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ARROWSMITH #1
"So Smart in Their Fine Uniforms"
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics/Cliffhanger! imprint
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Carlos Pacheco
Inks: Jesus Merino
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Scott Dunbier
Price: $2.95 US/$4.95 CAN |
Don't let the dragon on the cover fool you... this isn't a fantasy comic. Oh, there are elements of fantasy to be sure, including trolls, dragons and lots of magic, but this is a high adventure alternate history comic. It's a unique idea, one that clearly has a lot of thought behind the setting, and the amount of potential here is very clear. Busiek also introduces a likable protagonist, a hero at the core who realizes the right thing to do despite his youth, and who doesn't realize the complicated realities that could turn the right thing into the wrong thing because of that same youth. If a deep, rich setting and a likable protagonist isn't, enough, though, there's the artwork by Pacheco, Merino and Sinclair, which is stunning.
There's always something kind of exciting about a comic that has a setting and style unlike anything that's been seen before. Arrowsmith gives off a strong feel of time and place, and it transports the reader into this world very effectively. It's a difficult thing to put one's finger on, because this transportation of the mind takes place as a result of all the elements: the dialogue, the backgrounds, the characters, everything gives off a feel of being from another world, an older world as well as a world that never really existed. It's magical, and puts me in mind of the way Busiek and Anderson so effectively transported the reader into the world of super-heroes with Astro City.
Busiek hits one of my pet peeves in the beginning of this issue, opening with a four-page sequence of characters speaking untranslated French. However, the sequence works because you don't need the words other than to give a flavor of place. The story is told entirely through the artwork, and Pacheco and Merino are to be commended for their clarity of storytelling here. While it's clear, it's certainly not dull, though, as the power of the Ogre comes through in his size and the force evident in his blows, not to mention the terrified looks in the soldiers' eyes.
Pacheco's artwork does the same job throughout the issue as it does in the action-packed opening sequence. The simple life in Connecticut, and the excitement that the Overseas Air Corps brings, comes through in these pages. Pacheco's designs carry with them a sort of old-fashioned style (check out the suspenders on the civilians, or the World War I-era war regalia) along with a fantastic touch, with the short wizard cloaks or multi-colored Dr. Strange-like boots. Pacheco does an excellent job of making the mundane look lush and expansive, such as the beautiful double-page spread of Herbertsville, as well as injecting fantasy elements, from the presence of Rocky to the creepy and effective splash page that introduces the Blood Emperor. Even if the story were just dead boring, the book would be enthralling thanks to Pacheco's artwork.
Fortunately, the story has a lot to offer as well. Busiek hangs his tale on that staple of the adventure genre, the small-town boy who dreams of excitement and adventure. He introduces us to the world that Fletcher Arrowsmith knows, a comfortable and pleasant world but one that doesn't offer him the chance to do right that he seeks. But at the same time, while Fletcher is heading off for what seems like exciting adventure, Busiek injects some harsh reality into the script in the form of the opening war sequence and the last panel flashback to it or in the banter between the soldiers. The mixture of fantasy and grounded reality is as evident in the script as it is in the artwork, and it's this mixture that makes the book so easy to relate to even as it does such an effective job of conveying an alien setting.
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