Frontiersman #3

Frontiersman #3

Image Comics 2021

Written by Patrick Kindlon

Illustrated by Marco Ferrari

Lettered by Jim Campbell

As villains conspire against him behind the scenes, Frontiersman battles a lunatic in front of the world. A live, on-camera fight to the death with a former hero gone rogue! There is no place to hide!

There are a few things that I really, really like about this book. Ethan has been out of the public eye for so long he’s kind of clueless about the way the world is today and personally I find it extremely endearing. With each new thing he experiences and with each old “friend” that pays him a visit the more and more I like this guy. Also those responsible for this issues confrontation makes me wonder if they are a couple? It seems like they would be at least from what I can tell and I certainly hope so because it adds a little something to the mix that I wasn’t expecting but can totally support and get behind. There is something about the dynamic we see here that has so far exceeded any and all expectations that I have and that’s utterly delightful and it means that I am continually surprised time and again by the turn of events. These turns don’t have to be action oriented either; they can be from a purely storytelling standpoint because of his dealings with his family and with Deonte.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances do a magnificent job establishing and continuing to flesh out their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story the more enthralled and embroiled in Ethan’s life we become.

I am a huge fan of the way that we see this being structured as well as how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am also liking the way that these layers open up new avenues to be explored. I’d like to see more of Ethan’s past when he was a crimefighter in his prime and I like the snippets of what Regionaire is up to. What these, and more, do is add some great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. The way that we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.

There really is something special about the interiors and since Marco does it all, how the linework and the colour work together really leaves this huge impact. The linework is sensational and how the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create all the detail work is extremely well rendered. Backgrounds could be used more though what we see does a great job expanding and enhancing the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a superb understanding of how colour works.

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This is a charming, endearing and has such multilevel depth to it that it makes it such a joy to read. The writing is strong and intelligent with some stunning characterisation and these extremely well rendered interiors just put the icing on the cake.