Broken Frontier

The world now defines Atticus Mann as a free man, and while he may not dispute the title, he has his own definition of what freedom means.

The life of a black man after the Civil War is one of confusion. One must come to terms with what they were and what they are now. But for Atticus Mann, there is no real difference. As a young black boy stumbles upon Atticus’ solo encampment in the woods, he gets Atticus to open up and tell him the story of his life. How he went from slave to freeman to slave again, before finally becoming a soldier in the Union army. Some might say that Atticus Mann has lived through enough pain for twelve people, but I have a feeling that in this book, it’s really just getting started.

Brian Azzarello is a great creator of suspense. He carefully and slowly builds up his stories, giving the reader just enough to make them want more. His dialogue is hard, edgy, and always misanthropic. In a world of his creation, happiness is just an empty word that leads to trouble. He crafts this single issue origin tale perfectly, skipping back and forth between the present and past events with ease, breaking up the dialogue to accentuate each scene. Both main characters are believable, Atticus with his realistic world view based on his own life, and the child with his naïve sense of optimism as he tries to understand how someone else could see the world so differently. Azzarello paces everything incredibly well as he builds up to the big statement of the issue, and how these people see power.

Joined on this single issue story by guest artist Danijel Zezelj, Azzarello immediately puts him to task. With a story that bleeds with its complexities, the artist must be able to set a tone and mood with a few brushstrokes and still not lose any of the realism that the book requires. Zezelj upholds his side of the bargain nicely. His character designs and backgrounds are all easily identifiable, and his storytelling will never cause any confusion. But the real place he makes his mark is with his exceptional inking. Zezelj generously uses his inks to create the sense of horror and pessimism the story of a "former" slave needs. The shading is done in such a way that you need not see the characters’ faces to know what they are feeling and thinking, you can see it dripping from the scene.

Loveless, like Azzarello’s other works, is just as much about what is not said as what is. This is a book where you will be rewarded for paying attention and putting in a little effort to enjoy.