Review by C.J. Bunce

Adventure on the high seas.  We’ve read it the best in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, we’ve seen it the best on television in the A&E Hornblower mini-series, and we’ve enjoyed it with Captain Jack Sparrow in five Pirates of the Caribbean movies (and a sixth on its way starring Karen Gillan as the red-headed pirate called Redd from the Disney park ride).  Coming later this month is a new comics series featuring a legendary pirate duo of women, Anne Bonny and Mary Read.  A Man Among Ye is more swashbuckling action of the Jack Sparrow variety than anything pretending to be historic, but it will be a fun ride for fans of Treasure Island and Captain Blood.

The new series hails from Image Comics’ Top Cow imprint and writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Craig Cermak.  The creators tread no lines between historicity and romanticism–this is all the stuff of escapist adventure:  Skulls and crossbones, scabby deck hands, killing with a cutlass without a moment of thought.  This isn’t the stuff of the actual greatest historic woman pirate of all time–That would be Granuaile, also known as Grace O’Malley, the 16th century pirate queen of Ireland.  But if you’re reading for the fun and looking for more in the Pirates of the Caribbean vein, you’ll find it here.

Look for two cover options for the first issue, one by Craig Cermak and one by Stiepan Sejik.  Cermak’s action layouts coupled with Brittany Pezzillo’s colors (check out that ship’s figurehead!) make for a good pairing for an adventure series.

Courtesy of Image Comics, here is a preview of the first issue of A Man Among Ye:

You can pre-order A Man Among Ye in a trade edition here from Amazon, but you’ll have to wait until September for its arrival.  Or add it to your pull list at Elite Comics or your local comic store now.  The first issue is scheduled to arrive June 17, 2020.