Farmhand #3
Writer, Artist: Rob Guillory
Colorist: Taylor Wells
Letterer: Kody Chamberlain
Publisher: Image
Review by Jim Allegro
Things get a bit out hand on the Jenkins Farm in Farmhand #3! Rob Guillory’s new comic book about a farmer who harvests human body parts takes an unexpected turn when a dog munches on a human thumb. Guillory (Chew) devotes the first half of the issue to deepening the characters. He shows us the lives of the farm’s newest interns, Riley and Abby Jenkins, and gives us a glimpse into Jedidiah’s relationship with Tree. Guillory then builds a cliffhanger into the book’s second half when a certain hungry puppy feasts on the farm’s human produce.
The ensuing crisis extends the bleak humor of this dark satire. Farmhand is a pointed science-fiction adventure about the ethics of genetic engineering. The consequences of tinkering too much with the environment is the implication behind a conversation between Zeke and Tree. Tree explains that he and Zeke’s father had a falling out over the supernatural means by which Jedidiah learned to grow the body parts. The fiasco with the puppy confirms what Tree figured out a long time ago: that Jedidiah’s farm has a secret that will eventually catch up with the Jenkins family business.
The artwork provides an entertaining contrast to the dark nature of the story. Guillory jars the reader with cartoonish expressions and features that belie the sinister nature of the Jenkins family experiment. Wells adds to the juxtaposition with vivid colors, especially green, which heightens the suspense of the comic’s final act. In this case, the color of ecological responsibility signals a warning. It is a portent of what happens when Jedidah Jenkins goes too far in his quest to meddle with the natural world.
Verdict: Buy It.
With Farmhand #3, the series is beginning to heat up as Guillory rounds out the characters and pushes the arc toward a dramatic conclusion. A solid BUY.
