Liberator, Vol. 1: Rage Ignition by Matt Miner

Liberator, Vol. 1: Rage Ignition Reviews

• 
  Andrew

  I'm happy I purchased this book back when it came out; the message is spot-on and it's the kind of work I really want to support.
  
  The art is mostly great. I especially love how Damon is drawn. If I was much younger I'm sure I'd want to "ship" him with someone (I mean, I'm surely too old for that now, right!) but there's not really anyone to do that with in this comic, unless I did hetero-shipping, which, you know, like, ew.
  
  Kidding.
  
  I'm in that mode because this is definitely a book geared to the younger set. The young teen set. I would have loved something like this as a kid. Not because it's great storytelling (because it's not), but because it would satisfy my own rage. Rage is the theme of the book. Rage is not really explored, but it is the theme. It's presented, and very briefly, a character or two thinks about the implications of it. But it would be an overstatement to say it is explored.
  
  Bits of plot are thrown in to justify (and this leads to watering down) the actions of the characters. Do the actions need justification? Maybe not. But for some reason Matt Miner thought it important to add sexual abuse to the past relationship of a fur-farm overlord and our hero, which allows for a bit of moralizing of "are you doing it for the animals or are you doing it for yourself?"
  
  See, I know this is for kids, and possibly the kids who haven't had much experience in life at ALL, because life isn't compartmentalized like that. The argument is false. If you care deeply about animal rights and how they are treated, then anything you do on their behalf is also something you're doing for yourself. It's not exactly healthy to somehow slice those things in half.
  
  And idealism in itself isn't a reasonable justification for anything. You separate your ideals from your heart and you're on the path to a happy dystopia, whatever the parallel would be to oligarchy, but with treatises leading the way instead of corporations and profit.
  
  I'm making this too complicated, of course. The story is simplistic and, toward the end, rushed. We hit "the end" after big revelations are thrown at us and never developed. The bad guys are ridiculous, exaggerated caricatures of demonic terror. The characters soapbox a lot but never develop much beyond that. I commend the message; I'm there with the creators here. But I can't bring myself to inflate my review just because I share an ideology.
  
  PS: this edition comes with bonus features, like any good trade paperback: cover gallery, "pin-ups," some good (some not good) bonus stories from different creators, articles about different action groups.
  
  PSS: I always love to see projects of the heart see the light of day because of Kickstarter and other similar programs.
• 
  Jim Thompson

  Well this was fun.
  
  A few years back I read the first two issues of the special Liberator "Earth Crisis" series, which came out along with Earth Crisis' "Salvation of Innocents" album. I liked what I read, then could never find them anywhere.
  
  At Albany Vegfest last weekend came across the first bound volume of the original series.
  
  Pretty straight forward stuff-- two animal rights activists break into labs, fur factories, dog fighting rings, etc, release the animals, burn shit down. A few twists here and there, back stories, emotional stuff, but mostly just the fun of watching people in black masks do the right thing.
  
  Also, many references to great bands like Earth Crisis, Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Propagandhi, Black Flag, and more.
  
  Saving animals, burning things down, and good music? How could you go wrong with that?
• 
  comrade mum

  This is the first comic to ever make me cry. Gut-wrenching and unflinching, it's one of the best books I've read all year.
• 
  Bisaya Reader

  Such a good premise. This is a promising graphic novel series. As a fan of the sci-fi and fantasy genre, this one just gave me the expected character building and hinting of bigger things to come in the next installments. I wish the world-building was better and the flashback or the change of timeline of the story back and forth from past to present was not my favorite element in this piece. Overall, the concept was good and I am hype to read the next one.
• 
  Daniel Stephens

  Absolutely bloody brilliant! This series is moving and inspirational. Hoping for a second volume.