Red Rooster: Growing Roses

Well, it finally happened...
I finally got to read Mitch Breitweiser's Red Rooster, kind of.

Red Roster is, as I said in my Allegiance Comics review, the only Indie Crowd Funded Comic Book that I have backed that I have felt that I have been scammed in some way. Its lateness, the mystery shrouded in the Allegiance "Wal-mart deal" and Mitch's lack of openness and communication with his backers over the books status was just a bad look over all.

But tonight I finally got the email that I could at least read the digital version, and I would be lying if I said that progression of events didn't add even more fuel to the fire of criticism by many fans on Twitter saying that the Breitweisers "don't seem to know what they are doing".

The comic is labeled as a "preview comic" and is only 24 pages which is half of the 48 promised to backers almost two years ago. So not only do we not get to read the full comic book yet but we also get stuck with a temporary "digital comic" that is not complete and covered in unnecessary DRM.

Every other time I have got an email for the digital version of a comic book I have backed via crowd funding I have just had to click a link, download it and read it at my pleasure, but not with Red Rooster.

When you click on the link with the Red Rooster email you get a page for a DRM service called DIGIFY which made me sign into my Google account giving yet another online source private information on myself that I would rather not give. Then, on top of that, it asked for even more personal information leading me to proclaim ON TWITTER that it wasn't worth my time and I wasn't going to go through with it. But curiosity got the better of me almost as soon as I  finished my impotent rant, and I filled out the online form and read the 24 pages of the comic that Mitch has finally made available.

But before I share my thoughts about the content of said digital comic I thought I would take one quick moment to opine a small observation I have observed since I created this blog and especially about how the comic book content I have written about has been received...

What I have noticed is the obvious fact that most of these articles are received "better" if they are observed in a partisan way by the audience that reads them and that I interact with on Twitter. The "partisans" I am referring too are the "soldiers" on the various sides of the comic book clans on Twitter. If I were smart I would cater to such factions and try and please one side over the other to gain readership and clout, but sadly for better or worse, that is not my nature. I feel forced, by desire and principle, to write about things as I truly see them and as I perceive them to be true. I would be lying if I tried to say that there wasn't one small voice lurking in my brain that desired that this comic book would be complete TRASH and I could write about that as a fact and cater to the audience I have and to please them. But sadly that is not the clear case with Red Rooster in it's totality , so I suppose that I will just have to displease all sides, and make everyone mad as usual. ;)

The 24 pages of the Red Rooster comic book that we have is actually a good read with beautiful art. I must admit, that I am as surprised as anyone else.

My surprise arises from many factors and prejudices. For one, the name "Red Rooster" sounds ridiculous and would seem to be a bad and awkward choice as a property to base a comic book on. Yet somehow in the time setting and the art style Breitweiser pulls it off and it doesn't become the issue one would assume it would be. The character and his motivations are presented well, and he is likable and believable and well written.

And the art is BEAUTIFUL. Some of the best work I have seen to date and I really enjoyed it. Breitweiser has almost all the tools that a great comic book artist needs  (except the ability to meet reasonable deadlines) in order to weave a good tale and to please the reader. Everything about the art, from the line work to the colors, helps the story flow in a perfect motion and does a superb job of bringing the reader into the Red Rooster's world and moving the story along. There is true artistic skill in every line and panel on the page.

The panel layouts were perfect and the story had depth to it's "feel" and even at just 24 pages it didn't feel like it was over too quickly.

All the characters, heroes and villains alike, were well written and I found them all very interesting. The rouges especially. The creators with this book did an excellent job of creating an "old school gallery" of bad guys that will instantly remind readers of great comic book companies of the past. Everything presented in this book is "right up my alley" and represents almost everything I like to see in a good super hero comic book... BUT...

It is hard to get over how late this book is. The "growing roses" method of making comic books is NEVER a good business model. Real professionals should never be this late or communicate so poorly with their customers. No beautiful artwork, or cool characters make it worth the damage and deteriorating reputation a creator will receive for themselves and the industry as a whole to be so late with a simple comic book. Growing roses or "detailed artwork" are not good enough excuses for professionals to not meet their deadlines or fulfill their promises.

It is such a shame really that such a beautiful work of art and story telling is held back by such unprofessional practices. Red Rooster could have been a contender- instead he is just a gardener growing roses instead of getting the real work done.

Update- 3/21/20: I was informed by Vikki on Twitter that the IndieGoGo said Red Rooster would be 60 pages and not 48- so thanks. I should hire her as an editor! And I also found out that I am "Internet friends" aka following on Twitter with the writer of Red Rooster Pellecreepy but my old man brain didn't make the connection! It can be hard to know individual's real names from made up Twitter handles!
Updated- 3/21.20: Had to update this article AGAIN to remove the email water marks from the images- not that I really care since my email is public anyway, but that was a really shi**y thing for them to do for a comic I paid for and used images in fair use for a review. Whatever.