Runner Up: Freedom Fighters #8 – Robert Venditti, Eddy Barrows, Jack Herbert, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas and AndWorld Design
There were many victims in the wake of Nazi Germany’s rise. One commonly forgotten, the black man.
Between 1932 and 1942, black Germans were subjected to racial segregation, imprisonment for race mixing, beatings, ridicule, forced sterilization and sent to concentration camps. Those that dissented against Nazi German rule were “disappeared”, never to be seen or heard from again.
We’re shown that, much like we’ve always known, Nazis are inhumane monsters as they rip a newborn child from the arms of their parents. I think the baby is supposed to be Black Condor’s father. Eddy Barrows draws heavily on their pain as we’re given an up close shot of the mother screaming and the father crying. It’s a hard sight to see.
This issue of Freedom Fighters focuses on Black Condor and the black laborers that are forced to work in factories in Earth-X’s Detroit. Their conditions are painted as being less than favorable with long hours, exhaustion and constant hatred from the supervisors. Workers are beat for taking breaks or even seeming like they’re up to something. They’re also made to wear ear tags as a way to show where they’re supposed to be working, like cattle.
Upon seeing the conditions again, Condor is taken back to when he was just a young boy working in the same place. He remembers his father giving him his first set of wings and telling his son to escape before the Nazis caught him. Condor steps up to defend the assaulted worker, revealing who he is.
This sparks a bit of an uprising as the other workers not that they far outnumber the Nazis watching over them. Even as Doll Woman reveals herself as a PlaSStic Man, the real Doll Woman had been kidnapped and replaced in the last issue, the workers step up and show that they are not going to stand idly by and let the Ratzis continue to run them over.
Jack Herbert’s art in these last few pages are awe inspiring as Black Condor rises with the other black workers bearing their tools behind him, ready to continue fighting on. Not only does this symbol a new turn for the better, it will also strengthen Uncle Sam’s own power as the Spirit of ’77 gets even stronger the more people believe in the original ideas of freedom that America once stood for.
Everything starts to turn bright, where once the backgrounds were just dark, they start to lighten, complimented excellently by the blues and blacks of Condor’s costume. His face is filled with the righteous rage of freedom!
Freedom Fighters is one of those series that comes every once in a while. It’s action packed, tells an engaging story and focuses on the underdog and their rise. Black Condor absolutely deserved to have this spotlight shown on him and where he came from, especially since it’s been hinted at from the very beginning of this book. It makes sense why he’s so angry, why he’s so willing to risk his life for even the idea of change.
Robert Venditti has been killing it with this book and here’s to hoping that it continues on just as well! High recommend!
Ty Talks Comics 