posted 03-13-2002 03:59 AM               

The second volume of Foot Soldiers features a new art team, with penciller Phil Hester and a number of inkers taking over for Mike Oeming. The new artists capture the tone and atmosphere of Jim Krueger’s scripts; the world of the Foot Soldiers is an odd mix of dystopian futurism and the trappings of 1960s superhero comics, and of the optimism occasioned by a rebirth of heroism with the gloom caused by mistrust, betrayal and loss. It’s a very unusual concoction, and it gives Foot Soldiers a unique voice.

After a quick recap of the Foot Soldiers’ beginnings, Krueger moves into the main story of this volume, entitled “Arch Enemies.” Each chapter of the story is relatively self-contained (which makes sense, given the story was originally presented as a mini-series), but they remain connected thematically, especially in their emphasis on deception. The Foot Soldiers awakened Mr. Lion, otherwise known as the Deceiver, when they found the sources of their power; now, Lion makes his presence felt, encouraging those with grievances against the team and planting doubts in their mind about each other. In that, Lion has only accelerated the process – Story’s habit of embellishing or outright hiding the truth continues to hinder the group’s ability to truly come together. (And Story knows it, although he can’t bring himself to stop.) The BTL continue to indoctrinate their soldiers with propaganda. The Old Man clearly has an agenda of his own, and sends the Foot Soldiers and many of their friends into a death trap to fulfill it. Even Johnny and Rags get into the lying game, trying to entertain others with a tall tale of their alleged exploits. Especially with the text pieces that introduce each chapter, it’s hard not to realize that this mistrust does not bode well for the heroes, and with the continued presence of the BTL, there’s a feeling of dread throughout the book.