Barnstormers #1: Come Fly With Me

Barnstormers #1 opens up with the question on everyone’s mind, what the heck is barnstorming? For the uninitiated, barnstorming is the act of aerial acrobatics, where pilots would do crazy tricks with their planes to amuse an audience. Many areas host air shows, where this is dialed up to eleven. Today we have crazy looking fighter jets and a military with nothing better to do than show them off. But, back in the early 1900s private pilots would travel around, putting on unique shows for whoever was willing to pay for such a spectacle. These shows would display a wide range of skill from the pilot, doing various tricks with their biplanes, such as flips, dives, and twists. A popular trick that was adopted was wing walking, where a performer would stand on the wing of the plane while the aircraft is mid-flight. Now that all that nuance and exposition is out of the way, let’s talk about the issue.

Barnstormers #1 follows Hawk E. Baron, a pilot who has some unresolved PTSD, who is looking to make some money via barnstorming. Hawk, or as he’s later known, Bix, is the wild card of this series. As soon as you’d think that you figured him out, you learn a little bit more that will make you question his motives and intentions.  This kind of rich storytelling is what makes Scott Snyder’s previous works so enticing. This is a familiar world and setting, so it is up to the characters to hook us in and sell this seemingly mundane concept.

About half way through the issue, our secondary protagonist, Tillie, comes on the scene. Tillie is the child of poor farmers who is being forced to marry the son of a rich family. Her entire character is built upon the essence of rebellion, with her motives stemming from her disillusionment with the rich and powerful. Tillie steals the show immediately, with Snyder writing her as a strong woman, full of agency even though the world around her tries to steal it away. Tillie is not afraid to speak her mind, take charge of the situation, and is an excellent foil to Bix, who is almost the exact opposite.

The big plot reveal, or possible red herring, is that Bix is an escapee from an asylum and the visions he constantly sees about a robot attacking him may be due to schizophrenia or another mental disorder. Bix also is constantly questioning himself, not sure if he should act in a certain way or not. Tillie juxtaposes this with her carefree, but powerful demeanor placing her in the position of power. Even though this is just the first issue, Snyder immediately sets these characters up with a fun dynamic that grows more and more exciting every time more information about their histories is revealed.

Tula Lotay’s art here is absolutely stunning. She has this dramatic style that not only harkens back to stories from the early 1900s, but also gives this book a noir aesthetic. This also provides an excellent contrast to when Lotay draws the robot that Bix is constantly hallucinating. This makes the series ultimately feel like War of the Worlds, with the fantastic realism being broken up by intense panels of science fiction. Lotay’s attention to detail is essential, especially since a lot of the opening pages of this series take place in the sky where Bix is flying. There is only so much an artist can do with the setting of a blue sky, but Lotay completely sells it with the detail put into Bix and the plane.

Lotay also colors this issue in collaboration with Dee Cunniffee. These painted colors are what help give this book its vintage feel, while also highlighting some of the lines and pencil work. This helps flush out the uniqueness of these characters, making no two people look the same. These colors also help bring a sense of life to the settings, making mundane things look beautiful. Each panel and image looks like it could belong in a museum.

Richard Starkings’ letters are some of the most fascinating aspects of this issue. Right off the bat, it becomes apparent that this comic book is not going to read or feel like a traditional comic book. This is made apparent based on the lettering alone, with Starkings’ choice of font looking like a letter written during wartime to a soldier’s family. Starkings also uses onomatopoeia in a well crafted and striking manner. When the plane soars across the page, he fills the entire page with a “Boom” or “Vrhrooom”, giving gravitas to the noise and wonder of these machines. This also works well in contrast to superhero comics, where the onomatopoeia is usually depicted in a much smaller format, since loud crashes and booms are more common.