Illustrator: Jonas Scharf
Colorist: Doug Garbark
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Review: Art Bee
ones they love, we jump behind them and cheer for their efforts (plus it helps if it’s one of our favorite actors). It is hard to condemn one whose heart has been ripped out and stomped to
smithereens.
A few weeks ago Warlords of Appalachia #1 hit the shelves of my LCBS and caught my eye since my roots are in West Virginia. This comic is quite an original concept and could be a big hit
for BOOM! Studios.
Warlords of Appalachia starts shortly after the United States’ second Civil War, which started with Kentucky and other states seceding from the Union in 2041. The war is over and Kentucky
refuses to accept the sovereignty of the United States. The Union does not abandon the lone state, however. Aid pours in from the military as well as occupation, and other groups send assistance to the state in creative ways such as balloons and air drops.
This first issue is hard to tell you about without revealing the climax and ruining it for you. The
book is all about setup for the last few pages, which contain a hook that will skewer your gut and
pull you to the next issue. To do this, three stages have to be set up. First, the central figure Kade
Mercer, a “jack of all trades” guy. He was a former medic in the military and is currently a
mechanic in the occupied state of Kentucky. Second, the different groups have to be revealed
(though not fully disclosed) such as the Bluebloods and the Union military (headed by President
Oren Roth, a creepy man). Third, every avenging story has to have a trigger, and this one is no
different. We don’t get to see anything that Kade does on this path in the first issue, but the
trigger is a real climax, which is a nice feature to find in a comic book.
At my LCBS the title made me pick up the comic book, the cover enthralled me, and the artwork
inside sold me. The artistry of this comic book is amazing. Scharf has some amazing talent with
pencils and pens, and I say this believing that he is not using digital media for his work. This art
looks drawn not rendered, so if I am wrong, that is just another tribute to the man’s talent for
artistry. The scenery in the issue is very picturesque with trees so detailed you want to climb
them, and there is equal detail in the characters and other objects.
The big “attaboy” I want to give to the artists is in Kade Mercer. This character is about to be
elevated to an epic hero; it’s no secret. The artists create humbleness in Kade’s image which I
cannot describe or explain. If you pick up this comic you will see what I mean. The artwork
seems to reach a person on an emotional level about this character.
This comic book was a big surprise for me; I thoroughly enjoyed it and have added it to my pull
list. I hope you all do the same because this seems like a big hit to me, enough to be made into a
movie.
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