Art by Menton3
Two of my favorite things are heavy metal music and comic books, so whenever I hear that a band writes songs based on a comic (like Iced Earth did with Spawn) or a musician is making comics of their own (like Tom Morello or Claudio Sanchez) I’m curious. The latest collaboration between a band and comic book creator is Matt Miner (Liberator) and Earth Crisis for Liberator/Earth Crisis: Salvation of Innocents.
Miner and Earth Crisis have similar beliefs on animal abuse and have teamed up to create a comic book that not only serves as a companion to Earth Crisis’ new album, Salvation of Innocents but also a continuation of Miner’s comic book series.
Salvation of Innocents is a concept album about events surrounding a vivisection lab. The comic book expands on this concept by telling the story from the point of view of a janitor named Sarah.
The strength of Matt Miner’s first Liberator series was though there was no doubt about his views on animal rights, he was careful to not make the book a soapbox by showing the consequences the actions of reckless radicals can have on the movement as a whole. He continues this in Salvation of Innocents when he shows some protestors taking shots at Sarah when she comes to work in the morning.
Miner’s choice to tell the story from Sarah’s point of view is perfect. Who better to guide the reader through the horrors of live vivisection then the person cleaning up after it? Sarah’s relationship with Darby the monkey is touching. She truly cares about him and vice versa. Miner makes Darby more then a prop by having him speak in a series of “ooohs” when he’s around Sarah, making the experimentation scenes more horrific. And yes, the book ties into the first Liberator series, but you’ll have to read to learn how.
Javier Sanchez Aranda returns on pencils and inks and has turned in his best work yet for this issue. His strength lies not only in his ability to draw, red, raw chunks of animal guts, but in his facial expressions and body language. Look at the scenes with Darby and Sarah. Also, there isn’t a better artist at drawing a creepy, sociopathic, stare then Aranda.
If you enjoyed the first Liberator series you will enjoy Salvation of Innocents. It is Matt Miner and Javier Sanchez Aranda’s strongest work to date. You can enjoy it, even if you like steak. In the mean time, check out this preview.
Liberator/Earth Crisis: Salvation of Innocents goes on sale Wednesday March 12th from Black Mask Studios.
Todd Matthy.com 