Pick of the Brown Bag
May 3, 2024
by
Ray Tate
Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag, a review of comic books that are widely known and largely unknown.
Geoff Johns, associated more for his ties with DC Comics, ventures out into the indie world with the new brand Ghost Machine; t'isn't his first trek.
Johns recently launched Geiger and Junkyard Joe published by Image Comics. His latest foray offers the reader two new books: Redcoat and Rook Exodus.
To be honest, neither appealed to my tastes, but that reaction is only subjective. Objectively speaking, both may be in your bailiwick.
Of the two, Rook is more original.
Rook is not related to the Warren Magazine of the same name.
The magazine followed the adventures of Restin Dane, Time Traveler. Rook Exodus confines itself to the space travel realm.
Johns and co-creator/artist Jason Fabok with colorist Brad Anderson and letterer Rob Leigh fabricate a dystopia.
The creative team cleverly set the abysmal on a terraformed world. Not earth. By doing so, they eliminate oodles of questions. Why isn't everybody dying of radiation poisoning? Why are animals actually thriving? Etcetera. Etcetera.
I'll give kudos to Johns and Fabok. They haven't made the mistake of others when tackling the subject. Not a helluva lot of people survived the disaster; whatever that disaster may be.
The colonized planet "rebranded" as Exodus apparently suffered not from nuclear warfare but ultimately from economic disinterest.
Johns and Fabok defer from an explicit answer. They identify the problem as failure of the World Engine, which is a perfectly cromulent science fiction sounding answer. One thing is clear. The corporation abandoned the colonists. No free rides off Exodus.
Within this framework, the creative team generate a cynical vibe. Not only did humans screw up the earth; they also mucked up this earth-duplicate.
Rook begins with a snapshot of the planetary situation. The inhabitants of Exodus want off. They try and fail.
This opens a window of opportunity for people like Rook, the protagonist, who salvages to survive.
Rook is so named because he possesses a helmet that controls the Corvus genus, which includes rooks, ravens and crows.
Rook is a protagonist because he hasn't lost his humanity like others on this doomed world. When the ship comes down, he's there first and foremost to help.
Alas. Rook Exodus is a somber exercise, and people must die. So sad. Whether it be by technologic mishap or giant grizzly bear.
Being a fan of the wondrous movie Grizzly, you would think such a scene would warm my heart, and yet...I would have been shocked had Johns and Fabok killed their main character so early in the game. I don't even consider this a spoiler.
So, I'm left with the flavor that while pretty to look at, the gargantuan ursine actually posed little threat.
I know. I know. You're saying to yourself. Well, no name character is ever really threatened. James Bond, Batman, the Shadow, these men despite being contextually mortal are practically death-proof. Readers, such as me, find them fascinating! You have a point.
The trick is that if I'm really invested in a story, you can fool me. You can fool me into thinking that the star of the tale is really going to die, can die, will die. Case in point.
Known in America as "Missed by a Dollar"
In the Lupin III special, "One Dollar Money War" our hero Lupin seems to die spectacularly. We see it happen. The team even buries Lupin. It's preposterous. Lupin can't die.
I was so engrossed in the story that I bought the twist hook, line and sinker. For a good fifteen minutes where Lupin doesn't miraculously reappear, I thought something unthinkable. An assassin's bullet killed Lupin III. You can call me a sucker if you like. I don't mind. You should though check out that anime. It's a superior story. Cracking score as well.
In Rook Exodus, it was simply too soon to pull out a giant grizzly bear. I haven't decided if I even like the main character yet.
Anyway, after the bear attack, Rook reveals his cool car...
...his less than cool headquarters
...and what he does for entertainment around the old berg.
This is actually my favorite scene in the book. Johns and Fabok consider an insidious agent that few have. Boredom. What does the protagonist do when not fighting giant grizzlies or searching for food and spare parts? I can furthermore see myself doing exactly the same thing. Traveling the desolate world to watch movies.
Rook harbors another reason to view cinema. The helmets affect the user aversely. You begin to merge with the minds of the creatures you control. Thus, Rook reminds himself of his humanity through entertainment. Top marks for Johns and Fabok on this tacit aspect.
We see the extreme opposite in the form of the antagonist, toward the end of the book. This antagonist is male, and the cast is mostly a sausage factory. For me, that's a minus. You may consider it a plus. However, I'm willing to say that it's not a status quo that will last given the female helmet user on the cover.
Redcoat is somewhat self-explanatory. The story follows around an immortal redcoat comically named Simon Pure. There is no doubt in my mind that neither Johns nor co-creating artist Bryan Hitch are taking Redcoat remotely seriously. So I won't either. Nevertheless, I appreciate that they get history correctly before mucking it up with magic.
Paul Revere never finished his famed Midnight Ride. The British captured him.
Of course what happens next in Redcoat is ridiculous, but it does set up the world which turns deserter, rapscallion, cheat and conman Simon Pure into a hardly pure eternal.
The idea of the Founding Fathers and heroes of the Revolution trucking in magic is a hoary old myth associated with Freemasons and Illumanti nonsense. Though, It's perfectly fair fodder for comic books.
Still, I'm not sure Benjamin Franklin, even one inhabiting an alternate universe, is a really fitting subject for the mojo. The real Ben Franklin was a practical scientist and an inherent skeptic. Johns and Hitch already used Paul Revere properly and cameoed John Hancock. Ben Franklin wasn't a necessity and its a lot to ask me to believe this Ben Franklin is the antithesis of the proper one.
In any case, they could have used a nobody on the slab, or some obscure Revolutionary figure, because the ultimate identity of the recipient doesn't matter. Through mishap, Simon gets the whammy.
That's really not a spoiler. You knew he became immortal somehow.
Once immortal, the reader follows snatches of his long life. Again, not exactly played for drama.
The most amusing aspect of Simon's newfound longevity is that the condition doesn't cure his natural cowardice.
The trouble with Redcoat is its lack of singularity. When reading Redcoat, you can't help but feel overly familiar with the subject, since you've seen it done better in Highlander, Forever and pertaining to the Revolutionary War, Black Coat.
