[Review] The Moth by Steve Rude

Searching through the stock of comic stores, I saw a volume that I had already come across some time ago, “The Moth” by Steve Rude, a volume published by Azake editions, which easily passed my quick analysis (number of pages, price, theme and seeing if it said “END” in the last bullet).

Once at home I started reading it and I was pleasantly surprised, since the volume included a prologue written by its screenwriter Gary Martin, which tells us the curious origin of the character and how his stories had come to be created almost by chance. Apparently Steve Rudedrew “The Moth” for a collection of hero collectible cards, and Martin was impressed by that character, to the point of contacting Rude to ask if there was anything published about him.

Steve Rude was working at Marvel at the time.(taking charge of characters like Thor or Captain America) so he didn't have time to do other types of stories. Gary Martin never gave up hope and even wrote a short script for The Moth, a comic that apparently was never going to exist. Time passed and Rude got some time to work on something simple, with creative freedom that you rarely have when you use characters created decades ago and who provide millions in benefits to the company to which they belong, soteamed up with Martin to create some short stories ofThe Moth, which were published starting in 2003 by Dark Horse.

The volume that I had in my hands,Not only was it a compilation of Moth stories, it also explained its origin and the work they had to do to promote the project.(with quite a few photos of the creators touring comic stores to promote it, and it even includes a written story with some sketches in the final part of it. I was happy with my purchase until, searching the internet, I saw that a second volume had also been published, which fortunately I also obtained with some ease and at a very good price.

With the two volumes in my possession, it seemed like a good time to read the adventures of La Moth in one sitting and, in the process, share my opinions here.

In thatclimate of creative freedom and with the only guide of inventing something interesting, without having to worry about things like continuity with other characters or long-term plans, Gary Martin decided it was best to come up with something that wasfun and with secondary characters that attracted attentionWe had to create something that sought incredible realism, so we can say that, in a way,The Moth It has a style close to comics from many decades ago. I would almost say halfway between the golden and silver ages of superheroes.

The Moth is presented to us as a bounty hunter, with the ability to plan (presumably thanks to his suit), great skill in combat and a lot of resistance to physical punishment. His first heroic act is to defeat the boss of a biker gang and collect the reward, which places himfar from the usual altruism of costumed heroes.

That money goes to the home of our hero, whose real identity is Jack Mahoney, a circus acrobat, who coexists with the typical fairground phenomena whom we will get to know little by little (and which, in my opinion, show the scriptwriter's know-how, since the little that appears leaves a certain mark). There we will meet the head of the circus Victor (who in a way seems like a father figure to everyone), Sophia, an attractive bearded woman (who seems to be Jack's romantic interest or, at least, a very close person who does not hesitate to tell our hero things clearly), the strongman Melvin (with whom Jack has a certain rivalry in the physical field), the clowns Cosmo and Emit (who enjoy annoying Jack) or Tad (Jack's brother, who suffers from dwarfism and It seems that he is not fully developed in terms of mental maturity either). The latter is key for Jack, sinceThey were born conjoined twins, and apparently, everything good was left in Jack, leaving Tad with the least., which makes our protagonist feel guilty and overprotect his brother, in addition to paying for all his treatments.

Jack MahoneyHe's a pretty classic character.in the superhero genre (tall, strong, handsome, crafty, capable of incredible physical feats), soI didn't find it too striking, butBy mixing him with his circus companions I think he improves significantly, since they balance it in the human factor as much as possible.

The story continues with traffickers who have a huge lion, brought from the deepest part of Africa, which is on the loose and does not stop taking lives. Logically, the authorities ask the circus for help in tracking down the animal, due to their experience with these types of animals. Victor will go to his aid, when Jack refuses because our hero does not exactly feel sympathy for the police due to past events (which will be explained to us later).

The lion does not turn out to be what everyone thought and this is whenThe comic takes off again and connects with those fantasy stories from decades ago and, honestly, I like it that way.I like that it is not justified, that it resorts to myths and that it recovers tertiary characters that have appeared in just a couple of vignettes to provide support at the critical moment, which is resolved in a way unrelated to the events of our hero, who survives but is left battered.

After that, we will see a brief story of La Moth in which he is hired by a local gangster, whom he deceives to obtain the maximum benefit (something relatively common in this particular superhero).

The second volumeenlarges the particular world of La Moth, introducing new characters, among whom are more bounty hunters and gangsters, as well as a heroine, American Freedom, the daughter of a former pilot and American hero who inherited her “patriotic duty” and now dedicates herself to advertising products and appearing in comics to satisfy her fans, among whom is Tad, Jack's brother.

American Liberty will save the Moth by confronting a group of criminals (now bounty hunters) who had their eye on our hero. The arrival of the popular heroine to the circus will cause fury among the attendees, something that Jack is grateful for, because due to events that occurred in the previous volume, the business is not working well, which has caused Jack to take more risks than necessary as The Moth.

American Liberty is portrayed as a corporate character, with all that that entails. Not only does he have a lot of money and fame, but he also has to deal with some undesirables out of convenience., which makes me remember superheroes from the late 80s and 90s, thus achieving a notable contrast with the Moth who mostly remembers a hero from previous decades. 

American Liberty will have some development and will be the center of this second volume, where La Moth will learn that the only way to get ahead in a war between gangsters, with kidnappings and a lot of criminals who have it in them, is to be smarter than them, for whichHe will need the invaluable help of his family, his circus companions.

El final del segundo tomo cierra la historia de Libertad Americana y también arregla en cierto modo el estado del circo,con un final humorístico bastante divertido y que podría ser típico de una película de los 80.

The Mothes un conjunto de historias cortas y mayormente nos encontramos con un cómic ligero, con acción y grandes personajes humanos. No lo voy a negar, Jack Mahoney no es un tipo especialmente interesante para mi, aunque me encanta que tenga una brújula moral dudosa, que trabaje para mafiosos al mismo tiempo que los vende (ganando así más dinero en el proceso). Añadir a Libertad Americana (quien no se si ensalza o parodia, pero perfectamente representa el cansino patriotismo estadounidense) es una jugada inteligente, pues abre la puerta a una historia más real, donde Jack y sus compañeros son parte del espectáculo, pese a que se ve introducidos en él involuntariamente.

Los compañeros del Circo son, como mencioné anteriormente,una parte muy interesante y divertida del cómic. Sus apariciones son escasas, pero dejan huella, y no hablo solo de Sophia o Melvin (los cuales cuentan con más importancia en la historia), si no también de los molestos payasos (los cuales incluso protagonizan un relato escrito al final del primer tomo), el hombre alto o el escapista. Representar a los fenómenos de circo comointeresantes y competentes en campos ajenos al espectáculo me parece un gran acierto, especialmente porque son más competentes (o lógicos) que nuestro héroe, el cual no dudará en pedirles ayuda para salir airoso en campos donde él no es tan hábil.

Para terminar me gustaría comentarel apartado visual, lleno de contrastes y composiciones que varían notablemente,sobre todo en lo que se refiere a los actos de la Polilla (cuyo genial traje de colores chillones contrasta con los callejones oscuros donde hace acto de aparición). Las partes de la Polillatienen cierto aire a cómics clásicos de Batman,mostrando a una sombra cobrar vida en el momento justo para acabar con varios delincuentes en un intercambio de puñetazos.

El circo también contrasta a nivel visual con el héroe, puestodo son colores chillones y diseños clásicos(el forzudo es calvo, con bigote y lleva un estampado de leopardo). Se ha usado al resto de personajes en momentos concretos para darle un toque divertido e inocente.

Me gusta el dibujo de Steve Rude.Sus personajes tienen una expresividad que a veces es difícil de encontrar, ya que no solo mostrarán furia y felicidad, también los veremos preocupados, dudosos y aliviados. El colorista de estas historias (Glenn Whitmore)ha hecho un buen trabajo resaltando el dibujo de Rude, quien a su vez traslada bien al papel la historia de Gary Martin.

Resumiendo, que si os gustan los superhéroes de corte clásico y las historias ligeras con personajes atípicos rodeando al héroe de turno, La Polilla es una opción muy recomendable.