Scout Comics 2017
Written by Massimo Rossi
Illustrated by Gabriel Ibarra Nunez
I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this story. People this is the latest offering from Scout that has really just been exceptionally well done. Stores need to carry these and y’all need to be reading this and spreading the word about it because this is the kind of story that comes out of nowhere knocks your knickers off and leaves you holding an empty bag. Massimo is emerging as a top notch writer with some mad skills that being from Italy we haven’t had the honour of seeing yet. I love that comics keeps getting more and more international and that we see so many writers and artists who have established themselves in Europe now finding an audience in the United States.
This issue is something of a departure from the first one. There isn’t a super-team involved, that was the Governments attempt to see if indeed the serum would work and they’d have a response team that could handle any threat. So last issue we saw them fall in battle, though honestly I really didn’t think they all died but okay we’ll see what happens with that later if indeed there is a survivor. Otherwise this is very much a story full of characterisation, development and establishing how those lost heroes were created in the first place.
I think Military minds around the world must all operate on the same wavelength so ironically if we could just eliminate them all we’d have far fewer warmongering arseholes in the world. That’s just my thought because for all their bluster they hide behind the scenes and you’ll never see them on the front lines. That Massimo both nails the characterisation and personality so fully that we see him for who he, General Mills, is and what he’s about, represents and the inherent dangers a man like him is to a President of a country well it’s superbly done. I am enthralled with Massimo’s ability to make us know and care about what happens to these characters/people, good and bad by the way.
So when we see the flashback here it’s more a history lesson, one to let us know more about Amon who is introduced here. It’s purpose is two-fold as it gives us characterisation and motives about how he behaves as well as tell us how long and corrupt the U.S. Government is and how dirty their hands are regarding international things. Both give us why Amon hates the U.S. and why they’ve kept him in status for so long, and though he’s supposedly a clone I'm not sure about that if his memories are this crystal clear and intact.
Gabriel’s interiors are sublime! I love the look where I can’t tell if it’s just coloured normally or if this has some kind of water colour effect to it. The way there are these vague impressions of the detail make it mysterious and interesting in ways that I am still not fully prepared for. I do wish though that we’d see his penis here instead of it feeling like a blacked out ken doll it is 2017 after all and that kind of “oh no we can’t show a penis” has got to go. Anyhoo the use of page layouts through their angles and perspective show a wonderful eye for storytelling. I usually clamour for more backgrounds to be used but for some reason here I’m not going to do that. Everything feels right, like there’s a perfect rhyme and reason behind how it’s done. I have NEVER said that before either.
So with this story now fully underway with Amon firmly entrenched as our main character moving forward I'm even more invested than I already was. His personality and attitude as they’ve been introduced make me want to see more of him. Massimo’s writing and the way he’s paced this so far and used plot, story and character development is one of the strongest I'm seeing out there. You really need to find a way to get your shoppe or subscription service to order this series for you it’s one of the best things to hit stands and proves why once again the best in comics is from the small/indie publishers.