Most comic books come across as pictures with words. What’s happening in the art itself is usually the most important part as you can tell what’s happening or is going to happen along with the mood of those on the page. But every once in a great while, a comic book comes along that breaks that barrier and reminds us that there is more to it then just a well received image. Jonathan Hickman’s four part mini-series, “Pax Romana” released through Image Comics is an excellent example of this kind of style as it’s chock full of words with a very unique blend of art as its background.
The story of Pax Romana is interesting to say the least. The concept is based around the later part of the 21st Century. Science has reached a whole new peak allowing human life to be greatly extended to upwards of 200 years. The Catholic Church still stands strong as a major religion and has been secretly funding scientific developments for most of history in hopes of bring about a greater change. The discovery of time travel by some of these religiously funded scientists have opened a path into the past for the Catholic Church to go back in time and fix some of the greatest struggles and conflicts that they have caused and have lead to a generally bleaker future. But can it really be that simple?
The art style has a very water color feel to it, making it more subtly and easier to take in with all of the text written over it. Lines are often neglected for style purpose with vague backgrounds that seem to look more like colored space than a town or desert. It’s as if the emotion of the specific area is represented through the chosen color and all secondary imagery has been replaced with it to keep the focus on the story and those in its direct context rather than leaving you searching for hidden details. You can clearly tell the time of day and weather behind each page as the color blends through the environment and into the characters themselves.
With Pax Romana being two out of four issues deep already, it will be interesting to see how Jonathan Hickman finishes the series up. Will there be more to it down the line? Will his latests book “A Red Mass For Mars” further bring his style of inking into a more mainstream approach or will this be the type of style that stays mainly in the indie category of comic books? It all depends on reader response and as we know, the readers cast their votes with their money, so head to your local comic book store and check out Image Comics series Pax Romana written and drawn by Jonathan Hickman.
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