Whatever Happened to the World’s Fastest Man?

One Saturday afternoon in the late eighties, I was flipping through the channels and came across a movie starring Charlton Heston called The Omega Man. Heston plays the role of Robert Neville, the last man on earth. He speeds recklessly through the streets of San Francisco, watches Woodstock over and over again in an abandoned movie theater and basically does whatever the hell he wants. Well, at least until night fall. Then he has to shoot freaks from his compound.

I must have watched the movie fifty times since then and I have become obsessed with most entertainment that deals with the idea of being the last living soul(s) on the planet. Obviously I’m not alone with this infatuation, because it seems like there are a lot of these stories out there. All have the same general premise, but vary to some degree. Like Y:The Last Man for example. Same idea, but it has an interesting “what if…” twist. Post- apocalyptic subject matter is getting boring…or so I thought.

Dave West and Marleen Lowe have made me a believer again. Whatever Happened to the World’s Fastest Man? is the best comic that I have read in months. I may even say the best comic of the year when December rolls around, but maybe that’s being a bit too anxious.

An evil scientist has planted a bomb in the Prometheus Inc. building in London. The police and media have just informed the public that everyone will be killed within a certain radius of the bomb and chaos has broken loose. The streets are flooded with fleeing citizens and traffic is at a stand still.

Bobby Doyle is in a pub taking a long lunch with some mates when he sees the news on TV. He calmly takes a last sip of his pint, sets the glass down, and stops time.

Doyle is just like any other person in London, but he has a special gift; he can freeze time. Time stops for everyone but Doyle. Once, when he was travelling on a train,  a horrible accident occurred. Bobby immediately stopped time and carried all of the passengers to safety. In order to operate doors or anything that moves, Doyle has to start time for a split second. Sometimes people catch a glimpse of him or a camera may catch him on film, giving the appearance that he is moving at an incredible speed. because of this, the media named him “The World’s Fastest Man”, but because the only see him for such a short time, no one knows who he is.

So, Bobby Doyle stops time when he hears about the bomb in the Prometheus building and figures out a solution: he’s going to move every single person out of  range of the bomb. It will take him a lifetime, but he’ll do it. And he does.

Maybe this isn’t really the story of the last man on earth, but it is. The hero is very noble and tragic. He moves alone throughout the rest of his life among thousands of frozen people. He’s going to save London at the cost of his youth, friends and family, and will probably never get credit for it. Not even a thank you. Yet he never questions or complains about what he has to do, he just does it.

The story itself is outstanding, but the art is just as impressive. Although the comic is black and white, there is a distinct difference when Lowe draws the people frozen in time and when they are active.

It’s a shame that this comic will probably not be released in the U.S.. Accent UK has had some very impressive work recently, and Fastest Man is no exception. It’s going to be hard for us “Yanks” to get a hold of, but it will be well worth the effort and money to get this one-shot.