Every now and then i feel compelled to toot the horn of a comic book series that i'm into. And lately those books have been cranking out from
Image Comics, which is kind of amusing (especially to someone who's been collecting comics for 25 years) since Image used to be the publisher that valued style over substance. All the early books were rip-offs of other superhero books from the big two (Marvel and DC), hyper-stylized versions of the X-Men or Spiderman or Batman and so on. So it seems odd now that some of the most original and fantastic work ("Fatale," "Saga," "Bedlam," "Sex") is coming out on said publisher, bu that's the way it goes.
All of this brings us to the new series from Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta. "East of West" is a sci-fi, western, revenge tale set in a dystopian version of the United States involving the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Oh, and Death intends to hunt down the persons who have done him wrong, including the president. Count me in. The guys at my local comic store feel that Hickman is the smartest writer in comics these days, and those dudes generally know what they're talking about. I cannot recommend this book enough.
"The things that divide us are stronger than the things that unite us."
I'd not heard of this but after Your recommendation I'm picking this up Thursday when I hit my local shop. Hickman's good, real good. He's kind of Grant Morrison lite, but that is not a bad thing. He's definitely cut from the same fringe science mold as Morrison, and has a similar world view in his writing. He did a book called Red Wing about a year and a half ago - great! Should be in trade by now, only 4 issues. Also, he had a Shield series for Marvel that is just insane - it's Shield of old (real old) with Tony Stark and Reed Richard's fathers alongside Nikola Tesla, Sir Isaac Newton and a host of other historical characters, but all over the place in time and space. Really cool.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Shield series, and was always intrigued by it, but i never checked it out. Your description sounds amazing, so i will have to remedy that. I'll be sure to check out Red Wing too.
DeleteWent to my local today and East of West was SOLD OUT!!! NOOOOO!!!. But instant gratification aside, it's Image and they're really good at doing supplemental printings, so hopefully issue 1 will be mine in a week or two.
ReplyDeleteI think You'll dig the Shield and the Red Wing, the latter being a PERFECTLY delightful example of what they call "wide screen comics".
Okay, well it's almost two months later and I finally acquired a copy of #1 - 3rd Printing. I just read it and raced over here to say AWESOME! Thank you soooo much for turning me into this book because i totally would have missed it otherwise, and it is great. Reminds me a bit of Saga, and I don't know if it's just me, but reading it (especially the scenes with Grey Walker and his "savages" in the bar I can totally see it as a cartoon - has a bit of a Cowboy Bebop feel even.
ReplyDeleteSo good, thank you again sir!!!
You're right about Cowboy Bebop. I am loving this book and can't wait to see where it's headed. Also, i dug The Red Wing. Thanks for the recommendation.
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