A cornerstone of a nation.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Luca Casalanguida
Colors: Lauren Affe
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
What They Say:
In the chaos surrounding Washington’s retreat into Harlem Heights and the loss of New York City to the enemy, two American soldiers attempt to locate the wreck of the HMS Hussar, a British ship sunk in the East River.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we near the end of this series and work through the smaller stories with their one-off nature, something that the book has long done well, Rebels gives us some good back and forth material here. Brian Wood definitely enjoys playing within this realm and showing the scale of time and events as little happens quickly because of the nature of the world at this point. This issue brings a new artist on board with Luca Casalanguida, someone whose work I’ve enjoyed a lot in the last couple of years, and delivers something that’s far better than I would have guessed. A book like Rebels has to hit a certain look and tone, which he captures, but the style of it has just a certain twist to it with the character designs that really clicks very well for me. Here’s hoping for a return to this property – and the property itself – in another run.
The story this time around focuses on a thirteen-year-old from Brooklyn that has managed to find George Washington in Valley Forge in 1777 where the camp is set up. He’s attempting to get through to him over several days but finds himself now able to get no further than Alexander Hamilton, who while doing work will listen to his tale. It’s not that they’re dismissive of kids but rather there’s only so much he believes he can offer to the cause in the state that it’s in amid the Revolutionary War. What the kid, Charlie, reveals is certainly intriguing as he talks about how he and his older sister Rachel have found themselves some ten tons of gold from the British and are now offering it to the cause because they don’t want to live under British rule.
The tale that’s told is pretty nicely done as we see how Charlie and Rachel defended their farm prior to this after Washington and the army had to retreat in the face of the British push in New York. While a lot were leaving and hoping to come back at some point rather than live under British rule, the two kept their farm safe and discovered through papers about the sinking of a ship nearby that had the gold. Charlie’s tale is one that’s easy to dismiss but he lays it out so clearly and there’s no obvious reason to lie as it gains nothing that Hamilton believes him. What I really like, however, is that it’s not a quick save for the hold but rather a six-year event where Charlie served in the war before finally getting back home and having the gold part of the founding of the country’s banking system. That said, I really hope that Brian Wood gets to come back and revisit this story from Rachel’s point of view as it could be fascinating.
In Summary:
Rebels has another great standalone issue that explores more of this period of the Revolutionary War and the many weird and strange stories that exist within it. A nod to Hamilton is certainly fun and getting a look at what happens to people alongside the war when they’re not actively fighting is always interesting, as it dealing with the younger aged group. The book has a lot to like in terms of story but I almost want to say that this was more like a revelation for me with Casalanguida’s artwork. I’ve really enjoyed his work on a few other series I’ve read recently but here it just seems like it comes alive in a very different way with the character designs and the landscapes that I want to see a whole lot more of this kind of work from him.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 27th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
