Golden Rage #1 is published by Image Comics, written by Chrissy Williams, art by Lauren Knight, flats by Shayne Hannah Cui, colors by Sofie Dodgson, and letters by Becca Carey. On an isolated island, Jay finds herself faced with a terrifying scene. Before her is the life and death struggle of women who have been unceremoniously dumped on this island for a reason outside their control. Now, on their own, every day seems to be taught at the expense of someone else. Or maybe there is still some kindness left on this forsaken island.
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It’s no secret that society tends to overemphasize the childbearing aspect of women. All too often, women are reduced to their viability as walking incubators for the next generation of humanity. In Golden Rage #1, we see this emphasis taken to the extreme as women who cannot bear children are sent off to this island. Needless to say, the majority of women appear to be in their golden years.
The only exception we see in this book is the story’s main character Jay. Appearing roughly in her mid-thirties, Jay has just arrived on the island and has already witnessed some horrible stuff. Luckily for her, she is rescued from certain death by one of the island’s few bloodthirsty occupants.
Once Jay is taken to her new home, Golden Rage #1 spends some time getting her and the reader caught up on the ins and outs of the island, as well as why Jay is here. The ladies that have taken Jay in are largely of the variety you might expect to find in fiction. You have the one constantly commenting on everyone’s language to the one that is too tired of everyone else’s foibles. The only one that somewhat stands out is Rosie, and she’s the muscle of the group.
Despite some of the personalities being a bit predictable, the book nonetheless does a good job of giving its cast some strong moments to allow the reader to become attached to them. Their struggles generally make them fairly sympathetic, and the writing gives them a small additional push to earn the reader’s compassion.
While the book does a solid job of introducing the reader to its cast and delivering a couple of endearing moments with them, it was largely too slow to get its hooks in me properly. If this is the pace the book will continue to go at, I feel like it will struggle. However, if it can get its plot clicking a bit more smoothly now that the setup is out of the way, future issues could have a unique tale to tell here.
With the strongest aspect of Golden Rage #1‘s story being the humanity of its cast, the art does a great job of focusing on that element as well. All the characters are designed and depicted as being random people you would meet in real life. No unrealistic body proportions, and all the characters look and feel like their ages. The various emotions in these human moments are also aided by some strong color choices. The scenes are all bathed in beautifully picked tones that accompany the tone of each scene wonderfully.
Wrapping up this book, we look at the lettering. The lettering delivers an adequate job of guiding the reader through the book while never interfering with the art.
When all is said and done, Golden Rage #1 delivers a solid start to its story. While this issue feels a bit weighed down by its setup, there is potential here if the story can continue to build up its cast now that the story’s introduction is behind it.
Golden Rage #1 is available on August 3rd wherever comics are sold.
Golden Rage #1
TL;DR
When all is said and done, Golden Rage #1 delivers a solid start to its story. While this issue feels a bit weighed down by its setup, there is potential here if the story can continue to build up its cast now that the story’s introduction is behind it.
