I'm probably stupid to the max on this one...but what novel is this based off of? Is it called roadside picnic?

It's not based on any novel. It's based on the looks of the deserted chernobyl region in ucraine, and the way nature overgrows the ruins of the human leftovers there.



The top image is the chernobyl reactor, and the big wheel is also a real site in the deserted town of pripyat near chernobyl .



The wolve comes from the nickname "Land of the Wolves" for the Region, and the Soldier looks like in the PC-Game Stalker, which is also based on chernobyl.



Here you'll find more about that Region:

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/chapter1.html

Seems i was partly wrong: there is a russian novel called Roadside Picnic.

But anyway, it is also basing on the real chernobyl site, and Stalker is basing on both.

yep.. thats basically the design right there. sidenot: roadside picnic pre-dates the reactor 4 incident.

Yep, there is a fantastic novel by the Strugatskiy brothers called Roadside Picnic. I am VERY VERY imressed that there is a T-shirt on Threadless based on the book. Also, I'd like to point out that the game Stalker has clearly borrowed ideas from the book, simply moving the setting from a fictional area in America (as in the book) to the area surrounding Chernobyl. The word "stalker" is originally used by the authors of the book to denote men who illegaly enter the "Zone" to steal alien objects left there after the alien landing. Anyway, if you can, read the book!