Suburbia hasn’t really changed that much in the last fifty years. Neighbors are cordial, lawns are well manicured, dog bark at the mailmen and the kids run around, protecting their homes in their own childish ways. Cops and robbers. Cowboys and indians. Army. These are the games that kids play outside on nice days as their parents go off to work or tend the house. These are the games that the kids in White Picket Fences are playing when the real army shows up in their nice, quiet little town.
Charlie, Parker and Tommy are just playing Army vs. invading robots when Charlie discovers a small box in a nearby barn. Once he steals the box and heads home, a sleeping General Whitman is notified and the army is mobilized and set to descend on the kids small town.
Matt Anderson and Eric Hutchins’ story is a timeless tale of the unknown dangers of suburbia. It could easily take place now or 10-40 years ago. Charlie’s father, complete with sweater vest and pipe, is something out of Father Knows Best and Leave It To Beaver, an icon of father’s everywhere. Charlie and his friends are typical kids, playful and curious.
In fact, all of the characters fit easily into iconographic roles. They’re all part of Greenview, the town this story takes place in. While the town itself doesn’t act, the characters are off-shoots of the town, the by-product of Greenview. Maybe that’s reading too much into this book but the book wouldn’t work at all without the setting.
Micah Farritor’s artwork sells the timelessness of this book. Coloring his own work, the colors are kept muted, barely standing out from the predominant black and white work. Farritor has a unique style, bordering on cartoony without getting too far away from reality.
White Picket Fences #1 is a great debut to what should be a fun story.
White Picket Fences #1
Written by: Matt Anderson & Eric Hutchins
Drawn by: Micah Farritor
Lettered by: David Hedgecock
[tags]Matt Anderson, Eric Hutchins, Micah Farritor, White Picket Fences, Ape Entertainment[/tags]