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The Washington Tragedy #2

Robert reminded me in the letter that came with this comic that I should probably re-read the first issue again before getting into that, which was sound advice, but clearly demonstrated that my “let the reviewed comics pile up as they may” brand of organizing is not as common as I might have thought. I’m sure that first issue is around here somewhere, but narrowing that down would take some time. Anyway, he included a synopsis at the start of the comic, so you can get the gist of the first issue there. To recap, in case you’re reading the review for the second issue of a two part series, there was a Congressman in the 1850’s named Dan Sickles. Phillip Barton Key was the district attorney of Washington D.C. and was quite the womanizer, and his list of conquests included Dan’s wife Teresa. Hilariously, Dan also had plenty of infidelities, but this happened in the 1850’s, when women were just barely regarded as people in the eyes of the law. Anyway, this issue starts with Dan just finding out about this affair and having a long and heated conversation with his wife. He eventually gets her to write out a signed confession detailing exactly what happened, and the next day (while he’s going over his options with a friend) he notices Phillip across the street from his house, trying to give the signal to Teresa to come over. This naturally sends Dan into a rage, he grabs a few pistols from his house and, well, you can probably guess what happens from there. Still, Robert does a great job of not shying away from anything, using eyewitness accounts (as the confrontation happened on a busy street) to show just how brutal it was. I’ll leave the winner of the confrontation a mystery, but the rest of the comic details the trial that happened as the result of the murder, and the unique alibi that the defense chose to try out for their client. The epilogue was also nicely done, as I wondered what happened to ____ after the last page of the comic. So overall I’d say that while I thoroughly enjoy Robert’s Stranger 2 Stranger series, he could clearly put out some quality historical comics too whenever the mood strikes him. $5

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The Washington Tragedy #1

Just a note to clarify things before I get started: Robert has NOT given up on his “Stranger 2 Stranger” series, he’s just taking a break to work on this story. And hey, I’m all for artists trying new things, so long as my own personal preferences aren’t affected in the slightest and that they eventually go back to that thing they did that I already know that I love. Some slight exaggeration there, but I’ll bet at least a few of you agree with that completely. Anyway, this time around Robert is trying something completely different, as he tells the tale of Daniel Sickles, his wife Teresa and their life together. Daniel takes a crooked path to the top, being accused of being a shady lawyer and hanging out with prostitutes (well, one prostitute in particular, and he practically seemed monogamous with her). As is often the way, all this corruption eventually led Daniel to become a Congressman, and he moved into a house right across the street from the White House, with frequent visits from James Buchanan. Have I mentioned that this is set in the 1850’s? That’s pretty relevant information. Anyway, Daniel further scandalized this easily scandalized world by marrying a young woman of 16, with the general assumption being that she was knocked up when they got married. Teresa had the baby quickly and was often seen at social gatherings when possible, but Daniel was still perfectly happy to travel with his favorite prostitute and wasn’t particularly subtle about it. A friend of Daniel’s tragically had his wife pass away, and he gradually started spending time with Teresa (she had a lot of free time with the small children and Daniel away for work). This may have started out innocently but it did not stay that way, and rumors started swirling before eventually getting back to Daniel. I love how the cheating of the men is always just part of the deal in these old-timey stories, but if the woman is even possibly involved in anything even slightly untoward, look out. The rest of this comic details the search to determine the truth of the rumors, and Robert is going to be wrapping this story up in the next issue. He telegraphs pretty clearly where all of this is going on the first page, but I won’t ruin the surprise if you haven’t picked it up yet. I’ll withhold my judgment until this short series is done, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first issue and am looking forward to seeing what happens next. Granted, I have a pretty good idea, but that’s just a guess and I’m not going to spoil it by checking with the actual history of the event. $5