Writer: Richard Starkings
Artists: Moritat and Ladronn
Publisher: Image Comics
Many of you married fellows out there will identify with me when I say this, but my wife really doesn’t like talking about comics with me. Not to say women can’t enjoy a beautifully drawn book, or a well executed script, but my wife would rather sandpaper the anus of an alligator than go over a book with me.
Yet there I was last night running into the living room with this very book in my hand, begging for my wife to thumb through it with me. I knew what was coming, and I was still compelled to show it off. That’s how beautiful this book is.
Richard Starkings, my man, you have truly hooked me into the Mappo universe. Each month I am treated to a story involving one of a revolving panel of fantastic characters. I wish I had been there for the beginning of the lives of Hip Flask and his former super soldier. (Note: If I send you my kidney in an ice chest will you send me everything you’ve ever printed involving the Elephantmen? That’s the only way I could pay for all of it without my wife finding out.)
Obadiah Horn is the focus of this month’s issue, with his fiancé Sahara in hand as he is given his wedding present. Horn, for those unaware, is part rhino and thought to be the last of his species. When his betrothed reveals the present to be two single horned kinsmen of Obie, he’s overcome with emotion. What Starkings’ boys reveal in the ensuing pages is nothing short of magnificent.
Sahara gives her fiancé a moment to himself with the two other rhinos as they go for a run through Horn’s new wildlife sanctuary and looks to be more at home than he’s ever been. The woman then tells one of the security force members standing nearby about unicorns and how her husband to be is just like one. Not necessarily in appearance, which is the obvious reference, but in how she sees him as a creature.
I’m not one to get all teary eyed when reading a comic, but this book was very emotional. The entire book felt like a love letter from Sahara to Obadiah. From her description of Horn as the mythical unicorn to the flashback scenes of the Mappo soldiers, pain and suffering was the vehicle with which Sahara evoked her feelings of love for the creature.
This rang true with me because of my life before I met my wife. I made some stupid mistakes in the past because I was a typical twenty-something male going to college. I’m not necessarily proud of who I used to be, but what I did in the past made me who I am now. To hear my wife speak of what I went through helping to create the man she loves today is awe inspiring. How amazing must it be for Horn to experience the same thing with his soon-to-be wife.
What excites me the most about what this title offers readers is the unpredictable nature of the subject matter. I’ve not been on this series from the start (six issues altogether), and I’ve experienced the action of Trench, the comedy of Hip and the romance of Sahara and Obadiah. And that’s just for starters.
I’ve given up trying to figure out the overall story that is being woven together by everybody’s favorite letterer. It doesn’t matter to me anymore. What I see is way more than I could expect to get from many of the big two’s latest offerings. This book has some of the best art you can find anywhere in the industry and a writer whose love of the characters is palpable in each panel.
Don’t make me beg you to try this series out.
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