TITLE: Rust: Visitor in the Field
AUTHOR/ARTIST: Royden Lepp
FORMAT: Hardcover
PUBLISHER: Archaia Entertainment
PRICE: $24.95
RELEASED: December 13, 2011

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Rust: Visitor in the Field takes a frequently-visited cultural motif, man vs. machine, and uses it to tell a story about the things we may be willing to risk when our backs are against the wall.

Years after his country (America?) used mechanized soldiers to help them win the devastating world war, young Roman Taylor finds himself struggling to keep his family’s farm running after the death of his father. Then one day, a boy (or at least he looks like a boy) wearing an aviator cap, goggles and a jet pack, flies into Roman’s field as he’s being chased by a giant robot! His name is Jet Jones. We know very little about him, with the exception that he claims to have been a part of the war. But he appears to be so young, so how can that be possible? In the aftermath of this encounter, Roman realizes that this giant robot, as well as a smaller counterpart, could potentially hold the key to saving the farm. But something isn’t right about these robots. There is an unseen, unspoken menace about them…

One of the things Rust does very well is emphasize the fantastic, wondrous nature of this giant robot that, for some reason, is attacking Jet Jones. Lepp’s art gives us a variety of perspectives, and is quite detailed when it comes to the little intricacies on this big honkin’ thing. The robots, big and small, all have a certain mystique about them that you rarely find. The only adequate comparison that comes to mind is The Iron Giant. Perhaps that’s because we know so little about them. In any event, it works very well.

Lepp also does a wonderful job developing the Roman character. He feels very real. This is a young man who feels trapped under the burden of the adult responsibilities thrust upon him after the death of his father. The robots seem like a way to lift that burden. But at what risk? It’s a great dilemma that, in addition to the mysteries and the things we’re not told, really fuels the book from a storyline perspective.

There’s a lot about the world of Rust that we don’t know. We don’t know much about the war, except that it involved robots and humans. Jet Jones is, for the most part, a mystery (though we seem to learn something pretty substantial at the end of this book). We don’t know a lot about Roman’s father either, except that he’s gone. These aren’t plot holes, but mysteries that Lepp uses to keep us turning the pages. That’s an element I wasn’t expecting to find in this book. It was a tremendously pleasant surprise.

Another pleasant surprise? Rust is a bit on the quiet side. Large portions of the book have no dialogue, giving full focus to Lepp’s art. There’s a real beauty to silent comics that I think goes unappreciated by many. Sometimes, those pesky words just get in the way…

Visitor in the Field is clearly meant to be the first chapter of a larger story, which I’m very interested to read. The man vs. machine theme is hardly new. But Lepp executes it so well, with intriguing characters, a great sense of foreboding and lovely artwork, that Rust has a great charm to it. Is it the best book you’ll ever read? No. But it’s pretty damn good.

RATING: 8.5/10

Front page image from cinemaaonline.com. Interior image from ifanboy.com.