Scout's Honor #4 Review

“Please just let me be prepared.”--Kit

David Pepose: Writer

Luca Casalanguida: Artist

Matt Milla: Colorist

Carlos M. Mangual: Letterer

Aftershock Comics: Publisher

If you haven't been keeping up with this series by David Pepose and Luca Casalanguida from AfterShock Comics...you have certainly been missing out. This is a series about a post apocalyptic society where the religion is that of the Ranger Scouts, a Boy Scouts fill in. Kit, the main character, is ready to complete the trials to be a full fledged Ranger Scout when she finds out a deep, dark secret about the Scoutmaster and the society. Apart from knowing the secret, Kit has a secret of HER own. The rules are clear, no girls allowed in the Ranger Scouts. So, a girl in the scouts and she knows a deep dark secret...what could possibly go wrong? 

Pepose is doing a fantastic job writing this series. He puts twists within twists with this. Kind of like roundabouts in England. They put roundabouts inside roundabouts and you have to keep your wits about you. Same thing with this series. I interviewed Pepose on The Captioned Life podcast recently (link here if you’re interested) and we got to chat a lot about this series. Pepose has built this world in which the highway men are after everything the Scout’s hold dear in a post apocalyptic Colorado. It is also a take on a person’s journey with religion and how almost anything that becomes a basis for religion. In this post-apocalyptic society, the Scout’s Handbook becomes the basis of religion and you have Thunderdome Jesus a.k.a. Scoutmaster as the leader. Pepose has done a fantastic job telling this story so far. Then, enter in issue 4 (this one!) and we see where Kit goes from being a follower...to a believer. It takes some time and Kit has to reach rock bottom to get to that point. I won’t tell you how, but that’s what’s going to happen. At points this story is sad in issue 4, but then the payoff is huge for you to take that journey with Kit. 

Let’s talk art for a bit with Casalanguida and Milla. Sometimes, you get a writer and art team up that just works. I can think of a few that immediately come to mind a big one being Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo on Batman. This is another one of those situations. Casalanguida and Milla work so seamlessly together with the art and the colors on this book. The bright colors that are needed at times really pop against the muted backgrounds. In this issue there is a storm that comes on and that works. And did you see the cover with the giant spider? Yeah, that brightly colored purple spider with red eyes really pops out at you against that kind of dark bluish background. Going back to the interview with Pepose, he had been wanting to work with Casalanguida and Milla for a while but just had not been able to make that work before this book. This co-creation with those three folks, it was well worth the wait. They just click and that really comes across in the book. 

All in all, this book is truly excellent. The pacing is just right, the story is extremely creative, and the art work is just “chef’s kiss gif here”. I have really enjoyed reading this book so far and I’m just going to say...I was not prepared for where this issue went. That twist...is so delightful and I was not expecting that. Before you read this issue, repeat after Kit, “please just let me be prepared.”