Royden Lepp

This is wonderfully dumb and charming. It’s giving Invader Zim but fluffy. I enjoyed Jeff as a stubborn little alien just trying to conquer a planet to no avail. The dino inhabitants of the world don’t really get him, but they are happy to extend friendship.

I enjoyed this and would read another one. A feel-good story everyone should read!

Summary: Jet Jones saves Oswald from the robot that's chasing him, but Oswald also learns Jet's secret - that the rocket boy is really a machine himself. No one else in his family believes him, though; sure, Jet's a little odd, and he's clearly running from something more than the war, but he's been such a help around the Taylor's failing farm that they're hard pressed to let him go. But Jet has a choice to make - he's sick, and the oil cells he scavenges are no longer working to power him. show more Going back would mean facing his terrible power and history, but staying may be putting the Taylors in more danger.

This volume also contains a reprint of the Free Comic Book Day story "Chores", which helps build the relationship between Jet and the two young girls, Amy and Ava, that comes up again in the main book.

Review: Aaaahh, this series is so good. I mean, where else can you get killer robots PLUS all the emotional pathos you can handle? (Well, besides Battlestar Galactica. But where else can you get new episodes about killer robots plus emotional pathos?) This volume, like the ones before it, is this wonderful mix of action and story and heartache, all wrapped up in lovely sepia artwork. My heart broke for just about every character in this book, Jet and Oswald and Roman and Jessie and Ava and even Jet's creator/father, who was initially set up as a bad guy but now is shading more wonderfully gray. The text is fairly sparse, but what there is is wonderful. The lines "When is it time to call it quits? Failure seems like such a slow process." set over images of the Taylors working - together - at their failing farm… well, that's already pretty powerful, and then when you consider the fact that those words are in a letter that Roman will never send to his father who is most likely dead… That breaks the heart, in a quiet and wonderful way. And the thing is, the whole book (the whole series, really, but this book in particular) is full of bits like that. And killer robots and jet packs. Good stuff. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Everyone? I suppose I should be more specific. People who like their steampunk gritty, broken down, with a hint of dustbowl flavor, and with some amazingly compelling characters should definitely pick this up. But honestly, this is the kind of series that I want to push on people. I'll stick with "Everyone." show less

Summary: In Volume 2, in the wake of an averted robot attack on the Taylor's farm, Oswald starts getting suspicious of the strange rocket boy. As he starts to learn a little bit more about who Jet is, and the secret's he's keeping, it becomes clear that there's even more he doesn't know. How much can they trust this strange boy from the war, really? And will they want to be in the middle when other strangers come looking for him?

Review: Rust is really good, maybe even better than I expected. show more It's kind of an amalgam of World War I/dustbowl Western/steampunk, with a hefty dose of family drama. A lot of the story is told through the pictures, both in the action sequences (scenes from the war, or Jet fighting off the robots that are coming after him) as well as in the heart of the story. The text is relatively minimal throughout - mostly Roman's letters to his father, although some dialogue as well - but there's a definite kind of quietness to this book (which is weird, because: giant fighting robots). But none of the characters are particularly talkative - they're laconic, reserved, shy, secretive, whatever - so a lot of the the characterization, as well as many of the most powerful moments of the story (like Jet fixing the sink in Volume 1) happen in their faces or their actions. The artwork also certainly contributes to the quiet feeling of the story. It's all done in a subdued palette of sepias, appropriate for the dustbowl setting while also building the mood. Lepp also has a way of using a blurring effect in his drawings - for movement, yes, but also rain, fire, close focus, etc. - that I've never seen done before in comics, and is really visually striking. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: It reminds me a little bit of Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, although that's probably the Western-cum-steampunk vibe more than the story itself. But if that sort of thing appeals to you at all, Rust is well worth tracking down. show less

Summary: Roman Taylor's father is away at war, so it falls to him to keep his family's farm running for his mother, brother, and sister. He's not alone, though: Jet Jones, a mysterious boy with a rocket pack and flying goggles he never takes off crash-landed on the farm, and he's been helping out. No one knows how long Jet is planning on staying, though, so Roman spends most of his time tinkering with old robots, castoffs from the early days of the war, to help around the farm once Jet show more leaves.

Review: Rust is really good, maybe even better than I expected. It's kind of an amalgam of World War I/dustbowl Western/steampunk, with a hefty dose of family drama. A lot of the story is told through the pictures, both in the action sequences (scenes from the war, or Jet fighting off the robots that are coming after him) as well as in the heart of the story. The text is relatively minimal throughout - mostly Roman's letters to his father, although some dialogue as well - but there's a definite kind of quietness to this book (which is weird, because: giant fighting robots). But none of the characters are particularly talkative - they're laconic, reserved, shy, secretive, whatever - so a lot of the the characterization, as well as many of the most powerful moments of the story (like Jet fixing the sink in Volume 1) happen in their faces or their actions. The artwork also certainly contributes to the quiet feeling of the story. It's all done in a subdued palette of sepias, appropriate for the dustbowl setting while also building the mood. Lepp also has a way of using a blurring effect in his drawings - for movement, yes, but also rain, fire, close focus, etc. - that I've never seen done before in comics, and is really visually striking. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: It reminds me a little bit of Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, although that's probably the Western-cum-steampunk vibe more than the story itself. But if that sort of thing appeals to you at all, Rust is well worth tracking down. show less