Redcoat #3 Review

 

Creators: Geoff Johns & Bryan Hitch

Inkers: Andrew Currie & Bryan Hitch

Colorist: Brad Anderson

Letterer: Rob Leigh

Cover Artists: Bryan Hitch & Brad Anderson; Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson

Publisher: Image

Price: $3.99

Release Date: June 26, 2024

 

Simon Pure wants to know why he will die in three days. Albert Einstein wants to hear more about the Axe Of Lies. But Benedict (Arnold) Armistice rants about George Washington instead of answering their questions. Can Simon escape an overdue grave and prevent the destruction of the United States? Let’s grab our enchanted hatchets, leap into Redcoat #3, and find out!

 

Story

The founding fathers signed the Declaration Of Independence over a hundred years ago. Benedict (Arnold) Armistice has seen all that those years have brought. He has profited from them by making wise investments and choosing rich and powerful friends. Yet, like an itch that won't go away, it irks him that people remember George Washington so fondly. The man Benedict knew was a self-important fanatic who shed innocent blood. Washington transformed a childhood gift into a deadly totem of mystic force that can kill an immortal like Simon Pure.

 

Simon never sought to be someone of importance like Benedict or George Washington. After fleeing the Battle Of Trenton, Simon parlayed his skills as a mercenary into a happy-go-lucky life. His profession and the magic that made him immortal come with a cost. Years and even decades later, people seek out the man who killed their friend or loved one. But the cultists Simon thought long gone, who he aggrieved when he stumbled into a ceremony designed to extend Benjamin Franklin’s life, have reappeared. The same day that they attacked, Albert Einstein befriended him.

 

In Redcoat #3, Benedict explains why he believes Simon will die in three days. Simon’s death seems inevitable as explosive energy from the occult ceremony departs. More perplexing is the vision of death and destruction he glimpsed in Benedict's office. Albert Einstein's sister Maja also foresaw this. Her ability to predict the future prompted the thirteen-year-old boy to stow away on a steamship and travel across the Atlantic Ocean. Benedict claims he wants a life of ease and comfort. Albert believes he's hiding something. Benedict and Simon may cringe at Albert's murdered English, but the boy's studies have given him knowledge and wisdom. Albert channels that more effectively than the cultists wield their powerful totems in Geoff Johns & Bryan Hitch's story.

 

Art

Andrew Currie and Bryan Hitch bring history to life as George Washington's father reprimands him for chopping down the cherry tree. While Benedict (Arnold) Armistice affects joviality, closeups suggest a haunted man. Albert Einstein's hair reaches for the ceiling as he gestures at Simon, who grits his teeth and clutches his side. Then Benedict straightens his bowtie as Juliet Morgan, the daughter of John Pierpont (J.P.) Morgan sweeps into the library. The young woman sports an elegant dress and dazzling jewels.

 

Brad Anderson lavishes a loaded palette on Red Coat #3. The roaring fire casts yellow light into Benedict's wood-paneled office while George Washington charges through the blue haze of battle. A yellow sconce aids a skylight, illuminating a darkened room filled with occult treasures, relics of American history, and reassembled paleontological finds. After blue energy provokes a storm of green, a high-speed chase fills a double-page spread with yellow, orange, and rust, giving readers a foretaste of the prophesied apocalypse.

 

Rob Leigh fills white dialogue balloons with uppercase black letters and scraps of parchment with their italicized cousins in Redcoat #3. Words embolden and swell for inflection and raised voices and shrink for lowered or distant voices. No sound effects enliven this turbulent evening, but orange laughter erupts as a villain nears the completion of his plans. Thanks to Image Comics and Ghost Machine for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Simon Pure and Benedict (Arnold) Armistice couldn't be more different. Neither likes nor admires the other. Yet they once joined forces for a terrible purpose: to wipe out the founding fathers of the United States. Can the two immortals reunite to save Simon's life in Redcoat #3? Or will the frenemies provoke an apocalypse?

 

Rating 9.7/10

 

For another cover see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.