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Scout’s Honor #2 Review
Years after the apocalypse a new power arose in the form of the Ranger Scouts. Now Kit, a woman in disguise, must navigate the misogynistic rules of society while hiding another secret about the history of her world. Written by David Pepose, art by Luca Casalanguida, colors by Matt Milla and lettering by Carlos M. Mangual.
Synopsis:
Kit has to return home to the society she believed in after finding out that all her beliefs were a lie. While navigating life as woman undercover, she must deal with new secrets from familiar faces.
Scout’s Honor #2 is published by Aftershock Comics and is available through your LCS.
Scout’s Honor #2 Story
After the shocking events of issue one we rejoin Kit as she crawls back home carrying a drone that holds the secrets of her world. At the end of last issue Kit had found out the true history of the Ranger Scouts, the group that now runs society, and how the scouts are actually a military experiment gone wrong. Doctor Hancock, the founder of the Ranger Scouts, was murdered in cold blood by the group that now worships him. Kit barely makes it home alive after the encounter.
Pepose cleverly starts off the story with a flashback to build suspense for the viewer after that last dramatic reveal by showing how Kit came to want to be a Ranger Scout. We see her as a child being rescued by a group of Scouts. The art and story combine to instill the child-like sense of wonder that Kit feels. Nondescript Scouts, wielding oversized swords, are carrying people out of a burning car. This flashback was much needed as we had little information behind why Kit wanted to become a Ranger Scout, and this adds a layer of heart to her already complex character.
Coming back to present day Kit was found by her father and has a quick recovery. He offers to take a look at the drone and see if he can recall the video message from Doctor Hancock. Which we all know can only be a building block to a dark twist.
Kit then goes to meet with the Scoutmaster, the head of their society. Forced to have a debrief about the mission outside of the society Kit must awkwardly dodge around her leader’s line of questioning. The Scoutmaster then drops a twist in the conversation when he introduces the idea of Kit joining the Eagle’s Guard, an elite group of Scout’s. Kit believes that her friend Dez is more deserving and leaves quickly after.
Dez sees Kit’s forlorn face and decides to take Kit adventuring around the city. This is when Pepose introduces one of the biggest twists in a series of so many. Dez unexpectedly kisses Kit, something that causes her to run away out of confusion. Readers know that Kit is hiding her gender but Dez believes he just tried to make a move on his male best friend.
This twist adds another layer of trouble to Kit hiding herself. In this world we’ve seen Dez having come to terms with his sexuality would be a difficult decision as it could potentially be dangerous especially when one of the main rules is about woman being used for creating the next generation. With a rule like that homophobia could be a result and magnified due to the fact that Dez’s father is the Scoutmaster. Dez believes that he is in love with a man which down the line is going to be a problem for Kit. Will Dez love the Kit he doesn’t know?
Then tragedy strikes when Kit encounters the drone flying around looking for her. Her home has been attacked by outsiders who Kit had earlier avoided. She manages to defeat them but at the cost of her father’s life. After her father’s funeral she decides there’s only one way forward. Become one of the Eagle’s Guard.
Scout’s Honor Art
Casalanguida makes a great story better with meaningful purpose given to each panel. No panel is wasted space but rather complements the dialogue to add emotion behind it. One of the best pages is when Kit and Dez are climbing across buildings after the debriefing. A mini splash image of an eagle shaped tower is beautifully accompanied by Milla’s colors. The rich purple sky highlights the skill that Casalangudia has in creating emotion through size. The tower looms over the duo and makes their problems seem so large in comparison to them. The art is a definite reason to grab this book.
Scout’s Honor Conclusion
Pepose has been churning out indie hits and this is just the latest. If you haven’t read his work before it is a great time to jump on, the series is just beginning, and you can get caught up easily after issue one. Pepose manages to balance multiple different layers of story in such a way that aspiring writers should be reading his stories to learn to create like he does. This is a must read.
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