Big Guy & Rusty the Boy Robot - Frank Miller & Geoff Darrow
I'm not sure what to make of this Japanese-experiment-gone-awry, Big-American-hero-saves-the-day story. Darrow's artwork is intricate and incredibly minutely detailed, from the Tokyo cityscape to the giant dinosaur-like creature to the bullet casings cascading from the Big Guy's guns. And Miller's writing is a thrill to read, with alliterative passages like "This is your one, true purpose, you pretentious, pompous, pustulent, petulant, pathetic, pretenders to planetary power!" The whole thing is tongue-in-cheek, from Rusty's poor self-esteem ("They never should've built me! And I'm sorry they ever did! I'm just a waste of parts and money!") to Big Guy's can-do spirit ("Remember! Remember love and hope! Remember laughing and crying and the joy that comes with a job well done!") to the extra cover art in the back for issues that may not exist ("Big Guy faces his greatest challenge ... Moon Pig!").
And yet, there's something a little off-putting about the fact that Japan's prototypical nucleoprotonic Rusty is completely useless and that America steps in and saves the day.
Fed to jonathan's brain | September 06, 2003
