FARMHAND, VOLUME 1: REAP WHAT WAS SOWN (Image Comics, January 2019) Rob Guillory, writer and artist. Paperback, 152 pages. ISBN # 1534309853 / 978534309852
Summary from the Goodreads website . . . . .
Jedidiah Jenkins is a farmer--but his cash crop isn't corn or soy. Jed grows fast-healing, plug-and-play human organs. Lose a finger? Need a new liver? He's got you covered.
Unfortunately, strange produce isn't the only thing Jed's got buried. Deep in the soil of the Jenkins Family Farm, something dark has taken root, and it's beginning to bloom.
From ROB GUILLORY, Eisner-winning co-creator and artist of Image Comics' CHEW, comes a new dark comedy about science gone sinister and agriculture gone apocalyptic. Nature is a Mother…
My review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
I love the art style of Rob Guillory, always engaging, clean and crisp but abundant with detail, and often containing Easter eggs. I'm trying to find the right word to describe it. Whimsical sounds too nice. Cartoonish sounds too harsh. More like seriocomic.
This is his first attempt (to my knowledge) at both writing and illustrating a story, and he knocks it out of the park. The story is inventive and loaded with enough subplots to fill a full-length novel. The series is planned for a 30-issue or so run.
Humble farmer Jedidiah Jenkins supposedly has a vision (or did he have an accomplice who has the real knowledge?) that resulted in the stem cell creation of the Jedidiah Seed. His breakthrough allows replacement human organs (arms, legs, eyes, nose, ears, etc) to be grown and cultivated like plants. The Jenkins Family Farmaceutical Institute also assists visitors from around the world to restore missing or damaged body parts. The farm even offers tours and field trips through parts of the complex that have been modified for amusement-park purposes. Various nefarious agencies are interested in either sabotaging the plant or stealing the technology, and Jenkins seriously needs to upgrade his meager security force.
That alone should serve as the makings of a very compelling storyline. But Guillory adds some family interest as well as some odd characters in the village of Freetown, LA in addition to some strange occurrences.
Prodigal son Zeke returns with his wife and children to become part of the family business. There's a curious little demon following Zeke around and tempting him to break his sobriety and return to his alcoholic ways. Zeke has a disturbing nightmare at the very beginning of the story that could be an omen of things to come. His son gets picked on at school by bullies, while his older daughter is often called to the principals office for her aggressive reactions to teasing. Zeke had a similar protector in school called Tree (because he's huge) who returns to his assistance and foils an abduction.
Zeke's sister, who never left the farm, is troubled and has a military past (hinted at by the cover for Issue #4) where she probably learned her street-fighting skills. She roughs up some local rednecks and then disappears, finding her way to the strange Zen-like former assistant, now living on the outskirts of town cultivating her own plants and exhibiting Poison Ivy tendencies of her own.
A tourist brings her small dog to the farm, against the rules. When it runs away and munches on a plant, the results are monstrous. When Zeke foils some foxes in the henhouse, there's a strange greenish tinge to their dead eyes. Likewise, a pig roast makes everyone lose their appetite when the prep begins.
Could the proximity of the farm be affecting the local residents, domestic animals, and wildlife? Guillory sets up all these potential conflicts in the first volume. There's more to be told, and the second volume hints to be darker in tone. Recommended.
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