“A tower one day appeared in the skies, standing out as a beacon of chaos and apocalypse. A heroic and powerful lot known as Walkers cleared the tower floors in order to save humanity, until the day that the Stone of Regression was discovered. Walkers could now “return” to the past, and slowly, everyone left. The brave few who remained formed Carpe Diem, a group of people who refused to abandon the world and represented humanity's last hope. But once the last Walker reached floor 100, he no longer knew what to believe…” (Ize Press)
Having previously published manhwa under the Yen Press moniker, bringing titles like “Solo Leveling” and “The Abandoned Empress“, the publisher has created a separate imprint to highlight their future releases in the genre. “The World After the Fall” marks one of the first books released under the Ize Press imprint, and, as it turns out, is an explosive and action-packed series that highlights the potential of a separate branded identity focused on the medium.
From the opening pages, “The World After The Fall” has a visual approach heavily focused on action. Throughout the first volume, almost every page contains movement, whether it be a battle or training sequence. Under a less capable creative team, this fast-paced approach could result in an underdeveloped story. Thankfully, Undead Gamja & S-Cynan prove to be able to interject an abundance of excitement without compromising the story to deliver a book that oozes cool and brilliantly taps into epic action on par with the best superhero series in manhwa, manga, or comics.
The story matches the pacing of the book, presented as a crash course in what led to the last ‘walker' attempting to beat the tower. Notably, characters that are held important to the protagonist have fallen long ago to the perils in the tower and only appear in flashbacks. Additionally, the main hero has already ‘maxed their stats' in the RPG-inspired structure of the tower. The narrative may not be inventive or offer anything new to the genre, but this level of familiarity allows the creative team to gloss over a lot of lore while still keeping readers' attention. The approach of an action-heavy and simple story will deter some, yet it is undeniable that the book leans into entertainment first and excels at delivering exhilarating action sequences. Essentially, “The World After The Fall” is the equivalent of a ‘popcorn' film, lacking intellectual depth but heavy on entertainment value.
The release shows Ize Press taking consideration in adapting the long-form webtoon layout into the traditional book format, with the first volume covering the first 10 ‘episodes'. The color in the book pops, and the glossy stock gives the feeling of value for the price. Still, as Ize Press continues to grow, it would be nice to see some additional content added to releases like this, whether it be concept art or additional commentary, but these are desired bonuses as opposed to critique on the quality of the release. Ultimately, the book feels high quality and looks great on the shelf.
“After the Fall” is an engaging page-turner, as its frantic pace is matched with a quickly delivered narrative that is focused in on what key components the reader needs to know. The series, admittedly, lacks depth (at least in the inaugural release) but this is of little concern with how well-executed the action is. Personally, it has been a while since I read a full-color comic that tapped into what first attracted me to the superhero genre, and while my preferences have changed over the years, the amount of joy I felt reading “After the Fall” caught me, pleasantly, off-guard. If you are looking for fast-paced action that aims to entertain, give this one a shot.
