From the Longbox – High Roads
November 1st, 2009
As an artist I suppose it can be hard to draw boring, everyday, rank and file Nazi storm troopers. So why not mix it up a little and throw some steam punk in to that sauce? Yes! Sprinkle some pipes here and some gauges there, now THAT is German engineering. Oh and ninjas. Nazi Ninjas.
My very first introduction to Señor Leinil Francis Yu was in the pages of High Roads by Cliffhanger comics ( a sub division of WildStorm ). High Roads is the story of US Army soldier Nick Highroad in the final days of World War Two. The short version is Nick, a midget, Hitler’s hooker and an honest to goodness kamikaze pilot hunt treasure and save the world.
The real short version is it’s very thinly veiled Indiana Jones action. Which in no way makes un-awesome. Even after just a few pages I knew that Yu was going to be one of my favorite artists and over the next 7 years he hasn’t let me down. In all honesty, between Superman: Birthright, Silent Dragon, and Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk it’s been difficult to not turn this blog into damn Leinil fan altar.
Moving on, let’s meet some Highroads places and faces!
This is Nick Highroad, he’s wholesome and full of values and tougher than a coffin nail:
Get yourself mixed up with the wrong girl and BOOM this happens. Der real ultimate power:
Someone should remind series writer Scott Lobdell that the French just surrender, they don’t necessarily switch sides like Blanche here. She was once part of the French resistance:
Finally if you’re going to build an Arctic super base please, please do it right. Make sure that mother is a pincushion of various caliber cannons. We’re all professionals here:
