Rust Vol. 1: Visitor in the Field

Rust #1

by Royden Lepp

Jet Jones was built for battle, but must learn to be human.

Young Roman Taylor struggles to keep his family’s small farm afloat as the countryside heals from a devastating world war. And when a boy with a jetpack, Jet Jones, suddenly crash lands into their barn, Roman believes the secrets of this visitor’s past may be the key to their survival. But Jet, a robot made to look like a boy but actually built for battle, has brought more than even he knows to the farm and Roman may learn that some secrets are best left untold. Royden Lepp’s Rust: Visitor in the Field chronicles Jet Jones’s critically acclaimed adventure as the rocket boy tries to find a new home and something worth fighting for in this high-octane ode to family ties.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Steampunk, War, Young Adult, Robots

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2011

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, Rust is a beautiful book. You can tell Lepp has worked in animation. His art portrays speed so well. The sepia tones bring us instantly to the first half of the 20th century, from hints in the book it's set on a farm in the U.S. after World War I. But one where humans created machines to fight our battles for us. The machines are well-designed and have a "carpunk" look about them. You can see radiators and other car parts in their design. Roman is struggling to run the farm himself with his father away somewhere. Jet shows up one day pursued by a war machine. After a long drawn out battle, the machine is beaten and Jet stays on at the farm to help fix what was destroyed in the battle.

The book feels like good anime to me, even with the WWI setting. I love the carpunk elements and the sepia tone. Looking forward to reading volume 2.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spectacular start to a series. Rust is different from most of the comics that I read. There's no superheroes. The setting isn't specified, but it has the feel of something set in the Midwest after World War I. And it is after a war, one where robots did much of the fighting. And now those robots are coming to a small farm, headed by oldest son Roman.

Rust is instantly striking, but it's not just because of the big robots. It's the sepia tone of the art, and how much Lepp relies on it to tell his story. Dozens of pages can fly by without a word, but the story remains clear. It takes a good artist with a lot of faith in his work to just let it speak for itself in a medium where the art isn't always meant to.

This volume does end with a cliffhanger, which will keep me going to the next volume. It didn't bother me. I felt like that was exactly where the story needed to pause. And there are still enough questions left needing an answer that I know there's plenty of story left to uncover.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully odd book. There are some steampunkish elements, and I suppose a case could be made for including it in that genre. There are flashbacks to a conflict that appears, from the uniforms, to be World War I, but there are robots fighting, wonderful gasoline-powered robots. There are also boys with jetpacks, but it's not some fantasy conflict, rather a properly violent and bloody war. In the present day, we have Roman, a young man whose father is away somewhere. Roman writes letters to him, and it's hinted that he's involved in a war which may or may not be the same conflict in the flashbacks. Roman is struggling on the family farm, tinkering with robots while trying to keep up with the harvest and other chores. A mystery boy named Jet shows up being chased by a robot that Roman helps him disable. This is only volume one, so there are many more questions than answers. This is all paced a bit slowly for my liking, but I'm keen to see where it's all heading. This is a deeper, more complex work than it may seem at first glance.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so on to the intermission - in this case the first official (rather than selecting the later released prequel) book in the Rust series.

I say intermission as I pretty much read it in one evening while I was supposed to be reading another. Do not get me wrong it is not a light weight book nor is it boring or light on material.

Quite the opposite - however it does not have much in dialogue, using instead atmosphere and its canvas to tell the story. I will admit that so far the book felt like it was setting the scene but to be honest I felt it was a suitably paced build up which really lent to not only the story but style the author chose (making reference to the sepia tones and muted colours to give it both an air of age and to actually set that time in the mind of the reader).

So what to tell really - well even if I didnt stop myself on my no spoilers rule I am not sure I could really say much more - you have the characters including Jet himself but really you end the book with more questions than you start with however for me at least that is not a negative thing (probably as I have the second book on order already) but rather its the anticipation of glimpsing another part of the secret and not just of the aforementioned Jet - I think there are more secrets all round to be discovered the question is how quickly considering there are 3 more volumes to the series.

Well I guess this will be a demonstration of patience as I know I will not find everything (and possibly not even then) until the last page is turn however that is something I am definitely looking forward to.

[kaitlphere · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. It's slow and observant and takes its time to establish a strong sense of place and characters. It felt like the book ended too soon but there are multiple books in this series to move onto.

I really like how the struggling farm and the high-tech machines of war shared the similarity of antiquity. The farmer is struggling to find tools while the parts for the machines are hard to find. The farmer's family is still there because of a missing father and the machines are still around because of an ended war.

I appreciated that Lepp credited the flatters.

[Scott Asher · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a war fought by robots on behalf of their human masters, a post-war farmer and tinkerer works on salvaged robot parts to make ends meet. It’s an idyllic setting for a sepia story until a rocket boy lands in his field along with a towering war mech and they start fighting each other.

Rust
Visitor in the Field
by Royden Lepp
Archaia
December 2011

You know something is different about Rust when you start reading and find the title page after 30 pages of prologue about the war and during that prologue only 10 words total are spoken. Rust relies so much on art to tell its story that at times I found myself lost in this beautifully illustrated world.

When Rust does use words, it does so in such an unusual but natural way. Most of the narrative early in the book, and peppered throughout, come from the main character’s letters that he writes to his unseen “Dad” which brings a nostalgia and immediate sense of personal loss to the story that I could immediately empathize with.

A note about the hardcover edition: I’ve never seen a more attractive binding on a graphic novel. The hardback cover is rust colored with silver imprinted ink for the titles with two full color pictures on the front and back. Each of the 192 pages are in full color and printed on matte (non-glossy) pages. Everything about it emphasizes the “novel” in graphic novel. Very well made and immensely collectible.

It’s clear that this is only one in a series from Lepp, but what a start! One of the best graphic novels to come out in a long time and highly recommended.


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Published at BookGateway.com. This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.

[Zedsdead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is gorgeous. Rust colored linen hardcover, battered silver screen-printed title and framing for the beautiful cover picture, wonderful sepia toned illustrations of mechs and rocketmen and sun-kissed prairies... I was completely taken with Rust before I even started reading.

But the story earns its five stars too. It's set in an alternate reality after a WWI-ish conflict that saw giant mechs, rocketmen, and robot soldiers battling in place of humans. One family's peaceful farm life is interrupted when out of nowhere a giant mech throws a boy wearing a jetpack through their barn.

So much is shown instead of told, in facial expressions and body language, in the way the farmer gazes across a field or frowns at a bench littered with robot parts. Despite the violence, there's something very peaceful about this book. What a neat read.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice start. The pacing was clunky in some of the action scenes, but I love the subtle comparison between farming and war. Or how - really - life itself is a battle. Looking forward to more of that in Volume 2.

[Granit Hysiqi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kino's journey meets Shadow of the colossus?
I'm in.

[Dov Zeller · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something so quietly beautiful about this book. The setting is one that brews both a feeling of nostalgia for days before technologies became in many ways and in many places a focal point of social connection, and at the same time, there's a futuristic element -- jetpacks and robots. (Makes me think of Luke Skywalker on his aunt and uncle's farm in the 'first' film (1977).

It's the art, and the characters, who are allowed to be curious and flawed, the emotional depth as the story gradually builds, that drew me in. So many graphic adventures for kids, just like the animated movies, try so hard to entertain and the speed is frenetic and the emotional they don't allow for deeper, curioser emotional connections. This one, I really felt like I was given time and space to settle into the physical and emotional realities of this world and to wonder who these characters are, where they're from, what makes them tick.

An interesting use of epistolary narration. Some intriguing questions left unanswered. There were a few moments when I felt the story was a bit thin or over-percolated. Perhaps if it weren't for the beauty of the book I would have given it a 4 star. But the book is I think a real work of art, and the story quite good. I look forward to reading the next in the series.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting in concept and visual style. But I wanted more story, and more character. Too many of the action scenes were like overly-detailed storyboarding; if at least 1/3 of those dialogue-less panels disappeared, no one would notice. Surprisingly little happens in 200 pages.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book. The limited color scheme scheme really worked in this melancholy depiction of a farm family in a post-war, sometime-in-the-future world. Can't wait for the next.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 1 of "Rust" is a simple but remarkably well-done story. With its diesel-punk setting, sparse storytelling, and antique color scheme, the different elements of this story come together quite well to make the whole. The scope is simple - focusing on Jet Jones, his efforts to escape his traumatic history with war, and the family that takes him in. The themes of family, identity, and trauma are resonant and there is enough suspense and menace in the background of the story to keep things interesting.

While the simplicity of the story is part of its effectiveness, it also is the main weakness. There are times in the story where too little seems to happen, leaving a plot that is ultimately rather thin for the size of the volume.

However, this is my only real complaint, and the simplicity of the plot doesn't really stop me from enjoying the story. On most counts, "Rust" is a solid story that could appeal to readers of all ages.

[Nate]

Here is a great example of visual storytelling. Most of these almost 200 pages have no text, which means there’s lots of showing and not telling. Lepp’s storytelling remains clear throughout. You can tell he works in animation by how smoothly the action moves from panel to panel. I hate when comic writers overload pages with text to the point where it reads like a novel, and this is the opposite of that. Well done.

On the flip side, this means the story is not exactly meaty. I know this is only volume one, but even still, I have more questions than answers so far. A boy in a jet pack crash lands in a barn followed by a robot seemingly out to kill him. There’s a backstory about how robots were created in a war (WWI?), eventually meant to take over for human soldiers. The story mainly focuses on the farmer finding out answers in the present. Interesting stuff, I like the setting and will continue with the series. I’m hoping it tells a complete, satisfying story by the end.

[Terri]

Fantastically beautiful graphic novel. The book opens in a battlefield, where humans and robots fight each other on both sides (how this came to be is explained about midway through the book, but it is not a man vs machine kind of thing). This part of the book is illustration only-showing the various types of fighting machines, both large and small, and jet-powered flying humans. Fifty years later and it is present day. The story is narrated by Roman, a young farmer, in the form of letters to his absent father (whose absence in not explained). We read that he is having increasing difficulty managing the farm on his own. So he is trying to rebuild a fighting machine from bits and pieces found on the land, which he will recode to be a farmer worker. He then goes on to explain that the workload has been eased of late by the presence of Jet Jones, a young man who appeared one day, shooting out of the barn, wearing a jet-pack, being chased by a two-story tall fighting machine. Together Roman and Jet stop the large robot, and Jet stays on to help out, fix the damage his fight caused, and eventually explain a few things about the war. Of course, he also keeps a few secrets from Roman and his family. The book ends with a cliffhanger, which I won’t reveal here, but it worked. I REALLY want to keep reading this series (of four books according to what I‘ve since read). This book appealed to all of us in my house-my 7-year-old My husband is still raving about it days after reading it. It is beautifully drawn, with sparse text, sepia tones. It has the feel of taking place in the prairies of the 1940’s or ‘50’s. Lovely. So glad I grabbed it from the library when I saw it.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rayden Lepp’s Rust: Visitor in the Field.
Cameron Stoner

The novel named Rust consists of five characters and a couple of robots. The story takes place forty-eight years ago in a war with a bunch of dead humans and robots. With one human remaining, he tries to obtain parts from the broken robots. He eventually escapes in one piece. Although this character is very interesting, he does not go into play in this story very much. Roman on the other hand is the main character. He lives on a big farm with two siblings a handy partner named Jet Jones and his mother.

Personally I would give this book a 10/10. This book has a lot of detail and really puts you inside the book. I think that this book is for ages all above seven. This book is really easy the comprehend and fall into the storyline. My favorite character is Jet Jones, only because of a few reasons. Jet is a character introduced in about a quarter threw the book. His life depends on some type of energy unit that runs off of oil. Jet is an very unique character and I think anyone would like him. I also like all of the robots in the story. It makes it seem realistic but at the same time fantasy. Even though my favorite character is Jet, I also like Roman. He is a very hard worker and he does have some skills I mean he basically saved Jet from the giant robot.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through the years, machines have been invented to help humans work more efficiently and live more comfortably. Robotics have come a long way from merely cleaning the floor and assembling parts in a factory. Now there are robotics that help detect bombs in buildings or are submerged in the sea to search for wrecks. It's not a stretch of one's imagination to think of a day when artificial intelligent machines will be designed to help fight our wars for us so that humans don't have to.

In this first book in a series of graphic novels, such a war was fought, and this is a story of one 'boy' with a secret, living and working on a farm, while enemy machines seek to find and destroy him. A farmer without much knowledge of the history of the war where machines fought alongside and against humans, finds pieces of machinery and tries to put them together, to build a mechanical being to work on his farm with and for him. He believes the machine can be coded only for farm work and not violence. But can it? Weren't they all coded not to turn on humans in the past?

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun book, I am looking forward to the next volume. Set in a rural American farm sometime after the last great war, it's sometime in the early 20th Century, or some version of it anyway.

A family trying to eke out some kind of living when a weird boy with a jet pack crash lands on their property and he's not alone.

I like that this book is set in a world something like our own but not quite the same. There's a kind of sadness to everyone in this book, like everyone is trying to escape this world even though they know it's futile.

The art feels very cinematic, at times it feels more like storyboards for a movie scene than a comic and it's an interesting take as the action scenes contrasts nicely with the longer, quieter moments of someone quietly trying to build a robot in a shack.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is amazing. How is not getting more attention? Apparently my library linked this graphic novel back in March and I never saw it once until a couple of days ago because it's circulated nine times since then.

Rust has a dieselpunk feel to it, and takes place forty years after a war involving humans and rogue machinery--machinery that now threatens to destroy Roman Taylor's peaceful farm and family.

This is a great read for 5th and 6th graders, especially guys, people looking for tamer dystopian fiction, and reluctant readers. It's also a great read-alike for Kibuishi's Amulet, Zita the Space Girl, Ghostopolis and others by TenNapel, and Jellaby. I can't wait for the next volume!

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally, I came away from this with a bit of a shrug.
But when I told my teen bookclub that most of this book was made up of an epic battle between a giant robot and a boy with a jetpack on his back, the room got seriously excited.

The illustrations are notable for their color - all in browns (ahem, rusts). It's the story of a world where robots were developed for battle in maybe WWI. And now combat robots are an accepted part of life (although most of this volume takes place on a rural farm).

This is merely the introduction of a much larger story.
And it seems to be a story that kids respond to.
Which is what really matters to me.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Jet Jones and his high tech jet pack came crashing down in Roman Taylor's farm, he was immediately given a place to recuperate despite a complete lack of knowledge of his past. Turns out he has quite a history as a warrior, one who battles giant robots in the ensuing war engulfing the planet. Could Jet and his knowledge be the key to turning around the Taylor family fortunes?

In what can only be described as a WWII-era hybrid of The Rocketeer and The Iron Giant, I found a very well written although lightly touched narrative about trust and fear in wartime. Give it a shot. I've got volume 2 loaded up and ready to read.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a creative graphic novel that depicts a future in which robots are built to do mankind's fighting and the uneasy relationship humans, at least a generation removed from the last war, have with the machines they rebuild to help them with their farm work. Is Jet Jones human or machine? Is he good or bad? I suppose I need to read the next installment to learn more.

It's a very quick read, even though I'm sure the drawings took quite a long time to make. I find the drawings, especially of human faces, to be pretty repulsive and very angular.

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canadian alternate history scifi on a farm (I'm hoping in Saskatchewan). I thought the art was Jeff Lemire-like before I knew the author/artist was also Canadian. Is there a Canadian STYLE? Is it a coincidence? Does it matter?

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes a little while to get going, but once it does, it really pulls you in. Plenty of mystery with enough clues scattered about to keep you from losing interest. Sepia illustrations are an excellent choice.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

Steampunk Americana. A very quick read that ended with a To Be Continued. There's potential here, but I'm not longing for the sequel.

[Elna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some beautiful artwork, but pretty sparse on story.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great art, story about a mysterious visitor to a farm. Someone who looks like a young boy but is great at fixing tractor's, water leaks, and fighting robots.

[Bill Coffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

There just isn’t a lot here. The artwork often feels crude and very much is an acquired taste. The story covers very little ground, and we learn almost nothing about our family of characters.

[Off My Shelves - Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for Volumes 1-4 |
As Rust begins, we are presented with a timeless, undefined battlefield. Humans are there, scattered, in WWI inspired uniforms. Then rough-edged robotic soldiers make their way across the devastated field and forestry. The robots are seemingly integrated into both warring sides and among the chaos a soldier is collecting battery cells, before he is faced and hunted by even more varieties of robot. He manages to outsmart his pursuer and then above his head legions of jetpack wearing boys glide through the sky. We then flash forward to 48 years later where the majority of the story takes place. On the farm of Roman Taylor.

Roman writes a letter to his father describing how he is struggling but things have improved with the arrival of Jet Jones, a young boy that has been helping Roman make a go of the farm. He writes about how Jet turned up at the farm. How he was thrown through the barn by a huge robot. Unlike a normal small boy though, Jet Jones, uses his jetpack, his speed, and his inhuman strength to fight the robot. The battle rages for much of the first of the four-volume series, but eventually Jet is victorious, and in an effort to repair the damage his fight created he stays to help Roman.

This is the story of Jet's past, present and future and how his presence affects Roman and his family. Secrets from 50 years previous get slowly teased out and over the four volumes you get an action packed, emotional tale.

Archaia, the publishing company responsible for printing Rust calls it “a high-octane adventure for all ages to enjoy!" That is as accurate a description as you are ever likely to get. The cast is intentionally small and unconfusing, their wants needs, emotions and lives are easy to grasp. The war introduced in the opening pages and its devastating aftermath are purposefully left undefined, which creates a straightforward backstory and present that most ages can grasp. It avoids heavy exposition and world building and in its places develops characters and their relationships. There are, essentially, only two locations across all four volumes, the farmland, and the battlefield in the past. It’s a personal, claustrophobic story that zooms in on Jet and his past, and Roman, his family and friends and how they deal with the present.