By Jacob Cordas — Stephanie Phillips (Butcher in Paris, Devil Within), Craig Cermak (Red Team, Voltron: Year One), John Kalisz (JSA, Future Quest) and Troy Peteri (7th Sword, Doberman) have found their muses for A Man Among Ye #2 in the tale of Anne Bonny and Mary Read. They have all made wonderful work on their own but here each person is bringing the best out of the others. 

Phillips has never written as well as she does here. I wrote in my previous review how the language is reminiscent of golden age pirate films* (which you can read here) and she modernizes that convention so well. There’s a crudeness and simplicity to the dialogue that puts in this legacy flawlessly. 

But you wouldn’t notice how great those words are without Peteri’s excellent lettering. The texturing of the text boxes gives a weathered quality to the words with the font bringing an almost chicken scratch element to the whole affair. It makes each wonderfully worded phrase feel like it’s taken from some long-lost, handwritten picaresque manuscript. 

But you wouldn’t notice how great those text boxes are without how brilliant Kalisz’s coloring is. He knows how to accentuate colors on a page to maximize emotion and focus. It is always clear the core of each panel, whether through a well placed purpling or a simple all white backdrop. Each choice is calibrated for maximum clarity making a classical and yet uniquely modern pirate comic. 

But none of this would be as good as it is without Cermak’s art. He is the stand out of this issue (which really says something considering how good everyone else is here). His page designs are some of the best I have read all year. I often found myself reminded of the work John Byrne did on X-Men reading through this. There’s one page in particular involving a poisoning that if you told me was taken directly from The Dark Phoenix Saga, I would believe you. 

There are so many phenomenally laid out pages in this that show such a mastery of form. To avoid spoiling too many moments, I am going to stick to one sequence - the hanging of a few pirates. Cermak incorporates dutch angles into the panels so the stage the men are on is always off balance from the perspective of the reader. It leaves you tense and uncomfortable. Every time we return to them the angle is different so we can’t adjust to the discomfort. He keeps ramping it up meticulously until finally releasing the imbalance with their death. 

God, I stared at the panel of dead men swinging for so long - the coloring a perfect red, the lettering perfect, the language perfect, the panel perfect. There is so much here and I am so excited to see what stories of dead men this team can keep bringing us. 

*In a panel I will discuss in more depth later, she ties back into the idea of pirates as true metaphors for freedom with the line, “Doing what you want is freedom, Richard. I don't know much... But there's one thing I'm sure of... You can't hang our freedom."**

**How fucking great is that line, right? 

Overall: A Man Among Ye #2 is a perfect pirate story with easily the best page layouts of the year. Every member of the creative team is at the peak of their ability. Attention needs to be given before the ship sets out and never comes back to port. 10/10

A Man Among Ye #2 - REVIEW

A Man Among Ye #2
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Craig Cermak 
Color: John Kalisz
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Publisher: Image - Top Cow
Cost: $3.99
The adventures of pirate queens Anne Bonny and Mary Read might be over before they begin, as a murderous mutiny sweeps "Calico Jack" Rackham's crew, forcing Anne and Mary to flee for their lives. Can they survive on the high seas long enough to plot their revenge and gather their own crew?
Release Date: August 19, 2020
Buy It Digitally: A Man Among Ye #2

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My name is Jacob Cordas (@jacweasel) and I am not qualified to write this.