Review: ‘Redcoat’ #5 Feels Like A Comic Aimed At Too Niche A Readership

Redcoat continues to march on like some type of ‘Boys Own Adventure’, but with its cast of historical characters, most men, this whole series is beginning to feel, to this UK-based reader, like a comic specifically aimed at only an American readership. After all, I wasn’t taught anything about America’s colonial history and while I do know something of the Founding Fathers, Benedict Arnold et al, this series is becoming something of a lame duck for this reviewer. A comic set in the past, rewriting the past to cast the Founding Fathers as the enemy, and a Han Solo knock-off as the lead man whom I’m still finding hard to warm to given the lack of discernible character developing over the past five issues.

The artwork, of course, is superb, illustrated as it is by co-creator Bryan Hitch. Period details are meticulously rendered giving life to this bygone America. But with its focus on an America formed by white, rich men, writer Geoff Johns limits its appeal. Indeed, all but the briefest of cameos by Juliet Morgan – of the JP Morgan financial family – and this is very much a sausage party from start to finish. That, and the fact that this is a story set in a time that won’t necessarily appeal to a modern readership. 

Yes, there is mention of the Founding Fathers appropriating Native American magic to wield the powers they do, but this part of the mythos Johns and Hitch are creating is glanced over. And not for the first time. If I was being generous, I would like to think the Native Americans and their magic become a bigger part of this comic moving forward, which feels – given its cast of characters – like a comic of yesteryear, much like the period this series is set in. A male-heavy, all-white cast could prove problematic for any new readers wanting to jump on board. And that’s before the alternative history lessons we keep getting in the form of dialogue. That, and further double-dealing. 

Like so many Westerns produced by Hollywood, Redcoat tries to mythologise America’s past. And, much like those self-same films, it mythologises the past and ignores the facts, and the ten thousand years of America history that preceded the coming of the caucasian colonists. Five issues in and my interest is beginning to wane.

Redcoats #5 is out now from Image Comics/Ghost Machine