BROKEN GARGOYLES #1 (Source Point Press, anticipated July 1 release date) Bob Salley, writer. Stan Yak, art. Raymond Gay, Jeremy Clark, Juan Fernandez, cover art. Robert Nugent, Marco Pagnotta, colors. Justin birch, letters.
The art is stunning and the world-building is amazing in this comic. Movies and comics share in common an ability to take a creator’s imaginative vision and bring it to brilliant life in film and images. I received an advance digital review copy from writer Bob Salley. This is definitely one you’ll want to pre-order from your local comic shop.
In Broken Gargoyles, World War I vets in a re-imagined “diesel punk” 1925 are isolated and neglected. They begin to stage a revolt to draw attention to their needs. The story follows two main characters, and switches back and forth between their point of view.
New York City looks nothing like the grainy black and white 1920’s photographs in history books. The opening panel of Issue #1 gives us a good look at NYC 1925 in Salley’s world. Art-deco like skyscrapers crowd out a small church which looks forgotten among the towering shadows. Inside is the returned WWI soldier William Manco, his injured face stitched back together with pieces of metal, drinking and contemplating his next move. “I’m a ghost in this isolated society.” HIs wife and son have left him, and his prospects for employment are slim, due to loss of vision in one eye and his unkempt and frightening appearance. While watching a victory parade that he’s not participating in, he learns of an alleged terrorist siege of a military caravan in Arizona.
The Arizona of Salley’s creation is a dried out, blazing hot husk of desert where prison chain gangs workers try to avoid swallowing too much of the billowing dust clouds ever present. There, Doug Prescott, a big bulk of a man in heavy cloak and gas mask coordinates the tank attack to draw attention to the forgotten men of the 117th Infantry Regiment. The caption-less large panel depicting massive tanks rolling across the land is perfectly detailed, and suitable for framing.
William Manco and Doug Prescott have served together before, and most likely will cross paths once again, and one is about to betray the other in a neat twist of an ending. This series is one to follow for sure.
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