The American Revolution was a major turning point in America’s history. Many consider this period to be one of, in not the, greatest period in American history. So of course, like many historical periods, there have been many stories written that take place during this time. One of the more recent examples is “Rebels†by Brian Wood with art by Andrea Mutti and the first issue is a really strong start.
Seth Abbott is living in the New Hampshire Grants when the British start occupying the area. After seeing how poorly the British soldiers are treating his fellow farmers, Seth decides to join a group that wants to send them out of New Hampshire.
For a historical fiction story, this is actually pretty well done. Wood so far has managed to keep the story contained to a single area that had vey little to do with any major events during the American Revolution and avoid historical figures. This was smart on his part in that there is a ton of things a writer has to take into account to keep things historically accurate without resorting to alternate history territory.
The characters are also well developed. They are supposed to be these of the earth, simple farm folk who only want to keep their land and that is exactly how they come off. They don’t have any delusions of joining any faction to fight the war, they want their land back.
The only downside to these characters is that they sometimes spout some heavily clichéd revolutionary sayings that no 18th century farmer would ever say. It almost goes into Andrew Lloyd Webber cheesy.
Mutti’s art manages to bring to life this time period in a competent manner. From the way the characters are designed to the colors used fits with the era nicely. However, some of the facial expressions will take you out of the magic and into a realm of “why?†They look absolutely hideous.
“Rebels #1†is an excellent historical fiction comic with strong story, characters and art. There is some Webber like revolutionary talk and some questionable art, but it’s an overall strong comic.
Leave a Reply