Small Press Heroes

by Byron Black

Collecting the four-issue saga following Roland Steppenwolf as he matches wits with a variety of foes in a post-apocalyptic world!

_{100-page manga-size comic, grey tone cover w/b+w interiors. $13 (free shipping if ordering through Prime). Available to order on Amazon!}

Sample pages:

Jason‘s thoughts:

I’m fascinated with Roland Steppenwolf. Is he a hero? Is he a villain? You will not come to a clear conclusion after reading Byron Black’s small press odyssey, which is why I enjoyed it so much. What I was particularly fascinated with is the role of religion in this saga. Byron is a proud Christian, which he discusses in the letter columns included in this edition, and his faith is reflected in that of Roland’s. In all honesty, I would have loved to see it explored even further as it relates to Roland. He ruminates on it a bit in these issues, but it would have been interesting to see him try to reconcile his beliefs with some of the actions he takes that don’t seem to be in line with his faith.

A minor quibble, though, and lots of respect for Byron incorporating that element into Roland’s character in the first place. “The Steppenwolf Chronicles” is a great example of why I love small press publications so much. Byron has created a fully formed world for his characters to play in and once you start reading, you quickly become engrossed in Byron’s realm. In just four issues, I was able to clearly see and believe in Byron’s version of Earth.

While the artwork is heavily influenced by Jack Kirby, Byron has his own unique style and I absolutely love it. His characters are big and bulky and very much feel like they have weight to them. And the style feels very brooding, which fits perfectly into the tone of the story, a bleak land filled with large personalities all vying to rule these wastelands.

The book itself is printed through Amazon’s Direct Publishing program, and as with other self-published books I’ve ordered that have printed this route, they make a good, solid product that’s perfect for small pressers wanting to publish their work without sitting on boxes and boxes of unsold copies.

Highly recommend getting yourself a copy of Byron Black’s masterpiece and ruminating on the nature of Roland Steppenwolf and who he is. You’ll find very quickly that there are no easy answers in Roland’s world, which speaks to Byron’s amazing storytelling talent.