Solid read, fun story, and interesting artwork.                                             
Not familiar of the series before reading this but definitely interested in it now.

This is a beautiful graphic novel.

I loved the images in this story. It has a sepia colour scheme, which gives it a flashback quality to it. The artist was able to convey perspective very well. Some parts would be in focus while the rest of the panel was out of focus, making it look three dimensional.

I also like the way this story shows the consequences of using artificial intelligence in war. Jet has a conscience so he feels bad about what he does, leading him to wonder if he should continue fighting in the war.

After I read this book, I discovered it is the prequel to a series. It was a quick read but I understood it without that background information. I will have to look for the rest of the series!

I quite like this book. I liked the art and the slow delivery. The story reveals itself over time. A bit choppy in narrative, but a promising title non the less.

This is a prequel/prologue complication from the already published and soon to be published volumes of Rust. Having, unfortunately, not read any of the series, I did feel a bit lost and had many questions about the world I was reading about. I am also not generally a fan of war stories.

All of that being said, I did really enjoy this book. It was told largely in illustrations that were very emotionally evocative. There were a few pages I gasped at and there were a few I just enjoyed looking at for a while. I would recommend this for the parents that come in and say their kid just "doesn't like to read but likes playing Call of Duty" or the various similar RA questions I get a lot. I will also be very interested to go and read the full series to see if I can get a better grasp of this alternate WWI.

Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So, this is a prequel to the Rust series. It tells the story of Jet Jones during the war prior to the opening of the series. The portion collected here is part of the other four volumes, but presented chronologically. Jet discovers that he has a weapon built into his body and struggles with what that means for him as a person.

I like the way this book is put together. It is mostly told without words, which makes it a quick read. But the harshness of the war and Jet's reaction to it are presented very well through the images alone. The art is excellent at capturing those elements. The illustrations are in sepia tone to play on the idea that this takes place a long time before the main chunk of the series.

As much as I liked these portions, I felt a little lost reading this volume. It raised a lot of questions for me about who Jet is, what caused the war, and some of the technology involved. I think this would be better having more familiarity with the overall story and world. It definitely piqued my interest about Jet and his tale. I'd recommend reading the first volume and circling back to this one.

Visually stunning!  The sepia toned, rust-like illustrations help to set the mood of this mostly wordless origins story. I was captivated by the character and the alternative world war setting. I am eager to pick up the rest of the books in the series to see how this story continues.

I'm giving it a 2.5 outta 5. As it is a prologue I feel a reader would need to be more familiar with the previously released editions to understand the where's/what's/who's. I feel there is not too much I can say about this because not too much happened, it felt very drawn out at times, but again that's probably because it's a prologue, but still it didn't feel like it contained much information.
The art was very good, but I could pick holes in some of the elements of the story <spoiler>like if the cell contains his thoughts/memories/essence/intentions/er'thang, and he swapped it for a toaster's cell, does he not turn into a toaster and go along with the toaster's programming, for instance to return to base when not making toast?</spoiler>
I don't know, my advice is to read the first volume in the series before reading this prologue and see if you can make more sense out it.

'Rust: The Boy Soldier' written and illustrated by Royden Lepp is told mostly without words.  This could be used in a classroom setting having students write what their thoughts are for each page.

Jet Jones is a robot who looks like a boy, who is fighting a war that he was built for. Jet seems more human than robot and decides he can make his own choices. 

Apparently this is a series and I think it would do well in the library, especially for those reluctant readers.

It's colored in a sepia tone color, and I think it worked well to help the reader to envision a WWII type war.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel. #netgalley #roydenlepp #archaia

Unique story, solid illustrations, decent all in all.

The prologues of the 4 Rust books are collected together in a linear manner for the first time.  A visually stunning story set during an alternate World War I (I'm guessing because there are doughboys) where both sides also have robots.  Jet Jones is a boy robot version of the Rocketeer who is floored by his destructive power during a battle and runs away.  Told in sepia tone with an animation style in a mostly wordless manner, I found myself enthralled to the art.  I ordered the other Rust books from the library as soon as I finished this.

Lovely artwork, but very sparse on story. I expect the first volume of anything to leave me with more questions than answers, but I also expect that first volume to make me want to have those questions answered. Reading "Rust: The Boy Soldier" I was left with tons of questions...but very little desire find the answers. Apparently Jet Jones is an android with special powers who was built to serve in a war at some point in the past, but he escaped and he's still around in the present and...? Unfortunately, this graphic novel didn't hook me in to its story. Would definitely recommend for fans of graphic novels, but I may wait for the release of an omnibus so I can get the full story.

A strong three, but this volume is really not a standalone.  It works very well as a wartime Pinocchio adventure, with a boy cyborg complete with jet-pack being but one weapon in a large and ongoing war, concerning humans, other humans, and robotic walkers on both sides.  Only at the end did I find it was actually an anthology of different prologues – you could have fooled me, considering it flows very well until the jump in years found near the end, but it definitely is a prologue in itself.  At least there are four proper editions to go out and find, and if they have some of the character of these pages they will be worth the hunt, but it seems this is just a vanilla compilation acting as a background/advertisement for the rest.  So caveat emptor, but be aware really good things might (or  might not) appear in the real deal.

This was absolutely wonderful. Great story, wonderful illustrations, and Jet is awesome-- I would wholeheartedly recommend this for young and old alike!

I remember reading the first volume of Rust and feeling vaguely disappointed. I wanted it to be far more atmospheric and mysterious. It was pretty clear to me where the story was headed. At the same time, I really *wanted* to like it. I loved the muted, nearly sepia tone color palette. I loved the whole illustration style. And that's why I read this one. I want to love this story. I fee like it's one of those stories for which my affection will grow over time, as I read further volumes and get more of the story.

Target Age Range: 

YA and adult

Genre:

Sci fi, war

Art Style:

Cartoon realism - dark colour palette

Reading time:

At 128 pages, but with little text, this was quite quick to get through - about ten minutes

Let’s get gabbing:

The ending of this prologue was probably the best part of it for me - in that the last few pages really piqued my interest in Jet's future amongst humans.  The prologue itself is mostly scenes of war, in which we are introduced to Jet, a robot soldier who has incredible powers to kill and destroy but is also capable of choosing his own path.  The prologue is mostly artwork with little text, and so it was a bit tricky to get a rounded idea of what's going on in Jet's early world.  It's obvious that there is a war going on, fought by both robot and human soldiers, and at some point Jet becomes unhappy with his killing capabilities, deciding instead to pursue a different way of life.  The sepia colour palette reflects the dreary, dangerous frontlines of the war and gives the overall feel of a steampunk atmosphere.  

Overall snapshot:

I would like to see the second volume of Jet's story before making a decision on whether this graphic novel is my type of read.  Having only seen the first part of Jet's life, which centred around war, I don't feel like I've got a full appreciation for what this series is going to be about.

"Rust" is a quick read that sets up a story with a lot of potential. With a child-like main character and some fairly direct questions about identity and morality, it sets itself up for appeal to younger audiences. But the tone and themes of war add a gravity that could appeal to older readers as well. The visual style is effective, and this prequel does good work setting up what is to come. The only real downside is that the general plot is rather sparse and a tad familiar - which is not so much a criticism as it is an observation that this volume is designed with more to come.

Wow, this is an amazing and a little confusing graphic novel. It manages to say a lot, with very few words. It's a prequel to a series, so it would probably not have been confusing if I had read them first, which I sadly didn't. But now I'm going to read them for sure.
The art is beautiful and old fashioned. It's all in a sepia tone, which makes it feel older and a match the story perfectly.
It's a story about a boy soldier, who is a robot built for battle but looks like a boy. There is a war going on, something that looked like WW1, and there is a lot of different robots and he is a more advanced kind. He escapes his owners, to see if there is more to life. If he could be a hero and more human.
I really liked the story but was confused at times. Because as I said, there weren't many words on the pages to explain what happened. But when you read more, you begin to understand. It's a really compelling story and you already now feel for the boy. It's not that gory, only a little blood here and there because it is a war. But there is a lot of robot soldiers, so it's not that gross. Not that it usually is a problem for me, but I know some don't like it.
It made it even more fantastic that the author chose to use his dad as an inspiration for the boy. 

I can definitely recommend this graphic novel, even more, if you already id familiar with the story. but you can easily read it without it. I can't wait to read to read the next one when I find it.

Not many words, but the destruction and horror of war can be conveyed.  Love the sepia tones of the book. Good for 6-7th graders and up.

'Rust: The Boy Soldier' written and illustrated by Royden Lepp is told mostly without words.  It's also a steampunk type story crossed with an anime sort of sensibility.

Jet Jones is a robot who looks like a boy.  He is fighting in a war that looks a lot like World War I.   Add in more mechanical creatures and the kind of chaotic action of an ongoing war, and you've set the stage.  Jet seems to be able to make autonomous decisions, and he doesn't necessarily like the things that he is being made to do.    He decides to do something to change that.

It's colored in a sepia tone color, and I think that was a brilliant decision to set the mood.  The look of this book and world are really interesting, and it's mostly wordless.  The author/artist has made a compelling entry into this genre.  I'd like to see more of what this character is capable of.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Archaia, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Art is a bit bland, story relies too heavily on plain image and no dialogue/descriptions.