Girls With Comics

Let’s talk about ‘American Dark Age’. I bought the comic at Asbury Park Comic Con a few weeks ago. I’m not sure what really drew me in. The black/red/silver color scheme cover, or the fact that the protagonist is a female who kicks serious ass.

The comic opens with our heroine, Katherine Brody, stabbing someone with a sword. She’s wearing fully body armor; NOTHING but her head is exposed. On her torso is a Slayer belt buckle. She mentions she’s from Oregon and that she’s a punk rocker. How exactly did she get here? Well, she tells us. Or at least begins too. One the day she decided to leave home. On that fateful day Earth fell into “The Blackout”. Everything just stopped that day. Electronics, war, peace, everything stopped. While that isn’t explained in full detail (it’s safe to assume that’s being saved for later issues) we do see a little bit of Katherine’s life. She played in a punk rock band. She lived with her father, who is her best friend. That dynamic drew me in the most. I’m rather close with my dad, so I always have a soft spot for characters who are as well (Barbara Gordon, I’m looking at you). Her mother is missing in action. Her father is trying to do what’s best for his daughter. They seem to lead a pretty normal life.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world in Vatican City, some priests are talking about this and that. One of them, Mr. Holly, is visited by an owl. The owl is clearly some kind of signal that shit is about to go down as he excuses himself from his fellow brothers. He meets up with a young man in a park, where he tells him “It is time to close the hand…” Awesome. Shit’s gonna go down. But we don’t see anything really happen yet. Issue 1 sets everything up, and we can assume everything after is going to be ten kinds of awesome.

The story telling is great. Writer/creator Jean Michel creates a believable character, within a realistic world. The art is also exceptional, with penciling by Jaqueline Taylor. The art is detailed which is a real feast for the eyes. You can find out more about the comic (including where to buy it) here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/megabraincomics/keep-american-dark-age-alive and I really urge you to check it out. I’ll be ordering issue two within the week (hey, I gotta wait to be paid).

-Lauren

Tags: Lauren

This entry was posted on May 24, 2012 at 11:10 am and is filed under Comic collecting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.