One of the graphically more interesting comics was Timothy Truman’s Scout. The cover of the issue in which a nuclear weapon is used against Las Vegas is nothing out of the ordinary
but the interior sequence of panels depicting the aftermath of the explosion shows striking originality
as we simultaneously pull back and zoom in on the scene
and as the panels divide into ever-thinner segments
symbolizing the disintegration of things by the bomb
finally returning us to the more-than-emblematic skull of the opening panel. The prevalence of nuclear war imagery in recent Western culture is alarming, of course, particularly since so much of it has been fatalistic or belligerent in nature; but I take some comfort in the fact that at least we have allowed ourselves to think about nuclear war. For decades we pretended that it couldn’t happen. Then we seemed to be trying to frighten ourselves into believing that it could. Unfortunately, that seemed to be a necessary first step to eliminating these weapons.