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HIGH ROADS #1
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics/Widlstorm Productions/Cliffhanger! imprint
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Pencils: Leinil Francis Yu
Inks: Gerry Alanguilan
Colors: Avalon Studios
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Scott Dunbier
Price: $2.95 US/$4.95 CAN |
Wide-eyed, innocent army sargeants. French prostitutes. And midgets dressed like Hitler. What more could one ask for?
To be honest, I approached this book with some trepidation. Though I was looking forward to what Leinil Francis Yu had in store after something of a hiatus, Scott Lobdell's record was rather spotty in my books. Fortunately, he delivers here. Though far from the most profound fare, this book does offer a ripping-good adventure, quirky characters and some laughs along the way. It reminds me of an Indiana Jones flick in tone... irreverent and unapologetic for its extreme nature.
In the waning days of World War II, Sgt. Nic Highroad, like other American soldiers, is just looking to relax and forget about the chaos that's brought him to Europe. For his colleagues, that means seeking out a Parisian brothel, but for Nic, it means an evening of theatre. That's how he meets a diminutive British actor who looks like Hitler, and how he starts down a path that leads him to the real Hitler's former lover and an ice palace in the Arctic.
The greatest strength of this book is easily Yu's artwork. It's far more focused and grand in scope than previous efforts on such books as Wolverine and Uncanny X-Men. There are a number of strong and positive influences at play in his work here, from Howard Chaykin to Chris Bachalo, from Jim Lee to John Cassaday. His highly detailed and kinetic art really draws one into the story, and the character and background designs are stunning.
Lobdell begins to assemble an array of oddball characters that would do the world of Warren Ellis's Transmetropolitan proud. Even the title character -- Nic Highriad -- is a study in extremes. He is naive, innocent, lucky and appalingly decent. It's clear the story is just going to get weirder from here on in, and I'm looking forward to how far Lobdell is willing to push the envelope.
High Roads is to realism what Richard Simmons is to subtlety. And that's fine. Lobdell and Yu aren't aiming for realism, nor should they. This is about high-adventure and off-the-wall characters. There's no room for realism in this world. High Roads doesn't take itself seriously, and in the process, it's the reader who has all the fun.
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