Riders on the Storm
Created & Written by Adam Glass
Illustrated by Patrick Olliffe
Coloured by Gabe Eltaeb
Lettered by Sal Cipriano
Soon-to-be-President Theodore Roosevelt commands an enigmatic crew of the early 20th Century’s most preeminent minds, talents and abilities. In 1898, fate had them embark on an enigmatical adventure that saw them save the world from the brink of extermination. Now
three years later, with the assassination of an American President, these unsung heroes
have been called to action once again, as they must uncover a worldwide conspiracy whose tentacles have reached far and wide into the fabric of society. But to defeat this enemy, the Rough Riders will have to push their own moral compass to the point of breaking.
One of the things about this book that i’m really enjoying is that Adam portrays Theodore as he should be. He’s not someone a lot of people actually liked but he was damn good at what he did. He was something of a blustery bully who wanted things his way all the time, at least according to most historical accounts as seen on PBS. So that he somewhat altruistically put together a team to help him do what needs doing while somewhat out of character is completely something he’d do in the realm of being in control.
It’s also a part of Alternate history that helps stay true to it’s concept. Well the assassination of McKinley Roosevelt rose to the Presidency and that’s true here though he has yet to take the Oath of Office so for the moment he’s still the Vice President. Though the team has his murderer in their possession and hopefully they will be able to get answers as to why they needed to kill the President! Can the team find the answers and stop those responsible before the nation erupts in chaos? Well with this team it’s highly likely though first they’ll have to face some of their own daring-doo if they are going to survive the experience.
I love Patrick’s interiors and with Gabe colouring it they’ve really become one of today’s best modern illustrating teams. The emotion we get here is spectacular and the especially the anger that emanates off Teddy, sorry Theodore. Patrick’s eye for storytelling using page layouts with their angles, perspective and utilisation of backgrounds brings us into this world, era and madness perfectly. Plus the two page spreads are a sheer delight for me. I love the attention to detail in the clothes, cars and city itself it’s the little things that make this stand out like it does.
This series is one of those MUST READS that come along in your lifetime unexpectedly, quietly and with the kind of surprise that thrills you to the core. The level of writing, story development, characterisation from Adam is the kind of stuff most authors only dream of achieving. Add in the interior artwork and this gets taken to a whole new level of awesomeness.
Aftershock struck gold with this series and the way it keeps growing and evolving becoming more and more intense as it takes history and rewrites it using ingenuity and wishes come true, well at least to Adam.