Reviewer: John Babos
Story Title: So smart in their fine uniforms…
Written by: Kurt Busiek
Penciled by: Carlos Pacheco
Inked by: Jésus Meriño
Colored by: Alex Sinclair
Lettered by: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Alternity Consultant: Lawrence Watt-Evans
Assistant Editor: Kristy Quinn
Editor: Scott Dunbier
Publisher: Cliffhanger > Wildstorm > DC Comics
What do you get when you cross a sympathetic hero like Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, the heroic grandeur of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, a world full of dragons, and your high-school history text book? You get Arrowsmith, a genre-melding creative outing by writer Kurt Busiek and penciler Carlos Pacheco.
Fletcher Arrowsmith is a teenager coming of age in 1915 in the United States. Europe is engulfed in conflict, with the rest of the world slowing being pulled into its First World War. The United States has yet to enter the European fray, but able body young men are volunteering to “take a hand in victory”. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it. It should be. Sorta.
This 1915, finds young Arrowsmith grappling with his dull existence in Connecticut, in the United States of Columbia. The magical-powered, dragoneer Overseas Aero Corps has come to Arrowsmith’s village to recruit young men of sound mind, soul, and body to join them in the good fight overseas against the tyrannical forces of rogue European states, manipulated by the undead Blood Emperor.
This issue sets the 6-issue mini-series in motion with Arrowsmith running away with his good friend Jonathan to join the Aero Corps, and master the magic that seems so far out of his reach, so that he can finally feel like he’s making a difference.
Kurt Busiek has done his homework. He creates a very elaborate world that marries historical fact and fantasy fiction. This is one of the few books that I would encourage readers to peruse its last page first. Kurt Busiek provides a new world map that gives readers a flavor for the world they have entered. Kurt really seems to enjoy writing this series — as his last page memo, superimposed on parts of the map, confirms. In addition to the intricate world created and the plot set in motion, his characters, particularly Arrowsmith, are very three dimensional, believable and interesting. Fantastic.
Carlos Pacheco is one of the best pencilers out there today. His eye for detail and sense of perspective really bring the world of Arrowsmith alive. From the cityscapes to the Aero Corps magic militia to dragons and sprites that seem to “fit” in this world, Pacheco’s pencils really help the story leap off the page. The body language and expressive features of his characters convey sentiments that word balloons just wouldn’t do justice. A fact seemingly not lost on Busiek or the book’s editors, as there are a few silent moments where Pacheco’s pencils are the main vehicle through which the story progresses.
Frequent artistic collaborator, inker Jésus Meriño, accentuates the best of Pacheco’s pencils and really infuses this book’s “look” with a frenetic energy that has been a hallmark of this successful pairing — Pacheco and Meriño provided the gorgeous artwork for one of the best books I’ve read this year, DC’s JLA/JSA: Vice and Virtue, that paired them with current “it” writer Geoff Johns and his frequent collaborator David S. Goyer.
Give Arrowsmith a chance, and try something different and original. You won’t be disappointed.
