Written by Craig Garrett
Art by Jeff Wilson
One is science, and one is magic. One is a strong, shiny symbol of Union ingenuity, and the other is the everlasting hunger for democracy. One is a Republican, and one is a Democrat, and now they’re teaming up for the first time in our nation’s history.
The Story
This is the tale about an odd couple of historical anomalies. Lincoln survives his infamous April 14, 1865 assassination by having his brain placed inside a robotic body built by an 18-year-old Thomas Edison. Andrew Jackson is cursed to eternally roam the Earth as an undead, thanks to some Native Americans who were probably none too pleased with his “suggested” relocation initiatives. They meet and conflict before quickly teaming up and going on an adventure.
It’s a tried and true buddy cop story (or buddy presidents as the case may be) with two clashing personalities work together to defend the Union. At its basest form, it’s pretty simple and cookie cutter, but it’s the filling that makes this book a lot of fun to read. The unique pairing of these historical figures that everyone who has used American currency should have a passing familiarity of, in a well-known historical setting and just turning it into a fantastic and ridiculous team-up is captivating and entertains the whole way through.
The characters and their dialog play out just over the top enough for a fun read (although it pushes a bit with Lincoln’s zombie-fighting banter). The story takes fun with history, especially with Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth (Lincoln’s now-would-be assassin). As for the main characters themselves, Lincoln and Jackson’s initial contempt for each other is both a good buddy cop relationship and a fun poke at today’s hostile partisan politics. After all, if Robot Lincoln and Zombie Jackson can get along, why can’t Congress?
8/10
The Art
All the interior work is in black and white. The characters are all well detailed and designed, from Lincoln’s wrinkled visage before the robotic body to his worn and scuffed metal body. Jackson looks perfectly decayed, and who could forget about his blood-and-brain-matter-stained uniform? The supporting characters are just as well done.
It’s the backgrounds, or really the lack there of, where the book falls short. They’re bare and blank, often pretty empty. That’s large areas of empty white space on white pages. With the character art lacking almost any shading, they’re all white as well aside from the inked lining. Everything unfortunately blends together for a bland visual experience. I’m not saying black and white isn’t a good way to go (my manga collection tends to back that up), but this needs a bit more work on backgrounds and the small details like shading.
However, in all honesty, I can think of one color tone this would be kind of neat in – sepia.
6/10
Craig and Wilson bring these historical figures into a generic story type, and the result is pretty amusing. The characters all look great, but the rest of the art needs a good bit more tightening up to make this a top-notch book.
7.5/10
The Review
Story 8/10
Art 6/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7.5/10