpoint supplied is that of the Academy, once residents of a record store, now pushed into a broken world in search of Sid, their missing pregnant member who may or may not have been abducted by the mysterious Strangers.

One answer is supplied in the opening pages as a meaningful conversation on the rooftop between Prufrock and Sid, one that occurred before Sid was missing. Having been absent for most of the first volume, Volume Two jumps back and forth through her timeline, starting with the journey taken while her friends are looking for her. She meets some of the people they do later, and as previously revealed we see the video she made. Her chapters alternate with two following other members of the Academy, first Oberon, then Alabama and Lafayette. Along the way we see adults, a Stranger unmasked and the mysteries only increase.

What’s the Furthest Place From Here? is a long journey, through strange places, just accepted by the people inhabiting or visiting them, and that’s the best way to approach what’s going on. Rosenberg and Boss are supplying a richly imaginative tour occurring after the fall and you’ll either have bought into it already via Volume One or not. At the moment things aren’t looking good for the Academy, but there’s hope, there’s always hope. Come back for Volume Three.