Building My Own Trade....With Trades #1

Rasputin TPB Vol 1-2 (Image)
​By: Alex Grecian, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia, Thomas Maurer

When some of my students discovered I was reading comics again, a copy of the Rasputin trades magically showed up in my classroom.  I had the joy of working with Alex Grecian's son for two years, and I knew Alex was an author, but I did not know he did comics, and let me say, the relationship you see between he and his artistic team really sings in this book, and it makes me want to go pick up the trades of Proof as well.

If you are not familiar with the premise, this is a re-imagination of *That* Rasputin.  Throughout the first volume, you learn about his ability to heal the injured, and bring the dead back to life.  One of the most haunting images is him choosing to bring a bear back to life instead of his father.  After this interaction, he learns for each being he heals, he also picks up some of their characteristics, which is quite cool.  Throughout the first volume, you are left with the haunting knowledge that somehow, at the hands of his "friends" he will meet his demise, and when we witness Rasputin's death at the end of the first volume, the real question is, how is that his real death if that's not the vision of his future he was given?

Volume 2 offers some answers, and also begins to explore what Rasputin is capable of in modern America.  We see that Rasputin has not only the power to heal the injured, but can also bring the soulless back into a flesh-form if he consumes their soul to bring himself back to life. Which explains how he's alive today.  What is also interesting is the potential alternative history route with no Kennedy assassination, but the revelation of Rasputin's existence through the Zapruder film.  

I wish there was a third volume, I think watching Rasputin use his powers beyond the temporal lockbox he's normally stored in is the type of alternative-history narrative I am a big fan of (in the same realm of current runs like Killadelphia or the Man Who F-ed Up Time).  I'm really excited to discover some of Alex's comic work (especially with Riley) as I continue to dig into more of both of their comic works!