Genre: Allegorical Dystopian Graphic Novel
Length:f 13 pgs.
Publisher: Devil's Due Entertainment
1. World's Immersion:
The gateway to SQUARRIORS: SUMMER inevitably rips another snippet from the cataclysmic past events of 1985. The moment is a deeply emotional wound, and the blood of that traumatic feeling, flows directly into the dystopian world of 1996...and that first reveal is a savage, animalistic one.
When I first picked up the SPRING mini-series, the arenas of Ash Maczko's delineated world were shown sparingly, except for the iconic image of the Tin Kin's runaway train wreck. Here, now, in SUMMER, with the sun scorching, we are brought right inside the fearsome Amoni stronghold. The visions do not disappoint.
A Tower was taken in Spring (was it a wind-mill?), now a Maw encampment. This is one of the landmarks shown, to represent the war brewing, across the wild rural forests of Illinois. And isn't that fascinating? What we refer to, in a world we humans would know - of course! Illinois! - has been utterly reduced to a savage land, where no creature is ever safe, but scrambling for shelter, and the redemption of their ways of life.
2. Characters / Icons:
In SUMMER, we now look at the lengths each tribe is willing to go, in order to follow their codes. And how the players interact within their own councils. Herein, lies the keys to the character of what being Tin Kin is, as to what being Maw is, or the Amoni.
One might believe that the Tin Kin and the Maw, being squarriors alike, ought to bond together against their Amoni or cat predators...but that is not the current case. As the Tin Kin stay corralled together, inside their compound, it becomes apparent that they are isolated among their own, on the defensive; whereas the Maw, although the same species, are willing to be in cahoots with their own natural predators. Do the Maw believe that the 'partnership' will continue once their mutual foes are defeated? Certainly, the Tin Kin are resolute in defending their Code of Will, even in the face of overwhelming opposition, and potential destruction.
What kind of leader is REDCOAT? Why is he willing to lead his tribe into battle alongside cold killers? For old vendettas? "Soon the Tin Kin will die for their code. But tell me, friends, are you prepared to die for yours?" I consider his use of the word "you"because where does he, himself, fit with that question? Does he not place himself in the same predicament as those he leads? I wonder...
GRIN: the mysterious rat spy who reports to the Emperor, remaining uneaten, because he possesses a tenuous value beyond being food. Half his face is stripped down to the bones, giving him a ghastly appearance. Armed with his array of found tools for survival, he strikes his own unique presence.
ZEEZEE: She turned her back on the Maw, to help the Tin Kin in secrecy. This character is one of several, who trade in shades of betrayal...for differing ideals? Crossing over to other codes? She has now made her own tribe into personal enemies and there will be many, out to kill her. If she continues to stand with the isolated Tin Kin against 'her own.'
3. Visual / Sensory:
The page that really struck me, was the revelation of page three, when we enter the Amoni stronghold. Ashley Witter captures a punishing, blazing sun-light...you can almost feel it...glaring harshly down upon beasts of burden. What appear as giants lumbering over squirrel-handlers, are, I believe, a skunk and a female mastiff...and the labor is literally tearing the flesh off their bones. It's a horrific vision.
Ms. Witter never takes lighting for granted...not even back-lighting. If you glance over all 13 pages, simply for the tonality of lighting, and what those choices grant to the story's atmosphere, you come to understand the importance of this hard-work, to the story's emotional moods.
When a rat named Grin shuffles into the picture, look for the human-made tools carried on his back - I really like the screws, which are huge on him.
The Amoni Stronghold itself, is rich in contrast to the blasting sun, because it is a realm of darkness, globes of candles, and cat eyes reflecting from a shadowy distance. Just some of the images...dusty translucent containment units. the raked wood of Emperor Ra's throne, melting wax candles...chains...all layer into an evocatively cold, death-camp.
Ashley's command of details, striking color coordination, textured and precise form, action dynamics, even the glossy globes of water droplets suspended on tufts of fur...is complete. She is one of the most impressive, young illustrators, working in the world of comic books, today. That's no fluffy bullshit, I know what's out there, and it's simply true.
4. Thematic / Mythic Appeals:
Ash Maczko's ambitions, here, are grand in scope.
The tally of Loss, is one of the 'touchstone' themes of this issue, opened up from page one in the personal, human tragedy flashback to 1985. Loss touches each of the characters, no matter what their stance or code; possibly the only exception, because he is so completely, a cold warrior, is Emperor Ra (and yet, I wonder what this stone killer's Achilles' Heel, might be). It is loss, which quantifies the stakes involved, at this stage of the story.
Code. Not the kind that we program, but the driving force of behavior, of beliefs, or in this story-line, justification of life & death. Much like our own world, where devout religions somehow find their differences, to be sparks of war. The seals, the banners, all symbols of organization, affiliation, segregation, ideals or zealotry. Friend and foe. Dividing lines.
Animals are the engines, and also the victims, of slavery. Work to empower the Emperor Ra's Amonis. Slave owners on any continent, Nazis or other mass-murdering death-camps...these themes are among the meanest, that we have on the planet. As shown through animals, the points are made in an adjacent clarity, to our own callous world.
Maczko's grand idea, here, is that our world has ended...and the ending of another, bestial world, is mirroring that savage charge toward oblivion. This eat-or-be-eaten world of the SQUARRIORS clashing codes, and inability to co-exist in harmony, is in itself, an existential cage, not unlike our own hurtling extinction. Seemingly inescapable, brutal, and only a matter of survival time.
However...one can't assume how the writer will choose to culminate this series...how it all ends, will be very telling, as to this facet of Ash Maczko's own world-view.
5. Structural / Story-Flow:
Within the creative confines of comic book format, Maczko shows a brevity of technique, so that we are simply immersed into the changing voices of opposing characters; an inter-tribal meditation on the universal struggle for survival.
This chess-board of warring factions truly helps the story, because readers are treated to an omniscient awareness of all the pieces. We are able to keep pace with our heroes, just as we are able to drop-in on the nebulous interactions of the enemy, as it schemes. And also the middle ground players, who choose to align against their own kind, with their predatory chain-of-command.
This shifting POV is very enjoyable in story-sense, and keeps a wide-scope perspective, on an entire world of interacting forces. Very ambitious.
6. Innovation / Genre:
Honestly, are there any other viable "Animal Dystopian Allegories," currently rocking this genre?
7. Writer's Voice / Language:
"Pledge his fur." Ash Maczko has written an epic comic book. Serious themes that layer upon each other, almost as a challenge to the reader. What is your code? Would you live and die for it? Would you...betray your own...deceive yourself...or fight for something greater than yourself?
Maczko has not written a superhero comic book, as much as we all enjoy them or are tired of them. He also, has not written this story in a pandering or jokey vein. He has not 'dumbed it down' but rather, has raised his own banner of expectation.
The writer's approach is closer to literature, in intent. They may all be animals, but this allegory confronts the darker nature of being human.
8. The After Resonance:
I enjoy Ash Maczko & Ashley Witter, a.k.a. TEAM ASH, for their dual creativity. I am always fascinated when I see a couple, as creative partners. There are many comic books where the collaborators are guns-for-hire, and in many cases, I can practically sense the boredom and paint-by-numbers effort that went into lesser works out there.
Team Ash is making it personal, because this creation is an accomplishment of passion, between them. And as such, the work looks and feels like it is already animated cinema; on these pages, one can already see moving pictures, with undeniable vividness of vision, ambitious clarity and power of story-telling, and also, with the seasons as structural story-spine, a need-to-see, what the Ashes' vision of WINTER will be.
Remember, the war has yet to be joined in full. There is much more loss, in far greater intensity, yet to come. Expect an animated movie or series in the future, because who wouldn't want to watch the fur flying, off of humanoid, bloody squirrels and cats, savagely battling it out?
In SQUARRIORS: SUMMER, every page of Team Ash's epic, is a standalone work of high artistry.
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