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Jeremiah Omnibus 1

By Tao Mori
May 5, 2012 - 03:19

Jeremiah is actually an old comic created by the artist Hermann Huppen in 1979.  It set in the post-Apocalypse following a race war in the United States that broke the country apart. As I'm only familiar with the first few issues I'm unaware if the rest of the world is also set in a world of chaos or not. Hermann also has set up this piece to best set in the Wild West giving it a very unique feel.

Jeremiah is the boy scout type of character who encounters the loveable scoundrel Kurdy who saves his life and the two become both best friends and worst enemies. They travel together across North America going on adventures usually as a result of trying to survive or make money.

I first encountered Jeremiah not in its comic form, but by the television series that went by the same name where Jeremiah was played by Luke Perry and Kurdy was played by Malcolm Jamal Warner. The series wasn't great, but I rather enjoyed it. It was set in the post-apocalypse, but the conditions of the world was much different from that in the comic. Anyway once I heard about the series I wanted to get my hands on the comic, only the comic was not easily obtainable, and I forgot about it. Then not even a week ago I happened to mention to a friend of mine about Jeremiah and what it was about and how I wanted the comic, then I go to my local comic book store in Nanaimo, and sitting right on the shelf when I walk in was his book. I couldn't believe the coincidence, so of course I had to get it.

Upon cracking the book open, my first impression was that it reminded me of the Tintin and Asterix comics, which also came out at the same time in Europe.  Much like those other series this one has also been printed in several languages and distributed around the world.

This Omnibus 1 contains only the first three issues, but each issue is about fifty pages each. The first story is Birds of Prey, which starts the story with how Jeremiah and Kurdy meet one another. Jeremiah's town is attacked by raiders and Jeremiah tries to get Kurdy to help him find his people.

Right away we get the sense of how much of a boy scout Jeremiah is as he is reluctant in killing people, the same people who are quite eager to kill him. Kurdy is not so morally restrained as he can shoot people in the back without a second thought. Kurdy is a realist in the story, not wanting to get involved in other people's problems as he tries to look out for himself. His friendship with Jeremiah strains that outlook of his as Jeremiah constantly gets himself into trouble as he tries to help others.

Though the balance of the two characters is what makes the comic works well, the different side characters that come into play are also quite interesting. In Birds of Prey the antagonist is Mr. Birmingham, the leader of the raiders, is an albino with a fetish for eagles. His own greed and obsession for his birds leads to his own demise. Mr. Birmingham is also partnered with the Red Nation, which are Native Americans who have formed their own nation, built upon the use of slaves that Jeremiah's people have been sold to. That's quite the idea to put in. In its time the concept of Native American slavers wouldn't have been so controversial, but today I imagine that's a different story. Nonetheless this work is a piece of fiction.

The second story is A Fistful of Sand, covering the story of gold buried out in the desert. There's a Spanish or Arabian family, I'm leaning towards Spanish, anyway they're searching for gold that these Militia (soldiers) hid. The militia wears blue uniforms, much like the US Calvary did back in the late 1800s. I don't know who the militia works for, but they seem to function like a modern day military. They even have an armored car that their horses pull around and it has a gatling gun in it. Yeah it was pretty sweet. The family also has camels, which is a little odd considering that this story is set in North America.

Here we get to see more of the differences between Kurdy and Jeremiah. Kurdy wants to keep the gold for himself, while Jeremiah tries to get the money back into the hands of the militia. Kurdy lies and manipulates his way to the money. The differences between these two different characters allows to the readers to empathize with one or the other. Or in some cases with both of them. Hermman himself stated that the two characters make up one person and I can see that. Though the story is far more compelling with two characters than just one.

The final comic in the book is The Heirs, which is a lot more complex of a story. Kurdy and Jeremiah arrive in a town set by bickering factions and Jeremiah's interference ends up starting an open war between them. Jeremiah and Kurdy seem to have the affect on people as their intervention tends to lead to bloodshed.

These stories all create a great sense of adventure. It's hard not to envy the two of them as they travel around solve problems. My only fault with the comics is that some of the translation is a bit odd. The translation to English itself is fine, but somehow there are places where lines are worded a bit funny. Also things happen sometimes without further explanation. For instance when Jeremiah meets Kurdy for the second time, Kurdy is tied up and he tells Jeremiah he'll have to free him if he wants any answers. Then the next panel we see Jeremiah tied up and Kurdy is setting him free. There's no explanation as to how Jeremiah was tied up, but he says that he'll let Jeremiah go because Jeremiah saved his life. We can assume that Kurdy got the drop on Jeremiah somehow, but there isn't any real explanation for it. I noticed a few scenes similar to that.

Other than these minor details, the stories are woven quite well. The artwork has fantastic detail in it too. There are many scenes where sweaty faces are depicted quite well. Kurdy's freckles are frequently visible as are the lines of people's faces. Those familiar with my reviews know I am a sucker for the little details. Let's face it too this was all done by hand, no fancy computers helped out here. The general look of the artwork stands between real and cartoonish, leaning more towards real. There's a gritty sense to the artwork as well and considering the setting that's to be expected. If you get a chance to grab these books, do so. This is a classic piece of work that feels familiar and doesn't feel dated like many old science fiction stories do.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12