“The Red Badge of Courage” is considered one of the greatest and, some say, the definitive American Civil War novel about soldiers fighting in it. Comic book writer and illustrator Steve Cuzor, with colorist Meephe Versaevel, created a comic book adaptation of this novel with mixed results.
During the American Civil War, young farm boy Henry Fleming decided to enlist in the Union Army. He wants to “become someone in the eyes of others,” but internal conflicts make him double think his decision. The time comes when the Confederates attack and now he has to decide whether to fight or flee.
Most of the story seems just to be Henry being thrown from one situation to the next due to his running away from everything. The few times he stays and fights seem like him trying to stay alive by acting tough. One example is when he spends the majority of a fight carrying the American flag and running towards the enemy to capture theirs. He also complains a lot about the smoke whenever there is a fight. On top of that, the characters aren’t interesting or memorable. Even when one of them dies, it’s hard for the reader to feel any emotion towards them. The ending is a big slap in the face to the reader that screams, “This was all for nothing.”
At least Cuzor is a great artist. The way he creates panels that are full of emotion and tells a story that any comic artist worth their ink should be able to do. Versaevel’s skill as a colorist shine by having each scene have different shades of blue or green (and sometimes yellow) that are meant to portray certain emotions during each scene. The battle scenes are intense with lots of smoke, explosions, people dying and the general chaos expected from war
While “The Red Badge of Courage” may be historically significant, the story, even in comic book form, won’t keep the reader interested for long despite the amazing art. Weak characters and a plot where the main lead is thrown from one situation to the next are boring.
