Home isn’t always welcoming.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Andrea Mutti
What They Say:
Seth Abbott started off a young, idealistic woodsman, but as the War of Independence draws to an end, it’s a battle-hardened man that returns home to his wife. But is it that simple to lay down the rifle and return to the way things were?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The first arc of Rebels has come to a close with this installment of the series and it’s one that takes us through the difficult life after the Revolutionary War. The main focus of the arc has always been that of Seth as we got to see him as a young boy through which he was forged by his father, and then as a young man going off to war to fight only to be brought into a larger world. It’s one where he got some education on how to live but missed out on a lot of what living is all about. But if not for the sacrifice of him and others like him so many others would never be able to experience life in a good way. There’s a mix of pain and pride that comes from Seth’s arc and this final issue of it definitely gives us a healthy dose of both of them.
Bringing us to the 1783 period, we get a kind of bookended story that brings the tale to a close. The bulk of it is in the flashback portion that takes us back to the final day before the war itself is formally over where the Continental Army is spending time going house to house in various areas trying to purge out the last of the British that are still fighting, not knowing that the war is over. It’s a rough piece of the tale because the war is over and people like Seth just want to go home, but it hasn’t ended for others at this stage and Seth is still at risk. It plays out well but there’s also some good divisions that are laid bare. Seeing him deal with an innkeeper whose son was a Loyalist that was killed early in the war makes it clear that there are those with grudges that will go on for a ways. And we also get the nod from Seth that he wants out of all of this because he’s not comfortable with some of the accords that were made, particularly when it comes to the slave trade. Considering he’s from Vermont and that they were one of the first to outlaw it, that’s no surprise and quite fitting. It’s almost a little forced with how it’s presented, a touch out of the moment, but it adds that element to him.
Seth’s return home is probably the hardest part of the war for him as he has to deal with the aftermath of what he went through. There’s stress and trauma from it that will haunt him but also that realization that he’s not sure he can return to simple chore life after everything he experienced. But the real problem is that he cut himself off from feeling for so long when it comes to Mercy that discovering she had a son by him and never let him know is just crushing. Though a rough family life of his own with his father, you can sense he wanted to do better himself someday but has now missed a large chunk of it because of his own lack of communication forcing her to be a lot more self reliant. There are some really nice details that comes from this and Mercy herself is of several minds and emotions. It really leaves me wishing for a book or novel to follow their tale from here as I want to know more of what Seth’s life is going to be like.
In Summary:
Rebels finishes up here with Seth’s main story and we get two standalone issues ahead of us – one of which will have another short story for Seth in it that takes place during the war. This arc has been a fantastic read through and through with the narration, the dialogue itself and the kind of cuts between time to give us a big picture view but humanized enough. A lot of that humanizing comes from Andrea Mutti’s artwork though as he made this series something more. I’m a fan of Brian Wood’s work to be sure, but Mutti has infused this with such a sense of place and time, a rawness and earthiness, that I felt very in the moment throughout it. His character designs along took it to another level and just made it feel authentic with expressions, especially when it comes to Seth. I’m eagerly looking forward to what’s to come next in the series as a whole but it’s going to be interesting to see if they can match or top this arc for me with the team ahead.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 9th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
