Old Soldiers is a comic book by Kevin Stone and Big House Comics.
Stone writes, illustrates and colours the comic and that’s no small feat. Issue one weighs in at 26-pages which must have been a titanic labour of love.
The action in Old Soldiers starts on a bridge in 2014, and someone is waiting to complete a drop. It goes wrong. It goes badly wrong as multiple and competing forces converge on the scene.
The FBI is last to arrive, and they’re quite the body count to wade through.
Meanwhile, we’re touring the world, moving from Russia to the outback in Australia. These are clues, references to the past, the hell that was the Battle for Leningrad and, I think, hints at what is to come.
Kevin Stone uses two visual styles to tell this story. Most of the time we’re in familiar comic-book territory with heavily lined characters and lots of cleverly placed shadow. Occasionally, there’s an exception. When we’re looking at detailed architecture, it’s almost as if Stone has drawn over a photograph. It’s quite a contrast.
Issue #1 doesn’t give too much away, but it is clear this is not just a crime thriller or a historical mystery. There’s magic afoot, or perhaps science beyond or ken and I’m not sure if that broadens or narrows the appeal of the story.
Overall
I feel that we’re just skirting the beginning of the Old Soldiers story but one that could get pretty interesting.
Hard to believe that a solitary talent is behind the comic, the art is good, layout robust and easy to read and the writing punchy.
A fan of indies? Old Soldiers is worth checking out. Perhaps it’s destiny.
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