Bug Wars #1: The Fantasy Underfoot

A war rages beneath our feet. A costly, violent war. A war between bugs. Meanwhile the human world marches steadily onward, unaware of these seemingly insignificant conflicts. That is, until Bug Wars #1 sets the stage for a fantasy story that takes place in this tiny, violent world.

Deep in The Yard, in an area known as the Rootlands, beetle brutes assault the anthill named Rootguard IV. Axes swing, spears fly, and bug blood is spilled everywhere in Bug Wars #1’s opening pages. Above this war, Janice and her sons Slade and Sydney are moving into a house owned by Janice’s dead husband. Both sons are obsessed with bugs–Slade with collecting and studying, and Sydney with killing. Neither one suspects that they might have a deeper connection to the world beneath their feet.

Bug Wars #1 runs on two story tracks. Though the actions from one can impact the other, there is effectively no crossover. Aaron doesn’t intercut them which is a smart move. Opening in the bugs’ environment and remaining there for several pages, depicting a pitched battle in an ongoing war, leaves an impression. Aaron hints at bits and pieces of the wider bug world, but he doesn’t dwell which helps build natural curiosity.

No war in a fantasy world is complete without compelling images, and Asrar delivers in spades. He sets the stage in Bug Wars #1’s opening pages with sufficient detail to establish the size of a gathered army preparing to lay siege to an anthill. From there most of the battle focuses on small-scale moments: two characters standing off, heads cleaved in half, a small group of soldiers charging, eviscerations, and so forth. The battle sets up a classic fantasy realm of men and monsters.

Wilson gets to show off in Bug Wars #1 thanks to that same battle that opens the issue. The different bugs are a kaleidoscope of colors, and Wilson is adept at using light and dark with all of them to establish light sources and the relative shadows created by them. He further uses a variety of hues to create depth within the battle sequence, emphasizing the size of the armies involved.

Further contributing to the battle’s epic scope are the panel layouts for the first third of Bug Wars #1. The entire war and the initial entrance into the real world is depicted in two and three panel layouts that stretch the width of two pages.

This war written by Aaron and envisioned by Asrar, Wilson, and Carey is both memorable and enticing, likely to stick in the reader’s mind and drive anticipation until the series cuts back to it.

The human world in Bug Wars #1 is far more recognizable with its troubled family dynamic. It’s clear from the beginning that the storylines are destined to connect at some point, but Aaron doesn’t offer any hints as to when that might happen. He plays the human world straight, and there is definitely a tragic aspect to it.

That same level of detail that Asrar brings to bear with the bug world’s war in the early pages is just as evident in the human world. Shifting between thicker lines and softer levels of shading on characters’ faces successfully conveys the different intensity of their emotions. This is particularly useful between the two brothers, Slade and Sydney, with the ladder’s emotions always more evident to the point of moving him fully into tormentor territory.

There is a lack of balance between the two story tracks, though, in that learning more about what happens to this family isn’t nearly as urgent as getting back to the bug world and its war. But this ultimately doesn’t detract from the story.

Carey’s lettering layout choices are well conceived throughout Bug Wars #1. Captions during the fight sequence frequently overlap panel borders, keeping them as far removed from visual focal points as possible. Later in the issue, she keeps bubbles in dialogue-heavy panels well organized to create a quick back and forth sense during conversations and still avoid interfering with Asrar’s art.