Rebels #7 Review: A Beautifully Uncomfortable Read

Comics have always been a wonderful way to escape into a flurry of explosive color and expression that combine art and the written word in new and interesting ways. While the culture of superheroes and villains continue to dominate the industry, there are those who choose to use this as a platform to tell a more personal story.

Rebels #7 is one of those stories.

The story itself seems simple enough. Set in the 1770’s in America, we are thrust into the lives of those living though what seems to be endless war. The focus settles on a woman named Sarah Hull, who we see hunting, cleaning, cooking and many other tasks as she follows her husband and the other soldiers as they marched from place to place engaging in war.

The simplicity of the story changes very quickly when Sarah’s husband is injured and she must jump into battle and take his place loading the cannon. In that instant everything changes and as we watch a women work hand in hand with male soldiers in the middle of battle.

Or does anything really change at all?

Writer Brian Wood takes us to a familiar historical war setting and with a simple tweak, turns the usual grind of war into a very strange and uncomfortable place. It is wonderfully done, with the final few pages of the comic some of the most powerful words and pictures I’ve ever seen put together in a comic.

Not only is it effective in this setting, but the issues raised in the comic are very much alive and going on today. Equality in the workplace and woman’s rights continue to be a problem, even though we as humans like to sit back and marvel at our great advancements in technology. I’m afraid it doesn’t mean much without the humanity to back it up.

The art done by Matthew Woodson is also spectacular and a wonderful companion to the great story. The colors are crisp and natural and the comic is drawn in a way that it looks very real and authentic. It was so vivid that at times reading the panels one by one was almost like viewing a slideshow in my mind. The final act of the comic was also very well done, with each character clearly showing the emotion that they were feeling and giving this reader chills.

This is definitely one of those comics that everyone who enjoys reading should pick up. Superb story, great artwork and a message that will resonate with the reader long after they have finished the last page. I highly recommend Rebels #7 and consider it one of the better comics I have read in a long time.

Four and a half stars our of five