By Dan Traeger

Rob Guillory is an absolute genius. Just putting that out there in case any of you who’ve ever read his long-running Chew series had any doubt. For those of you who don’t know who Rob Guillory is, he’s half of the creative team behind the aforementioned series that won two Harveys and Two Eisner awards, so I’m not the only one who thinks the man is a genius. With his new series Farmhand, he splits off from his former partner John Layman and goes solo. Scary territory to be sure, but after reading Farmhand #1 I feel he is more than up to the task.

Farmhand is another one of those high-concept plots that are a dream to summarize. Check this out, “Jedidiah Jenkins is a farmer - but his cash crop isn’t corn or soy. Jed grows fast-healing, plug and play human organs.” Boom! And you’re off and running. There’s way more going on here than just a weird farm full of body parts and ook. Guillory is a master of creepy, stand the hairs up on the back of your neck, subtle horror. Farmhand is rife with the feeling that while the farm is doing something amazing and absolutely life-changing for humanity, just below the surface there’s something seething and on the move, ready to explode into a walking nightmare at any second.

Guillory kicks things off right from the start with a classic horror movie opening, then flips you to present day normalcy. It’s a bit jarring at first as you go from a waking nightmare with two younger children in jeopardy through a time jump to the present day where the children are grownups dealing with new family issues. The real fun begins when the estranged son of Jedidiah decides to reconcile with his father and brings his family along. Their visit to the body farm is bizarre and intentionally reminiscent of the tour scene in Jurassic Park. There are a few quick action scenes along the way that are obviously a set-up for something to come later but the primary story focus, for now, is squarely on fleshing out the family dynamics. Guillory does a wonderful job of establishing his initial characterizations as each person down to the quickest cameo walk-on part is instantly believable, and the core family feels just right.

Guillory’s art style is a bit of an acquired taste as it’s highly stylized and a bit cartoonish, but it works extremely well with his storytelling. Those of you who are regular readers of Image, Dark Horse or Slave Labor Graphics should have no trouble with it at all. Those of you who are already familiar with Guillory’s art should note that he is in top form on Farmhand. This is obviously a labor of love for him and he had the good sense to bring his Chew colorist Taylor Wells who rounds out the package quite nicely doing his typical stellar color work. And yes, there are chickens aplenty so Guillory fans have no fear.

Farmhand is a fine start to what promises to be an excellent weird horror comic from a stellar creative team at the top of their game. It has heart and bite, literally, and it’s well worth picking up. This is an outstanding sophomore effort from one of the best new storytellers currently working in comics. Rob Guillory is a true genius. He’s one of those rare storytellers that can jump you right into the tale, no matter how bizarre the situation. We’re in for a wild ride with this series, so now would be a great time to strap in at the ground floor.  I’d recommend this to any fans of weird horror or just anybody who likes an excellently put together comic book story.

Score: 5/5

Farmhand #1
Image Comics