Creative Staff:
Story: Adam Glass
Art: Pat Olliffe
Colors: Gabe Eltaeb
What They Say:
Led by a young Theodore Roosevelt, a motley crew of soon-to-be American legends must work together to solve a mystery that threatens life itself. Harry Houdini — street magician and master of misdirection. Annie Oakley — a washed-up entertainer, eager for a chance to prove herself in a real war. Jack Johnson — an undefeated brawler and the son of ex-slaves, determined to get his shot at the heavyweight championship…When a terrifying alien technology destroys the USS Maine, these unlikely allies set sail for bloody Cuba, into the heart of a brewing conflict, to wage a shadow war against the greatest threat mankind has ever known. Before they were famous, they were… ROUGH RIDERS.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’ve had a real enjoyment with alternate history stories over the years, especially digging into the various Harry Turtledove “epics” that reworked things in some very fun and sometimes silly ways. Going into Rough Riders without knowing much, as I continue my pledge to pick up all first issues that AfterShock Comics produces this year once they got on ComiXology, there’s a definitely advantage to that as you just get to see what it is it wants to do. Adam Glass and Pat Olliffe certainly have a great range of experience behind them and they’re the kind of team that you just want to see what they come up with and run with it because it should be a whole lot of fun.
In a lot of ways, the book reminds me of the Robert Downey, Jr. version of Sherlock Holmes in that we’re getting introduced to Teddy Roosevelt in 1898 where he’s really an engaged kind of super patriot. He’s everything that we know from history with regards to work, politics, and family, but he also has spent a good bit of time buffing himself up due to influence from his father at a young age to help him overcome an illness. That physical presence is hid by the clothing he wears and it also hides the scars from some seriously bad incidents. We see in the prologue the kinds of lengths he goes to in order to save people, a group of women who are about to die in a building fire, and it definitely sets the tone for the hardened, stoic persona that is the embodiment of the quiet hero.
A good part of the book is about introducing name characters from history that he interacts with and setting up the job. While it’s mentioned in the solicitation but not in the book itself, he’s taking a mission to Havana in order to deal with the reality of what happened with the USS Maine (hint: it’s aliens) and he has to put his team together. Initially we get him bringing on a boxer named Jake Johnson and this, like his time with the women early on, clues us in on some of his views on race at the time. The next installment is about bringing on Houdini and likely some others going by the front cover to the book. It’s a solid way to bring things together, but the book also doesn’t have a huge hook in its first issue to demand you come back. It’s all standard setup pieces, appealing setup pieces to be sure, but since it skirts the truth about the USS Maine and plays it a bit more as a mystery you end up not really feeling compelled by it.
In Summary:
Adam Glass and Pat Olliffe definitely work well together here and the blend of history and the alternate take is definitely appealing. The core concepts are right and I like where it’s going with the story and Olliffe seems like he’s completely in his element here, with a kind of passion with the detail and layouts that stands out well. The execution of the story is solid but it just needed something a bit more to really give it some bite to demand you come back for more. I’ll definitely be back for more since I like this kind of story and all and it’s another solid feather in AfterShock’s hat as they continue to grab some really interesting books for their launch year that are diverse rather than homogenous. Good stuff and definitely worth checking out if the concepts are up your alley.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 6th, 2016
MSRP: $1.99