Another Disappointing Issue For So Many Reasons: ‘Redcoat’ #15 Review

In the last issue, we were given the revelation that Simon Pure has a family as we caught up with him in 1909 — an issue that was slow to start and never really got anywhere. So, with the opening of Redcoat #15 recapping of Redcoat’s battles with Benedict Arnold over the years (with some stunning art, and a couple of amazing and dramatic double-page spreads, and the return of Albert Einstein), I was expecting something more theatrical and action-oriented after such a mediocre issue. But other than some outstanding, period-accurate backdrops — that are as much a part of this book’s DNA as Simon Pure is — it’s another dud issue and the last I’ll probably be bothering with. 

But it’s not just the drop in quality of Geoff Johns writing that’s putting me off this once-promising series. It’s the whole conception underpinning this book. If you have been following my reviews of this title, you may already be aware of the problems I have with it. Redcoat is more than happy to whitewash the history of the USA and simply focus on the European colonisers and the American liberty won in 1776. And all the time failing to give a voice to most other groups in this melting pot country at that time. And after 15 issues, I thought by now we’d have a few more diverse voices and characters represented from this period in American history other than the Northman’s brief guest appearance. But we haven’t. White America and white history are still the order of the day, and I’m tired of it. It’s beginning to feel like a comic from a different era. Western films packaged up the lies of the past into mythological silver screen propaganda. The inclusion of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in this issue is apt, given that he and his show were so integral in the birth of many a stereotype that early Hollywood took up and projected onto the cinema screens of America. And look, I’m not calling out Johns. After all, the arguably flagship hero of this Ghost Machine imprint, Geiger, is American-Arabic, just like Johns himself. The star of this whole shared universe is a mixed-heritage hero. It’s just … well, there’s so much history to play around with. Why make it so Eurocentric after so many issues?

But I digress.

Bryan Hitch’s artwork will always be nothing short of awe-inspiring. Just take a look at the splash page that depicts the building of the Manhattan Bridge as it stretches towards a turn-of-the-century Manhattan Island, with the sun shining on the horizon in the distance, and you will be left stunned. A magnificent scene, rendered by a magnificent artist. But it’s no longer enough for this reviewer. 

Call me woke if you want — I’m sure many will — but this series no longer sits well with me. It’s become one that represents all that was lacking in comics in the Golden Age and most of the Silver Age. It’s hardly a progressive comic now, is it? A series that could have easily delved into the emancipation of the slaves, the immigration explosion of the European settlers flooding into America due to the Irish potato famine, job shortages, poverty and more, or even the indigenous people of America who have more than enough stories to tell to fill a library. And maybe one day that will come. But for now, we get another blonde-haired, blue-eyed superhero. Even if he is a Brit. 

Redcoat #15 is out now from Image Comics/Ghost Machine.