FARMHAND #15
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Rob Guillory
ART: Rob Guillory
COLORS: Rico Renzi
LETTERS: Kody Chamberlain
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Burt Durand
COVER: Rob Guillory
32pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(April 2020)
Rated “M/ Mature”
Farmhand created by Rob Guillory
Chapter 15: “The Knowledge of Good and Evil”
Farmhand is a dark fantasy comic book series from comic book creator, Rob Guillory. Guillory is also known for his award-winning tenure on the long-running comic book, Chew (Image Comics), with writer John Layman. Farmhand is written and illustrated by Guillory; lettered by Kody Chamberlain (who also designed the Farmhand logo); and currently colored by Rico Renzi.
Farmhand's central character is Ezekiel “Zeke” Jenkins, a husband, father, and graphic designer and illustrator. He returns to his hometown of Freetown, Louisiana with his wife, Mae, and their children, Abigail and Riley. Zeke's father, Jedidiah “Jed” Jenkins, and sister, Andrea (“Andy”), own and operate “Jenkins Family Farmaceutical Institute.” The “farm” grows plant-based replacement human organs and tissue, and once upon a time, people, especially transplant recipients, saw this as a miracle. But, since he returned, Zeke has discovered that the great miracle hides a great evil.
Early in Farmhand #14, Zeke gets a call from Randall Lafayette, summoning Zeke to “Uncle Randy's” house for some information exchange. While there, Zeke has some kind of seizure and collapses to the floor unconscious.
Farmhand #15 (“The Knowledge of Good and Evil”) opens to find Zeke in some kind of dream state or some place between life and death. And he sees it all – everything that happened that fateful day between his father, Jed; his late mother, Anna; and his father's partner, Monica Thorne.
When he regains consciousness, Zeke joins Randy, and the two head to the church of longtime family friends, Pastor John “Tree” Moore and his wife, Nancy. Also, gathered at the church are Jed and eventually, Mae and Andrea... and of course, Monica. Ms. Thorne wants to show herself – all her power and her army. And nothing will be the same again.
THE LOWDOWN: Farmhand #15 concludes Farmhand's third story arc, “Roots of All Evil” (a.k.a. Season Three), which began with issue #11. Like plant life, Farmhand is ever-growing and evolving with a cycle of life and death that brings about change. [Season One is Farmhand #1-5, “Reap What Was Sown” and Season Two is Farmhand #6-10, “Thorne in the Flesh.”]
“Roots of All Evil” is about revelation, however, more than it is about change. Yes, there are new characters, but some of the most crucial moments of Farmhand's back story explode out of the ground, the way those amazing mutant crawfish explode out of the pond in Farmhand #12. Farmhand's origin story seems to be about its own take on the Biblical bite of the apple, but there is more to the knowledge in “the knowledge of good and evil” than any one chapter can tell. So I would not be surprised to see a future issue of Farmhand return to the events of the flashback depicted in issue #15
I have thought of Rob Guillory's storytelling as brilliant since the day I first got a preview of Farmhand #1, but it turns out that I had no idea of what was really coming. It is hard to believe, but I must believe it since I have read it with my own eyes. Every issue of Farmhand is fresh from the garden of Guillory's imagination, and each one offers something new or some new things. While I await the next bumper crop, dear readers, you must go back to the beginning and discover Farmhand.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of dark fantasy fiction will want to be a Farmhand.
[This comic book also includes the one-page comic, “Freetown Funnies,” by Burt Durand.]
10 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://robguillory.com/
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