Paolo Parente’s Rust #1 & 2 (Image – Parente / Mink / Zampbonin / Fabbri) – Rust was a much different book than I thought it would be. The art and layout of the book are the highlights of the book in standout uniqueness. The characters are beautifully done and the action is crisp and clear while keeping the very “European” coloring of the book. The non-traditionsl layout of the pages make it a very easy read to the eyes. The panel boxes which normally have hard edged lines have a much softer transparent approach in Rust allowing action, conversation and plot to simply flow across the page (sometimes literally). Even with it’s great artistic layout, it doesn’t save the “sci-fi original movie” plot line. The story boils down to an alternate history story where Nazis found an alien ship pre-WWII, thus having more advanced weapon technology… thus forcing the allied forces to up their game and through reverse engineering, spying and perhaps their own alien have their own advanced weapon technologies. Through the course of this two issue series we see gorillas with battle armor, zombie soldiers and some very NC-17 moments involving are main female character and her Nazi counterpart. Taking into account the great art and putting the plot holes aside, the two issues still read very quickly at $3.99 each. Great to look at, not much to read… but perhaps beautifully drawn Nazi women is your thing. 🙂
Grade: C+
