THE OLD GUARD: TALES THROUGH TIME #1: Fairy Tales of Blood and Bullets

Issue one contains two stories reviewed below:

“My Mother’s Axe”

The original creative team of Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez reunite for the opening story in this anthology series. Imagine living over 6000 years, imagine living more life than any human in history has, now imagine the accumulated weight of all that memory and the effect it could have on you as an individual. How do you carry on through a world that is constantly evolving and changing? What are your touchstones to help you balance the accumulated weight of multiple human lifetimes? These are all questions Rucka and Fernandez ask in a story that focuses on Andy aka Andromache of Scythia the oldest of the near immortal group. During a training session with the youngest member Nile, she relates the story of her axe.

One of the concepts that fascinates me is the idea or question of what would the effect be of living so much life have on a human being? I like that Andy has lived so long she often can’t always remember what is fact and what is stuff her mind has made up over time. If you think about your own memories this rings true. The further away from an event in one’s life you get, the more it becomes colored by your emotions and things like nostalgia till that memory may not resemble what actually happened but in your head, that’s how the memory lives.

Andy, for all her years, is still a very human figure and the axe is her touchstone connection to a distant past and person she thinks may have been her mother yet can’t be sure. The Labrys is her touchstone that she has in the ocean of years beyond comprehension she has lived and in some ways symbolic of Andy herself…over the years the Labrys has been broken and remade till nothing physical of the original axe remains just like Andy has been broken through years of life and remakes herself again yet in  Andy’s mind it is still her mother’s axe and a physical reminder of the lifetimes she has lived. Rucka beautifully captures the melancholy of Andy and Fernandez transports us through the years with his distinctive art style in a superb first installment.

“Zanzibar And Other Harbors”

Writer Andrew Wheeler and artist Jacopo Camagni take us back to Berlin in 1932 in a tale about near immortal lovers Nicolo “Nicky” di Genova and Yusuf “Joe” Al-Kaysana. The story touches on so many things, from fascism/Nazism, misogyny, violence against women, and outright homophobia imbued perfectly in the vile SS officer in the story. Yet despite its violent and disturbing nature, it is a story of hope and even community, that touches on a theme explored in the original series and that is the consequences of the good that these near immortals have done through the years, the lives they have touched and in this instance saved that come back to touch theirs. There is also again the stark reminder of how human these characters are despite their long lives, that quite precious moments can still be few and far between in this world that constantly seeks to interrupt those moments.

Even though it was written a while ago, it feels a timely tale as Trans members of the LGBTQA+ community face horrific measures to deny them proper healthcare in the U.S. The story reminds us that discrimination against queer communities is ever-present and bigotry almost always historically intensifies with the rise of fascism in any society… The club owning drag queen reminds us of this with these words:

” You come to us late I’m afraid. The place is overrun with fascists and dilettantes. The law does not even allow men to dance together anymore. Germany has turned against us! Yet we are a tough weed to destroy. You understand?”

These words carry a heavy weight with them but also steel in them and while I dislike the comparison to weeds I get that it is meant as a metaphor for strength and endurance.

The art is beautifully clean and stylish from Camagni and colorist Daniela Miwa who draw and color marvelously beautiful people in their suits and evening wear of the period, Nicky and Joe kissing in the moonlight in the park is a wonderfully romantic moment which is of course ruined by the violence of the fascist soldier they exchanged words within the club earlier in the evening.

In the end, when the violence is done we are reminded of the good these individuals have done and how that good comes back to them at the most unexpected moments.