Chances are if you’re a part of any cyberpunk groups—be them on Reddit or Facebook, or other social media—you’ve seen some art by Rob Shields. His work is both gorgeous and distinctive. So a cyberpunk comic book filled with his art would be cause for celebration. An augmented reality comic? Heck yeah.

The artwork is inspired by 1980’s Japanese cyberpunk animation and the story is described as being Mad Max meets the Matrix on the Kickstarter page.

“Putting the Punk Back in Cyberpunk

At its core, Neon Wasteland is a satire about the world we live in, the real power and danger that we continue to uncover through technology and the seductive pull of artificial reality.  It’s about the constant struggle between our physical and digital identities and the value of human connection in a society where we seem to be increasingly alienated.”

At first, I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like the AR experience. You use an app on your phone and then it animates on your screen; very simple instructions. I was blown away by how fun it was to read like this. When going through the spreads on my laptop, I laughed and giggled and was honestly floored by the detail of the animations and the effect it had on the overall experience. It feels new and just, well, fun as hell. It really does feel like a wild, over-the-top anime. It has clear themes, a one-of-a-kind aesthetic paired with a one-of-a-kind experience. There are some extremely cool augmented panels.

The first issue is about half the size of a trade and came as double page spreads, which fit how the phone app wants you to view the game. But you can still hold your phone in portrait and go one page spread to one page spread, if you like as well. I don’t want to go into the story too much, simply because with a first issue of a comic, what it’s about is often what #1 establishes. I’ll be picking up any future issues that might come out for sure.

Grab your own copy of Neon Wasteland #1 here: https://neonwasteland.bigcartel.com/