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Rebels #2
Rebels: These Free and Independent States
The War of 1812 and America's first navy come to life in the second volume of Rebels a historical epic of America's founding, from DMZ writer Brian Wood.In 1775, Seth Abbott fought to win his fellow Americans their independence. In 1794, his son, John Abbott, comes of age as their new nation faces multiple new high seas terrorism, fresh aggression from Britain, and intense political division at home. When Congress authorizes building America's first navy--the famous "six frigates" that include the USS Constitution--John Abbott signs up.Author Brian Wood (DMZ, Briggs Land, The Massive) imagines an important era of a new nation's struggle to find its way in These Free and Independent States.
200 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 4, 2018
1 person is currently reading
118 people want to read
About the author
Brian Wood
1,173 books961 followersBrian Wood's history of published work includes over fifty volumes of genre-spanning original material.
From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.
His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.
He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.
From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.
His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.
He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 2, 2018
Brian Wood tells stories of our colonial ancestors. The main story takes place around the War of 1812 while the others are earlier on during the American revolution. I love the idea of the series, highlighting some of the unsung stories of colonial America. Wood frequently focuses on the heroes of his home state, Vermont. My problem is mainly with the art and coloring. Wood often leaves the artist to tell the story for several pages and it's often unclear what is happening. Some added narration would do a better job of furthering these stories along.
January 18, 2024
I am having a love affair with Brian Wood this year! Having discovered Briggs Land last year, this year I have devoured its sequel Lone Wolves, volumes one-three of his Viking saga Northlanders, the first Rebels about the Revolutionary War, and now this companion piece about the War of 1812.
In the first volume A Well Regulated Militia, Wood first gives us a lengthy portrait of the fictional character Seth Abbott and his journey from farm boy to one of the well-respected leaders of the Green Mountain Boys. Then we are given shorter non-linear vignettes of other loyalists and patriots and their contributions to the war. This second historical fiction graphic novel follows suit.
These Free and Independent States
In this continuation, we revisit Vermont to find that Seth’s son John is a boat-making savant. Spanning the years from 1786 to 1816, John comes to age as the new nation faces several threats and a new Navy is commissioned. John’s parents discover he has a fascination and an aptitude for building ships. Nowadays we might call these traits autism, but despite having no name for it, Seth and Mercy recognize his gifts and apprentice him to a master shipbuilder out of Boston. His careful work was integral when building the USS Constitution, which was later nicknamed Old Ironsides during the War of 1812. His work is so all-consuming he is oblivious to Alice, a young woman he has known since childhood, who has taken a fancy to him. When the ship goes to sea he signs up to be a soldier on it, just so he can remain on the ship he has claimed as his own. His obsession proves to be his downfall, but luckily he has some allies who remain dedicated to him. The story ends with an improbable conclusion.
The Virginian
A short story about George Washington when he was a Lieutenant Colonel and his actions in the Ohio River Valley in 1753. This portrayal shows him as an impulsive young soldier, who was worried about how he would be depicted, and how he was not always a man of his word. This representation certainly does not show him in a good light, as his foolhardy actions don’t match his later reputation as one of our founding fathers and the nation’s first president.
Brooklyn Heights
An orphaned brother and sister cling to their New York homestead from 1777-1783. These two plucky siblings discover a secret stash of gold that the British lost and offer it to the leaders at Valley Forge. The ending with its time jump defied logic. I wanted to like this story but couldn’t.
The Green Mountain Boys
Captain Ethan Allen gets the spotlight in this last short story. In 1775 he petitions the Continental Congress for recognition and funds for the soldiers he leads. But the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga proved the Green Mountain Boys were worth every penny that the government reluctantly gave them.
The artwork throughout the entire novel is strong, although you can tell different artists are utilized in the last two stories. The drawing is sketchy, with a light green and yellow color palette. You can tell much research went into the panels to depict colonial life with impressive details of the ships in the first story. This is yet another example of the excellent historical work that I have come to expect from Wood and his team of artists. I will absolutely pick up whatever he puts out next in any of the series I mentioned in this post!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2018/06/0...
In the first volume A Well Regulated Militia, Wood first gives us a lengthy portrait of the fictional character Seth Abbott and his journey from farm boy to one of the well-respected leaders of the Green Mountain Boys. Then we are given shorter non-linear vignettes of other loyalists and patriots and their contributions to the war. This second historical fiction graphic novel follows suit.
These Free and Independent States
In this continuation, we revisit Vermont to find that Seth’s son John is a boat-making savant. Spanning the years from 1786 to 1816, John comes to age as the new nation faces several threats and a new Navy is commissioned. John’s parents discover he has a fascination and an aptitude for building ships. Nowadays we might call these traits autism, but despite having no name for it, Seth and Mercy recognize his gifts and apprentice him to a master shipbuilder out of Boston. His careful work was integral when building the USS Constitution, which was later nicknamed Old Ironsides during the War of 1812. His work is so all-consuming he is oblivious to Alice, a young woman he has known since childhood, who has taken a fancy to him. When the ship goes to sea he signs up to be a soldier on it, just so he can remain on the ship he has claimed as his own. His obsession proves to be his downfall, but luckily he has some allies who remain dedicated to him. The story ends with an improbable conclusion.
The Virginian
A short story about George Washington when he was a Lieutenant Colonel and his actions in the Ohio River Valley in 1753. This portrayal shows him as an impulsive young soldier, who was worried about how he would be depicted, and how he was not always a man of his word. This representation certainly does not show him in a good light, as his foolhardy actions don’t match his later reputation as one of our founding fathers and the nation’s first president.
Brooklyn Heights
An orphaned brother and sister cling to their New York homestead from 1777-1783. These two plucky siblings discover a secret stash of gold that the British lost and offer it to the leaders at Valley Forge. The ending with its time jump defied logic. I wanted to like this story but couldn’t.
The Green Mountain Boys
Captain Ethan Allen gets the spotlight in this last short story. In 1775 he petitions the Continental Congress for recognition and funds for the soldiers he leads. But the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga proved the Green Mountain Boys were worth every penny that the government reluctantly gave them.
The artwork throughout the entire novel is strong, although you can tell different artists are utilized in the last two stories. The drawing is sketchy, with a light green and yellow color palette. You can tell much research went into the panels to depict colonial life with impressive details of the ships in the first story. This is yet another example of the excellent historical work that I have come to expect from Wood and his team of artists. I will absolutely pick up whatever he puts out next in any of the series I mentioned in this post!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2018/06/0...
November 16, 2018
Another Rebels comic! I loved the first one so when I saw there’s a second one I was excited to read it and lucky me, it was just recently added to Hoopla! Oh and I’m gonna do this review slightly differently than most of my other reviews because it’s multiple stories and I have a lot of thoughts on each of them (I’ll try to not make this review too long).
What’s it about?
It’s kinda similar to the first one except it’s not all about the revolutionary war, it’s about other similar and/or related events in American history.
Notes on the book in general- The entire book has great art and is kind of a display of America being awesome and strong so I really like that!
These Free and Independent States- Good story with interesting characters and a bit of action. In case you couldn’t tell, this is the story that most of the volume focuses on. My only problems with it are it has some slow parts that I didn’t care for and I did not care for the ending (though I suppose it could have been a worse ending).
The Virginian- A perfect one shot story about pre-revolution George Washington. Very exciting and well written.
Brooklyn Heights- Another amazing one! The story is wonderful and exciting. It also has interesting characters and a well written feminist message.
Green Mountain Boys- Weakest part of the volume. It feels like the beginning of what could be a great story but it ends so abruptly as a one shot issue. On the off chance Wood sees this review I would like to suggest he does Rebels Vol. 3: Green Mountain Boys or something, I see a lot of potential for that and I for one would definitely read it!
Overall:
Not quite as good as the first volume but I think volume one is a masterpiece so...
This may not be a masterpiece but it’s still very good and if you’re a patriotic American who loves comics and historic fiction you should definitely check this out. This is a good, patriotic comic book.
4/5
What’s it about?
It’s kinda similar to the first one except it’s not all about the revolutionary war, it’s about other similar and/or related events in American history.
Notes on the book in general- The entire book has great art and is kind of a display of America being awesome and strong so I really like that!
These Free and Independent States- Good story with interesting characters and a bit of action. In case you couldn’t tell, this is the story that most of the volume focuses on. My only problems with it are it has some slow parts that I didn’t care for and I did not care for the ending (though I suppose it could have been a worse ending).
The Virginian- A perfect one shot story about pre-revolution George Washington. Very exciting and well written.
Brooklyn Heights- Another amazing one! The story is wonderful and exciting. It also has interesting characters and a well written feminist message.
Green Mountain Boys- Weakest part of the volume. It feels like the beginning of what could be a great story but it ends so abruptly as a one shot issue. On the off chance Wood sees this review I would like to suggest he does Rebels Vol. 3: Green Mountain Boys or something, I see a lot of potential for that and I for one would definitely read it!
Overall:
Not quite as good as the first volume but I think volume one is a masterpiece so...
This may not be a masterpiece but it’s still very good and if you’re a patriotic American who loves comics and historic fiction you should definitely check this out. This is a good, patriotic comic book.
4/5
January 3, 2019
3.5 stars again, great stuff. Now we follow John Abbott the son of Seth Abbott(from the first trade) with the beginning of the US marine, John is a shipbuilder and a very good one. Its not only about that it would be very dull, haha but the main story is the war with on sea, its very entertaining and the artwork is stunning. Again recommended stuff for the history buffs.
July 13, 2019
After Seth fought in the American War of Independence, his son John joins the war in 1794. The latter is passionate about ships, but is also socially awkward, preferring to focus on ship building and designing. His family life suffers, but his convictions remain adamant. It's perhaps this aspect that makes this story somewhat less enjoyable - the lack of heart, the replacement of dedication and patriotism with obsession and cold skill.
It is a time when the independent American states need to reunite against a common enemy. John becomes an apprentice to Samuel Nicholson at a shipyard. Conflict brews up again when a truce with the Barbary States expires and the English and French navies are attacking US mechant ships. The US government decides to build a proper navy.
It is a time when the independent American states need to reunite against a common enemy. John becomes an apprentice to Samuel Nicholson at a shipyard. Conflict brews up again when a truce with the Barbary States expires and the English and French navies are attacking US mechant ships. The US government decides to build a proper navy.
July 4, 2018
Loved this book!!! So good! The John Abbott story was amazing! And the last few stories were great too!! Please keep making these books! Highest recommendation!!!
December 14, 2018
Another great book, enjoyable, you will want to read the series, so good I read this book very fast.
April 22, 2018
Brian Wood continues his exploration of early American history which he began in Rebels: A Well Regulated Militia. This time, the focus moves forward a few years, to a young and newly independent United States, the formation of its Navy, the construction of "Old Ironsides" and the War of 1812, perhaps the least understood and least discussed war in American history. Once again, Wood presents his history through the story of an individual and those around him, this time focusing on a master shipbuilder, who moves from his beloved Vermont to Boston in order to ply his trade among the large ships then being constructed in Boston to serve both the nascent US Navy and the booming US merchant marine.
We watch our hero develop the plans and oversee the construction of the USS Constitution, the famed "Old Ironsides" and it deployment in the War of 1812. If you know a great deal about this period of American history, I'm sure you will still learn about the day to day life of Americans of the time. If you are not familiar with the period, you will learn a lot about the Second American Revolution.
My only quibble with the book and the only thing keeping it from five stars is the art. While often excellent, it is equally often difficult to follow the story when Wood chooses to rely solely on the art to move the narrative along. The precision of art necessary to fully distinguish characters and carry the full weight of the narrative alone is missing. Otherwise, this would be a five star book for sure. Don't let this failing keep you from reading this fine recreation of life in the newly independent US. You'll be glad you didn't.
I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
We watch our hero develop the plans and oversee the construction of the USS Constitution, the famed "Old Ironsides" and it deployment in the War of 1812. If you know a great deal about this period of American history, I'm sure you will still learn about the day to day life of Americans of the time. If you are not familiar with the period, you will learn a lot about the Second American Revolution.
My only quibble with the book and the only thing keeping it from five stars is the art. While often excellent, it is equally often difficult to follow the story when Wood chooses to rely solely on the art to move the narrative along. The precision of art necessary to fully distinguish characters and carry the full weight of the narrative alone is missing. Otherwise, this would be a five star book for sure. Don't let this failing keep you from reading this fine recreation of life in the newly independent US. You'll be glad you didn't.
I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
July 10, 2020
When I read "Rebels: A Well-Regulated Militia" I didn't know there was a second volume stories. I rectified that oversight and immediately placed an order. "Rebels: These Free and Independents States" contains a 5-issue series that take place around the events of the War of 1812 and three stories that take place during and before the Revolutionary War.
The main arc tells the story of John Abbot, the son of Seth Abbot (The main protagonist from the original Rebels collection). John dream about building ship and his father gets him a dream job to build ship for America's new navy. I absolutely loved this arc. The mix of history with John's story of his dedication to his craft was really powerful.
What I really love about Brian Wood's work on these two Rebel series is that he isn't afraid to show the faults in our founding fathers. Our history books have glamorized these men for hundreds of years and pretend they were perfect. But these men were human and we're also playing political games to gain our country's freedom. I think it great to show while these men did a lot of important work, their actions were not without consequence to the ordinary citizens.
The main arc tells the story of John Abbot, the son of Seth Abbot (The main protagonist from the original Rebels collection). John dream about building ship and his father gets him a dream job to build ship for America's new navy. I absolutely loved this arc. The mix of history with John's story of his dedication to his craft was really powerful.
What I really love about Brian Wood's work on these two Rebel series is that he isn't afraid to show the faults in our founding fathers. Our history books have glamorized these men for hundreds of years and pretend they were perfect. But these men were human and we're also playing political games to gain our country's freedom. I think it great to show while these men did a lot of important work, their actions were not without consequence to the ordinary citizens.
April 11, 2019
The second book of Brian Wood's early history of the USA feels better than the first one. Maybe it's because of the better main story about autistic (or better high functional Asperger) kid, of our "Father of the Year" from the previous story, named Seth. Seth Abbot loves ships, so the Father of the Year drops him in the shipyard of Boston. He works on his "child", state of the art ship and seeking a way to sail it when it's done. The rest of the book is short stories, e.g. two orphans who found treasure in a sunken ship or G. Washington harassing French fortress. The art of all artist is fine and fits the story, Mutti's style is sloppy and dirty as always and as always I got used to it through the book (but still the stories not done by him feels very refreshing). I would hit 3,5 stars here, but I will appreciate Wood's storytelling especially in the short stories and round it up this time.
March 8, 2022
Unfortunately didn’t work for me. There were a couple of good moments but not enough to be a truly enjoyable experience.
Quick hits:
- Art was mostly good, but there was a couple of places it was jarring. For example, Seth Allen in then Green Mountain Boys. His head seems way too large for the proportions of the rest of his body.
- A lot of jumping around. There were multiple cases I thought I was missing something but I wasn’t, we just randomly jumped to something else.
- Not enough dialogue or exposition, a lot of transition is told through confusing panels.
- Playing with history is fine but some of it was a little too out there. For example, the gold.
Overall, I guess if you’re really craving a historical fiction comic and ran out of other options, try this one. I’ve read a lot of comics but this one just didn’t do it for me. Lots of random jumps and not a lot of context given in certain scenes.
Quick hits:
- Art was mostly good, but there was a couple of places it was jarring. For example, Seth Allen in then Green Mountain Boys. His head seems way too large for the proportions of the rest of his body.
- A lot of jumping around. There were multiple cases I thought I was missing something but I wasn’t, we just randomly jumped to something else.
- Not enough dialogue or exposition, a lot of transition is told through confusing panels.
- Playing with history is fine but some of it was a little too out there. For example, the gold.
Overall, I guess if you’re really craving a historical fiction comic and ran out of other options, try this one. I’ve read a lot of comics but this one just didn’t do it for me. Lots of random jumps and not a lot of context given in certain scenes.
April 2, 2020
It's interesting reading about the birth of America in this uncertain times. I don't know whether it gives me hope for the country or it depresses me knowing where it's at right now.
For the most part this book follows the life of John Abbott, who from a modern point of view you would say is on the spectrum.
He's not great with people, but he is great with ships to an encyclopedic extent. I liked seeing someone of that personality in the (post) Revolutionary War era.
I really like this series, all the books seem fairly stand-alone, so you can grab this volume or the previous without having any knowledge of the other.
The artwork is really solid, it fits into the narrative really nicely.
If you have an interest in the Revolutionary War, I would highly recommend this series.
For the most part this book follows the life of John Abbott, who from a modern point of view you would say is on the spectrum.
He's not great with people, but he is great with ships to an encyclopedic extent. I liked seeing someone of that personality in the (post) Revolutionary War era.
I really like this series, all the books seem fairly stand-alone, so you can grab this volume or the previous without having any knowledge of the other.
The artwork is really solid, it fits into the narrative really nicely.
If you have an interest in the Revolutionary War, I would highly recommend this series.
June 2, 2020
One thing that confuses me about American history is how people ever believed it was simple!
Here you have amazing arguments over trade, human rights, who America is for, meritocracy versus privilege, taxation and the issues of big government/small government, and it is set against the story of John Abbott, a shipbuilder, the most meritorious of shipbuilders, it seems. Not only is he firmly on the side of merit, and abolition, he is probably one of the major human planks in building the American Naval machine. So even he you have to take with a grain of salt, because if you wanted a nation of freedom from monarchy you also set yourself on the path to military domination.
So all the contradictions and misgivings wer there in 1812, and they are still here now!
Here you have amazing arguments over trade, human rights, who America is for, meritocracy versus privilege, taxation and the issues of big government/small government, and it is set against the story of John Abbott, a shipbuilder, the most meritorious of shipbuilders, it seems. Not only is he firmly on the side of merit, and abolition, he is probably one of the major human planks in building the American Naval machine. So even he you have to take with a grain of salt, because if you wanted a nation of freedom from monarchy you also set yourself on the path to military domination.
So all the contradictions and misgivings wer there in 1812, and they are still here now!
March 10, 2019
I enjoyed this volume just as much as the first. We have some more revolutionary war tales as well as some stories set a little later around the War of 1812. Just a really good historical graphic novel with art that fits the stories well. The main story deals with a shipbuilder who is a child prodigy at such and only improves with time. I'm not sure if he was supposed to be autistic or something similar but that's how it came across. Great story of the early American Navy. The shorter back up stories are good as well. I think there's a lot of potential for future stories in this series.
October 4, 2024
Review is for both volumes , read consecutively
It's a wonder Wood isn't still writing these, there's another century of history he could have mined.
A combination of longer and shorter forms, both types illuminate dimmer corners of our past.
A distaste on my part for so many pure art pages with neither dialogue nor captions (when the art isn't strong enough to carry the tale) is the only knock on the series.
It's a wonder Wood isn't still writing these, there's another century of history he could have mined.
A combination of longer and shorter forms, both types illuminate dimmer corners of our past.
A distaste on my part for so many pure art pages with neither dialogue nor captions (when the art isn't strong enough to carry the tale) is the only knock on the series.
October 16, 2017
The story was really good,artwork charming.The only problem and the problem that will leave you dissapointed is that, it promises so much and delivers so little....
August 18, 2018
I love this series. Historical fiction is a great, under-explored genre in comics and I hope to see more. Brian Wood writes a great, very believable story with every chapter of Rebels.
November 14, 2018
These stories seemed to work better than in the first collection.
December 17, 2018
Didn't love it as much as the first one, but still a good read!
May 14, 2019
Rebels II was enjoyable and I liked the art and coloring, but preferred the plot, story, and characters of the first one.
June 9, 2019
This is a great series. I love graphic novels that can teach you something. The art is amazing the stories are excellent and if you pay attention you will learn some history.
August 2, 2022
I wanted to read history but was given a sort of Hollywood romance historical fiction instead. I guess that’s fine, but the historical advertising and artwork is at odds with the final story product.
Want to read
January 9, 2018Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
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