Reviewed by Marc Mason

Finally had some sunlight in my schedule, went through the recent stuff I’ve received from the folks at Archaia. Here’s the scoop…

The DAYS MISSING: KESTUS hardcover collection is a lovely package of a series I discussed as it was coming out. This second dose of DAYS MISSING was stronger across the board, with writer Phil Hester and artist David Marquez handling the duties for all five chapters. At the end of volume one we discovered that The Steward- the man who folds time and eliminates days damaging to the human race- was not alone in his immortality. Her name is Kestus, and though she is immortal, she lacks the power to fold. This sets her against The Steward, delivering him an eternal adversary. Smart move. It adds higher stakes to the series, mixes up things on the character end, and gives the book a strong narrative hook. This has proven itself to be a franchise-level title, I expect that we will see many more volumes of The Steward’s adventures before the series reaches a conclusion. One of the best sci-fi books on the market.

Writer/artist Giannis Milonogiannis’ OLD CITY BLUES is an interesting piece of work. Set in 2048 Greece after it has been rebuilt following a catastrophic flood, we meet Solano, a good cop with a level head on his shoulders. After a series of murders indicates that the company that rebuilt Greece is up to some shady stuff, Solano and his fellow law enforcers battle hacked vehicles, out-of-control robots, and potentially missing dead men to get to the heart of what’s going on. I liked OLD CITY BLUES up to a point; Milonogiannis’ art is interesting and edgy and his pages really catch the eye. There are influences here ranging from Europe to Asia, and together they deliver a look not commonly seen in comics. Yet at times he falters- the action becomes unintelligible, and the storytelling becomes rushed. Both of these problems were prevalent in the story’s climax, where I had zero idea what was happening. That said, artists tend to grow out of those things. I’d read a second volume, no question.

I had a very mixed reaction to MR. MURDER IS DEAD by writer Victor Quinaz and artist Brent Schoonover. Retired cop Gould Kane thinks he killed his greatest nemesis, Mr. Murder, but there’s far more to it than he could ever guess. As he retraces the dead man’s final steps, he discovers one last job was about to be pulled, and Kane decides to hire the dead man’s crew and pull it himself. Betrayals, bad guys, and booze follow. The book is done in a mixture of styles, part of it drawn in classic comics style, mimicking Chester Gould and Bob Kane’s work, as well as Lee Falk’s, and part of it is handled in more modern fashion, and I rather enjoyed the way the creative team put it all together. It’s quite admirable. But I never really got invested in Kane’s life or his plight. I know we don’t need to like the lead in a noir; that’s not the issue. It was the story of the last job that never really grabbed me. I never quite bought into why Kane chooses to do it. Your mileage may vary. Beautifully put together package, I should add.

The gem of the stack, and the buzz book coming out of San Diego this year, was Royden Lepp’s RUST: VISITOR IN THE FIELD. A young farmer named Roman Taylor rebuilds his farm after a world war, thanks to some recent help from a young boy with a jetpack named Jet Jones. Here we get the story of how Jet and Roman met- it was as a leftover robot from the war tried to kill Jet, and a ton of plot pillars being put into place for future volumes of the series. Everything here works; the world Lepp has created is intriguing- both sedate and filled with danger, the characters are fascinating, and the art is exquisite. He has a gift for depicting silence just as well as he choreographs action sequences. The colors are also quite striking. RUST will be a strong contender for year-end remembrance from me this year. It’s a must for comics lovers.