This Comic Shouldn’t Work, But It Does: Reviewing ‘Redcoat’ #2

After a rather hit-and-miss debut issue, I am pleased to say that the follow up issue shows some promise for a series that, quite frankly, is a hard sell if not for the calibre of creators involved. Firstly, it’s a very American-centric comic dealing with the Founding Fathers, the Battle of Independence, and a particular time in history when the Europeans had come to dominate the country. A history romanticised and mythologised so often by Hollywood and other media, and which continues to be the case here too, ignoring the real history of America in favour of the America colonised by the Europeans. Furthermore, it’s set at the end of the 19th century and as such could be difficult to relate to as the subject of a comic book. This ain’t Classics Illustrated, but I have to commend both Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch in their belief in this property. And finally — and I may be being picky here — but Redcoat’s costume is outdated, even in the 1800s!

It’s a comic that shouldn’t work, but it does.

As I said, this was a much more positive reading experience as we meet Albert Einstein, who quickly takes up with our erstwhile hero, Simon Pure, helping him fend off the cultists he last saw in 1776! It’s a solid enough yarn, as Pure and Einstein cross country and head for New York, but I can’t help thinking how this whole concept could easily fall apart in the hands of a lesser artist than Hitch, who does a lot of the heavy lifting in this series. It’s his attention to period details — from the costumes of the architecture — that goes a long way in bringing this world of 1892 alive and immersing the reader in this historical drama. New York is dripping in the decadence of the grand civic buildings and mighty skyscrapers that were beginning to forging the identity of New York, with the high society we meet equally grand in their attire. and so lavishly and meticulously captured by Hitch that it’s hard not to be enamoured by it all. Plus it helps that Simon Pure is the kind of scoundrel-come-good who’s so easy to root for.

It’s a quick paced-issue that thrills, entertains and grips you, even when everything about this series should spell out its death knell. It’s evocative of adventure stories of the pulp past, with zippy dialogue that keeps this comic light-hearted even when danger threatens.

Redcoat #2 is fun and fast-paced and out now from Image Comics/Ghost Machine.