I
come from a military family. There was some slight pressure to join up
after high school but to most it was clear that my less than
acquiescent attitude and scholarly approach to life probably wasn’t
suited to martial life. However, there was one aspect of the armed
forces that always got me interested: the aircraft. My Dad can rattle
off specifics about all the WWII planes and my Uncle was still an active duty fighter jock up until a couple of years ago. I flew a plane once, tiny little propeller number,
but it was still one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life,
and the owner said I had a pretty good feel for flying too. But what
does all this have to do with comics? Good question.

            While perusing the offerings from the various publishers at WonderCon I meandered over to the Archaia Studios Press booth. They put out Mouse Guard and The Lone and Level Sands,
two very different books I enjoyed on very different levels. Variety is
something I look for in a publisher so I wanted to see what else they
had to offer. No joke, sitting in between David Peterson and m. p. mann were Josh Finney and Kat Rocha. Their book depicted an epic shot of two F-22-esque fighters
rocketing at the reader with the runaway far in the background. I must
have looked just intrigued enough because they immediately engaged me
about their product. I’ve heard a lot of comics professionals talk
about the awkwardness of selling. How difficult it can be to go from
the introvert who works from home on their artsy project to the
extrovert carnival barker pushing their wares on the rubes, so I
greatly appreciate when the people behind the tables say “hey” to me.

            They wanted know if I’d heard of their book,
I replied that I honestly hadn’t but was something of a aeronautical
dork (but to be fair, there are many other words besides “aeronautical”
that could go in front of dork and still be appropriately referencing
me) so I was intrigued by the cover. They told me a little about the
project and I asked if they planned on collecting it when it was
finished. This is a weird question because there can be something of a
stigma for “trade-waiters” so I defended myself by pointing out that I
write reviews for some dinky little website. I don’t like writing
reviews of single issues. There are websites out there that do a
fantastic job of just that but personally I want to judge a complete
story, not 1/12^th of the tale. It seems unfair to the
creators and those who read the review. But they had a strong pitch,
and asked me to try the first issue just for the hell of it. So I did.

            Exceptions should be reserved for the exceptional. Now it’s entirely possible that this book was written for me.
I can’t discount that, but I still want to recommend it to all of you.
It’s set in the not too distant future, always a good setting for
Sci-Fi, and involves a pretty messy global military conflict. That’s
about all you need to jump in because the conflict will be explained
through the metaphor of a poker game played by bored officers that
surprisingly comprised a majority of this issue. At the end something,
I don’t know what, drastic occurs and the pilots suit up to launch. The
final page mimics the cover with advanced aircraft punching the sky in
the mouth. In the background of this exploration of military life there
is an epic undercurrent concerning the evolution of man including the
role of biotech as a corrupting force of in-nature. The concepts are
tantalizing and I want to know exactly how it’ll play out. The wildly
different characters destroy any preconceived notion about
cookie-cutter attitudes of servicemen and women, which is as refreshing
as it is interesting as their group dynamic unfolds around the card
table and the clouds.

            The
art is bold. Oftentimes I find art that is model referenced static and
unappealing but Kat Rocha’s characters act their part in each and every
panel. She really utilizes one of the greatest strengths of this style
of art that I think is oft overlooked, which is when you have actual
people portraying the characters then you can very easily have everyone
look different and unique, just like we all do in real life! A far cry
from many superhero comics with identical body types with slightly
different costumes. Even in uniform they avoid uniformity. Also Rocha’s
commanding ability to draw the tech associated with a branch as
advanced as the air force, especially a future air force, is fantastic.
Everything looks researched, plausible and highly desirable. And at the
end of the issue, she even throws in a map, which as everyone knows, is
nerd candy.

            After
issue 1 I want issue 2 and as an almost exclusive trade-waiter that is
saying something. Sure this book may be designed especially to
titillate me, but I’m willing to be you’ll find your own aspect to
enjoy. Within comics the genre of post-modern warfare is practically
nonexistent so let’s all pitch in to help diversify our medium and
enjoy the hell out of it while we do so.