Airboy #3
Written by James Robinson
Art by Greg Hinkle
Image Comics
This refreshingly unusual take on a relaunch of Airboy has been outstanding since the rather weird first panel of issue #1 with writer James Robinson sitting on the ‘john’, pants around his ankles, talking on his cellphone.
That Robinson has written himself and artist Greg Hinkle into the story is what has made this must read.
While the first two issues of Airboy only partially touching on the title character, and not at all in the world the Golden Age character operated in in his heyday, this one gets the story back into the pulp World War realm.
In this one we see Airboy, and his compatriots; Skywolf, The Flying Dutchman, Iron Ace, Black Angel and Valkyrie.
It’s great to see these once more iconic fighter aces. I just wish we had more about them all.
I loved that the Nazis are using ‘walkers’ too. I like pulp and alternate war stories, and we get a taste of that in issue #3.
Robinson and Hinkle are in this alternate world too, with Hinkle using a ‘blue-wash’ on his and the writer’s characters, while Airboy and company are in full colour. That too is a very effective artistic tool in this very different story.
This series is what comics are about, fun, different, quirky and outstanding. An easy top-10 of the year material. If you miss this one you’ve missed a winner.
Squarriors #1
Writer: Ash Maczko
Artist: Ashley Witter
Devil’s Due Entertainment
This is a title that was on Kickstarter a while back looking for support, and it caught my eye at that point. So I am rather happy to see the book in print.
So when you are at the local comic shop, and you see a new title, if you are like me you take a copy and leaf through the pages. Do that with Squarriors #1 and the art of Ashley Witter is going to WOW! you.
Now here comes that friendly warning we reviewers have to toss out on occasion. There is violence among the critters in Squarriors, and Witter is not averse to splattering the panels with blood, at times lots of it.
That might not work for all, but in my case, it makes the book ‘feel’ honest given the story line.
In terms of story writer Ash Maczko shows influences from the classic Watership Down by Richard Adams to The Secret of NIMH a 1982 American animated fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut. Those are pretty good sources to draw influences from if you are telling stories about talking animals.
In this case the little critters have gained intelligence and speech, not a new concept. While never giving the origin it is hinted at as a human-created problem, which again is not surprising.
The now intelligent animals hive off into gangs, giving Squarriors a post-apocalyptic-feel, with elements of Gangs of New York or The Warriors, in the sense of the gangs.
So it’s not anything brilliantly new but it all comes together nicely to create a first issue that had me clamouring for more.
This is a very good first issue. The story hooks you with lots of interesting story lines to follow. The action is great and fits the story. The art is fantastic.
There is nothing not to like here, so buy it and fall in love with the characters and story.
