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Foot Soldiers #1
The Foot Soldiers, Volume One
When all the heroes are gone, who will fill their shoes?
The first four chapters of Jim Krueger's cult-classic are collected here for the very first time, featuring superb artwork from Mike Oeming and sporting a cover by Alex Ross. In a future oppressed by a police force that keeps a law that no one can live under, a new hope is unearthed when three boys are chosen by a mysterious old man to exhume a forgotten legacy. Donning the gadgets and gizmos of gods and heroes, the boys obtain the powers but must decide if they can handle the responsibility of defending a world gone mad.
The first four chapters of Jim Krueger's cult-classic are collected here for the very first time, featuring superb artwork from Mike Oeming and sporting a cover by Alex Ross. In a future oppressed by a police force that keeps a law that no one can live under, a new hope is unearthed when three boys are chosen by a mysterious old man to exhume a forgotten legacy. Donning the gadgets and gizmos of gods and heroes, the boys obtain the powers but must decide if they can handle the responsibility of defending a world gone mad.
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
156 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2001
About the author
Jim Krueger
440 books59 followersJim Krueger is an award-winning filmmaker, video game developer and New York Times best selling comic book author.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 27, 2014
There were big shoes to fill... the heroes were dead.
A frightened people were defenseless and at the mercy of mechanized monsters that had reduced them to so many rats scurrying into any dark corner that offered refuge. The people were not only beaten down, but they were kicked while they were down. They were crushed under steel heels and their dignity, their pride, and their very humanity was trampled into the ground. They needed new heroes... They needed someone else to step up.
And that's where Story, Johnny Stomp, and Rags come in (and also later joined by fellow travelers Flower and Wally). Brought together by a mysterious old man, these teens were recruited to fill the empty shoes left behind by fallen heroes. They would become the Foot Soldiers.
Jim Krueger (Earth X, Justice) along with artist Michael Avon Oeming (as well as other top talents including Mike Parobeck, Neil Vokes, Jason Martin, Jeff Balke, Zach Brunner, Todd Klein, Alex Ross, Walt Simonson, Mike Mignola, and more!) kick off a compelling entree into this world of lost heroes and a populace looking for hope. Fine storytelling by master craftsmen set the stage for characters that you're willing to follow as they march toward greatness.
A frightened people were defenseless and at the mercy of mechanized monsters that had reduced them to so many rats scurrying into any dark corner that offered refuge. The people were not only beaten down, but they were kicked while they were down. They were crushed under steel heels and their dignity, their pride, and their very humanity was trampled into the ground. They needed new heroes... They needed someone else to step up.
And that's where Story, Johnny Stomp, and Rags come in (and also later joined by fellow travelers Flower and Wally). Brought together by a mysterious old man, these teens were recruited to fill the empty shoes left behind by fallen heroes. They would become the Foot Soldiers.
Jim Krueger (Earth X, Justice) along with artist Michael Avon Oeming (as well as other top talents including Mike Parobeck, Neil Vokes, Jason Martin, Jeff Balke, Zach Brunner, Todd Klein, Alex Ross, Walt Simonson, Mike Mignola, and more!) kick off a compelling entree into this world of lost heroes and a populace looking for hope. Fine storytelling by master craftsmen set the stage for characters that you're willing to follow as they march toward greatness.
July 21, 2018
Reviewing Volumes #1-3
Jim Krueger is one of of the underappreciated writers in comics. And this work is one of his magnum opuses.
The premise is simple, "When all the heroes are gone, who will fill their shoes". Justice was the age of heroes. Earth X, their twilight battle. It's a world where the heroes are dead, so fascism and totalitarianism move in to keep the people "safe". It's a world that these characters exist--they'er basically punk rock superheroes. Kicking it against the pricks.
Kreuger's is a writer's writer (for comics at least). And he's gotten praise/blurbs from Nocenti, Uslan, Larry Young, Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, James Robinson, Stan Lee, Alan Moore, Brian Steelfreeze, Mike Mignola, Jeph Loeb, Mike Allred, Frank Quitely, Mark Millar, Mark Gruenwald, Frank Miller, Walter Simonson, Eric Stephenson, Dwayne McDuffie, Joss Whedon and Kevin Feige, etc <---Literally the best roundup of blurbs I've ever seen. Particularly for a black and white indie comic.
Oeming, Hester, and Yeowell develop a wonderful black and white aesthetic. Within 15-issues (or so) there feels like one a very rich mythology underfoot (pun intended).
Jim Krueger is one of of the underappreciated writers in comics. And this work is one of his magnum opuses.
The premise is simple, "When all the heroes are gone, who will fill their shoes". Justice was the age of heroes. Earth X, their twilight battle. It's a world where the heroes are dead, so fascism and totalitarianism move in to keep the people "safe". It's a world that these characters exist--they'er basically punk rock superheroes. Kicking it against the pricks.
Kreuger's is a writer's writer (for comics at least). And he's gotten praise/blurbs from Nocenti, Uslan, Larry Young, Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, James Robinson, Stan Lee, Alan Moore, Brian Steelfreeze, Mike Mignola, Jeph Loeb, Mike Allred, Frank Quitely, Mark Millar, Mark Gruenwald, Frank Miller, Walter Simonson, Eric Stephenson, Dwayne McDuffie, Joss Whedon and Kevin Feige, etc <---Literally the best roundup of blurbs I've ever seen. Particularly for a black and white indie comic.
Oeming, Hester, and Yeowell develop a wonderful black and white aesthetic. Within 15-issues (or so) there feels like one a very rich mythology underfoot (pun intended).
August 27, 2023
An interesting dystopian tale. A ton of characters are introduced with surface level information. I would have loved to have a little more background information on the leads, a little more backstory. The comic is broken up by pages of text, it makes flow of the overall story a little clunky.
June 12, 2014
The concept of futuristic world ruled by robotic militia and kids who fight these oppressors with stolen superhero gadgets (mainly boots) is great, but the book is basically a set-up first volume. You can clearly see that Jim Krueger is really passionate about these characters and the story, but spends a lot of time developing characters, thus sacrificing story development. I prefer the new colored edition to the black and white edition, too bad we probably won't see the rest of the volumes in color.
April 22, 2012
Great concept: kids, living in a world where the heroes have all been defeated and killed, rob a super-hero graveyard and gain powers by wearing stolen boots. Alas, the actual story doesn't quite live up to the idea embodied in that concept. The black-and-white art by Michael Avon Oeming (or Powers fame) is a bit static and jumbled. Reading this didn't really make me look forward to the other two volumes. Too bad. Jim Krueger's stuff is usually better than this.
June 3, 2012
The story was a good read. This edition by Image collects stories originally published by Dark Horse in 4 issues in 1996. (There was a collection by AiT/Planet Lar in 2001 in black/white, while this Image Comics version is printed in color and includes multiple production versions of the initial 3-page proposal drawn by Parobek.) The book is heavy on a feeling of foreshadowing, but the dark tone and setting make it work.
December 1, 2014
Volumen uno, primera edición.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews