Redcoat #2

Redcoat #2

by Geoff Johns (Writer), Bryan Hitch (Illustrator), Andrew Currie (Illustrator)

THE UNNAMED’S REDCOAT IS JUST GETTING STARTED! It is 1892! The year of Coca-Cola, the first public basketball game, and Lizzie Borden picking up an axe! It’s also the year that immortal mercenary and former British Revolutionary War soldier Simon Pure finds himself the target of a mysterious cult. One that seems to know everything about him. And now Simon must do something he’s never done before—accept help. Help in the form of the most unlikely of allies: a 12-year-old Albert Einstein obsessed with unlocking the secrets to Simon’s magic!

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels

31 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 15, 2024

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B+) 78% | Good
Notes: On hatchet-slashing, party crashing, German fortune-telling; not translating words is grating, so's phonetic spellings.

*Progress update

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tongue in cheek adventure continues..
Simon Pure and young Albert Einstein find Benedict Arnold and a whole bunch of issues!

[David H Dunham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Redcoat #2 Review
Creators: Geoff Johns & Bryan Hitch
Inkers: Andrew Currie & Bryan Hitch
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Cover Artists: Bryan Hitch & Brad Anderson; Ivan Reis, Danny Miki & Brad Anderson
Publisher: Image
Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 15, 2024

Simon Pure wants to escape his grave. Albert Einstein hopes to prevent a catastrophe. What do the cultists that attack them in the cemetery want? Let’s grab our shovels, leap into Redcoat #2, and find out!

Story
Simon Pure once fought for the British. Now, he lives in Boston. Over a century has passed since the locals dumped tea into the sea, forwent their biscuits, and called it a party. The colonies have become the United States of America. And Simon Pure has died and been reborn many times.

Albert helps Simon fight off the cultists. Then, the teen chases after the man he calls "The Wizard." Albert tells Simon how he fled his home in Munich to prevent the destruction of the United States. Simon dismisses the boy's fears, intent on getting a meal and repairing his century-old uniform. Then pain seers him. The magic that always revives him now knocks him and Albert off his feet.

Okay. The boy stowed away on a steamship and crossed the Atlantic to see him. Maybe Simon should hear what he has to say.

Reading books on science prompted Albert to call out spiritualists, magicians, and fortune tellers in his native Germany. But then, his younger sister Maja started having visions, and what she saw came true. In Redcoat #2, Albert says Simon is a central figure in Maja's dream of the United States on fire. Simon knows magic is real. The colonists used magic to defeat the British in the Revolutionary War. Simon stumbled upon a ritual in 1776 that granted him immortality.

Simon isn’t sure how much credence to give Maja’s vision in Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch’s story. Nor does he know how he could prevent such a catastrophe. But something has gone wrong with his magic, so Simon heads off toward another man who's lived a longer-than-normal life. If Benedict Arnold can fix his malfunctioning magic, perhaps he can also prevent that whole End Of The World thing.

In Redcoat #2, magic granted two men who betrayed their countries immortality. The cultists who tried to extend Ben Franklin’s years believed Simon wasn’t worthy of their gift. But why should they, or their descendants, try to kill Simon in 1892? Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch’s story weaves intriguing mysteries into a compelling historical fantasy. Simon may have retained his youth and vitality for two lifetimes. Still, I don’t want him to die.

Art
Cultists clad in gray robes and red hoods surround Simon and teenage Albert. Flashbacks show Simon fumbling in combat. Andrew Currie and Bryan Hitch contrast these with Simon singlehandedly shooting a cultist before another cultist strikes him with an axe. Albert picks up the axe inscribed with symbols as the cultists flee and chases Simon across the cemetery.

Brad Anderson shows a blue glow where the inscribed axe struck Simon. Then, the blue immortal energy fills the air, flinging laundry
off clotheslines and Simon and Albert to the ground. From the backstreets of Boston to the carriage of a steam train, Anderson gives Currie and Hitch's art lifelike appeal in Redcoat #2. His loaded palette reveals highlights, and he uses darker shades of colors to portray shadows. Scenes set in New York City glitter with all the splendor of Mark Twain's Gilded Age. The travelers visit a ball filled with elegantly dressed guests and dine before a roaring fire in an immense library.

Rob Leigh bespells white dialogue balloons with uppercase black letters in Redcoat #2. Leigh prints their italicized cousins on scraps of parchment. Young Albert may not have mastered English to Simon’s satisfaction, but the boy’s enlarged cries resemble those of his “wizard” friend. While no sound effects enliven the action, the yellow laughter that spills across the ballroom suggests that, like Simon, Benedict Albert doesn’t take life too seriously.

Thanks to Image Comics and Ghost Machine for providing a copy for review.

Final Thoughts
When Simon's immortality malfunctions in Redcoat #2, he and Albert Einstein race across New England to prevent the magic inside him from sparking a holocaust that consumes the United States.

Rating 9.6/10

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon and Albert seek out Benedict in NYC in search of an answer to the small magic axe that wounded Simon and could bring the country to its end.
Johns mixes humor with a more sinister underlying story while Hitch’s detailed pencil work continues to impress as we dive deeper into the mystery of Simon’s longevity and what the plan could be spelling doom for the nation.

[Rob Vitagliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story picks up a bit in this one, and the threat becomes a little more clear, especially in a vision that's actually rather unsettling. Some more figures from history show up in this one, and there's plenty more of Simon trying his best not to give a rats ass about any of it. The art continues to be solid, as is with every Ghost Machine book I've read so far.

[Ziyad Baksh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun time

A quick read as the players arrive and the plot becomes clearer.

Albert einstein and Simon have a fun dynamic.

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beginning to like this series.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐. Even better than the first- Benedict Arnold was a nice touch.

[Oneirosophos · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is beyond stupid.

[Priscilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seriously!? Benedict Arnold!? Ok, let's see where this goes....