Story by Andrew Cosby
Written by Michael Alan Nelson
Drawn by Christian Dibari
Colors by Andres Lozano
Lettering by Johnny Lowne
Published by Boom Studios
It is 1862 in the Black Hills of Wyoming, and an African American is married to an American Indian, which of course means bad things are going to happen. After the rape and murder of his wife, the African American, Cole goes on a brutal rampage of revenge and murder against the white men that raped and killed his wife. This means that there is going to be a bounty on his head, and all the while he is trying to raise his son up right by teaching him how to shoot and otherwise carry on the family business of trapping and hunting and being a bounty hunter himself. While there is a price on his head, he is still a bounty hunter killing off people who transgress against the law. It is an interesting premise, and the first comic book in the series sets the tone of a violent angry saga of a man with a kid who is busy revenging his dead wife every day by killing people with a price on their head. Seriously this guy is angry and while anger management did not exist back then, at some point the killing has to stop. How much revenge can a person want? If you are Cole, then that revenge will last as long as this series runs.
I like the art, in some ways reminiscent of Ashley Wood but without the textures, the gore is muted, and the sepia tones throughout the comic give it a nice rustic feel. The lettering is very easy to read and very well done adding to the story line rather than detracting from it. While the Wild West was exactly that, this comic has a solid story line that is both entertaining and highly plausible. There are no heroes here, rather a man who is extremely good at bounty hunting trying to raise a kid. Today we would have the kid in therapy after all the murders he has seen, but back then, when Daddy is teaching a lesson, you should pay attention.
Lettering is solid, the story line is solid, and overall looking forward to the rest of the series. While I rarely read western comics, this one captured my attention by setting up a very good story line. Andrew has a reason to be proud of this comic book, along with the rest of the team, it is very well done. This comic is being rated five of five stars, good lettering, inking, drawing, solid story line, plausible, and realistic without going over the top. Well worth adding to your Boom comics collection, even if westerns are not your thing.
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