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A review by rick_k
Rust Vol. 1: Visitor in the Field by Royden Lepp
3.0
Rust is a dieselpunk graphic novel which is a little bit Iron Man and a bit Astro Boy. During The Great War allied forces created mechanical soldiers and aerialists with rocket packs. They won the war and a generation later the machines are slaves used for farming and industrial tasks. In the first volume of Rust we are introduced to Roman Taylor, a wheat farmer struggling to provide for his family. He is repairing an old mechanical soldier to help around the farm when a boy with a rock pack, Jet Jones, crashes through his barn. Jet is vary helpful around the farm, but also quite mysterious.
The Goodreads synopsis describes Rust as a "high-octane adventure", but despite the clever pun alluding to the dieselpunk theme, the story is really more contemplative. Simultaneously telling the story of the war and the struggles on the farm most panels are devoid of dialogue and action. I do think the characters are likable with some depth worth exploring. The mystery aspect has some promise, while the immediate storyline with Jet seems pretty straight forward, the overall history of the war and man's relationship with the mechanical men is intriguing.
The character art is somewhat inconsistent, but has some very strong panels. The mechanical drawing is excellent. Each of the mechanical men are beautiful and menacing and the motorcycles, tractors, and trees are artfully rendered. The coloration is sepia-tone with very nice smoke, clouds and motion blurs which adds great depth and energy to the story. The volume I have is hard-bound with a cloth-wrapped, embossed cover with foil and printed inlays. The paper and print quality are both excellent. Archaia has published a high quality product for a promising story.
The Goodreads synopsis describes Rust as a "high-octane adventure", but despite the clever pun alluding to the dieselpunk theme, the story is really more contemplative. Simultaneously telling the story of the war and the struggles on the farm most panels are devoid of dialogue and action. I do think the characters are likable with some depth worth exploring. The mystery aspect has some promise, while the immediate storyline with Jet seems pretty straight forward, the overall history of the war and man's relationship with the mechanical men is intriguing.
The character art is somewhat inconsistent, but has some very strong panels. The mechanical drawing is excellent. Each of the mechanical men are beautiful and menacing and the motorcycles, tractors, and trees are artfully rendered. The coloration is sepia-tone with very nice smoke, clouds and motion blurs which adds great depth and energy to the story. The volume I have is hard-bound with a cloth-wrapped, embossed cover with foil and printed inlays. The paper and print quality are both excellent. Archaia has published a high quality product for a promising story.