- Radio Free Amerika vol 1: Welcome to the Third World
- Terminus Media
- Story & Pencils by Dr. Barron Bell
- Co-Written by Robert Jeffrey II
- Inks by Don Hillsman II
- Colors by Lexington Wolfcraft
- Letters by Khari J. Sampson
- Available in September, 2024
Red Dawn meets The Wire in this post-apocalyptic thriller. Radio Free Amerika is a pirate radio station begun after World War 3. DJ Moses spins the best hip hop as he broadcasts hope into Russian occupied United States. Unbeknownst to the enemy, there is code interwoven in the beat. Will Moses be able to coordinate the disorganized resistance and inspire the next American Revolution? Find out in this Glyph Nominated graphic novel by Dr. Barron Bell, creator of DOMINION.
I remember going to see Red Dawn as a kid… the original, not the more action-oriented remake… and feeling it deep down in my gut. That was a thing that seemed more than plausible at the time, creeping right up to the edge of not “if” but “when”. And as history classes were fresh in my teenage brain, I knew that invasions weren’t fought off by soldiers, but by people defending their homes and way of life.
Radio Free Amerika digs a little deeper than bullets & bombs, zeroing in more on the “pursuit of happiness” concept. Dr. Bell presents Carl “Mose B” Benjamin, not as some kind of Hollywood action-hero stereotype but as more of an Everyman with a past. Holed up in Refugee Camp #221 on the Canadian border, Mose isn’t looking to lead a resistance as he sends out his pirate radio broadcast, spinning tunes as the DJ behind the turntables. But if his broadcasts bring a little relief to anyone listening, and a little information encoded in the tunes, that’s as far as his aspirations go. In his own words, “I got a tent over my head, food in my stomach, and I can mix. I’m good.” It’s when his RFA team is approached by remnants of the U.S. military with the bones of a plan to use his broadcasts as a rallying point that Bell’s story gets interesting.
Dr. Bell also has the fantastic good fortune of being able to work with an artist who is one hundred percent on board with the vision behind the story. Oh wait… he IS the illustrator, backed up by Don Hillsman II on inks & Lexington Wolfcraft on colors. That worked out well! The team has put together a book that goes beyond what casual readers might expect from “indie press”. Bell’s design work is impeccable, clean and to the point. Hillsman’s inks support that solid foundation, while Wolfcraft’s colors give it depth and atmosphere. There are titles coming from the Big 2 publishers that don’t have the level of polish I see in Radio Free Amerika.
An element of this book that might get overlooked is at the core of what made it work so well for me. You wouldn’t generally think of a comic or graphic novel as having a soundtrack, but Bell manages to instill his book with the feeling behind the music Mose is playing. If Red Dawn was about normal people stepping up to fight back, Radio Free Amerika is about the artists making the things that remind those people of what they’re fighting to get back. And I’m not even that big a fan of hip hop…
Soon to be released by Terminus Media, this is a book that goes beyond what you might expect. You can get explosions and mayhem in the remake, but if you’re looking for a comic that taps into what made the original Red Dawn a classic, this comes close. And if you’re looking for some tunes to add to your playlist, that could be a bonus.
Final Score: 11/13
