Broken Frontier

When you think of Kyle Baker, you think of humor. Here, Baker abandons humor and shows why he=s one of the greatest creators of his time.

This is the story of Nat Turner, slave turned rebellion leader. His story, however, goes deeper than that, back before Turner lead rebellions, before he defiantly learned to read. His story begins before he was even born, in Africa with the terrible slave trade abounding.

At this point, I feel almost as if I should just say AKyle Baker did it. It=s really good.@ He=s that consistent. This book, however, deserves special mention in the fact that it is totally serious, even tragic, whereas the vast majority of Baker=s work is comical. If anyone doubts his ability to handle serious subject matters, he or she should read this book right away. Baker deftly and deliberately weaves this story. In an interesting decision, Baker tells this story without the use of words. The decision was a good one as Baker makes it work. Baker allows his art to speak for itself with his expert pacing.

It may surprise some readers that in a book titled Nat Turner, Nat Turner only very briefly appears. The lack of his inclusion here to properly set the backdrop for his story was a wise decision on the part of Baker. A true emotional basis is founded, while a priceless sense of horror at the actions of the slavers also takes root. The inclusions of quotes from Turner himself and other historical figures serve to strengthen the story, almost as a narration to take the place of dialogue.

One of the most troubling aspects about this miniseries to those who know Baker=s work well had to have been his art. Fear not, as Baker=s art here loses much of his characteristic cartoon-like exaggeration. Yet, the art remains very clearly the work of Kyle Baker. He gets the emotions of his characters across perfectly and the storytelling is wonderfully smooth and clear. With Baker=s art, the absence of words does not hinder the story in the slightest. The grayscale meshes nicely with the story=s tone, as well. Baker includes several startling stark images into the story and conveys them nicely.

All in all, Kyle Baker has given us another winner. From absurdity to humor to now poignancy, Baker can handle anything...in his own unique way. Nat Turner is one of the must-read comics of 2005.