At the recommendation of my writing mentor, Jim Bricker, I picked up a copy of Rust: Visitor in the Field by Royden Lepp. Mr. Bricker rarely steers me wrong – and Rust continues his long running winning streak of excellent recommendations.
Reading this graphic novel requires a detail-oriented eye.
I approached Rust carefully. It’s a beautifully bound hardcover and its pages are thick and weighty. But its strongest impression comes from it heavy reliance on illustration and its sparse use of words. As a writer (and I hesitate to call myself that these days) I rely on the written word to convey my story, but Mr. Lepp tells most of his story through illustration. Thus I had to do something I don’t normally do when I read comics – I had to pay very close attention to the art. Ironic? Heretical? Yes and yes.
Despite my best efforts, I somehow managed to miss a key plot point regarding a young child, Oz. But, at the end, when I realized what I’d missed, I had to go back to the start and reread it again as it gave the story another level of complexity.
Rust: Visitor in the Field deals with the existence and use of mechanical warriors and workers in society, which is something I explore in my Dieselverse take on San Francisco. How these mechanations (and I am not sure I am using the right word / spelling here) are viewed and used by humans is interesting. There’s a play between a sense of convenience and fear among the human characters coupled with undertones of slavery and abuse.
Visitor in the Field is the first in a multi-part story by Mr. Lepp – who was kind enough to give a preview the next part of the Rust story at the end of the graphic novel.
Rust: Visitor in the Field is a fantastic read and I highly recommend picking up a copy.
