So are any of you into the new Western comic books?
Ballad of Sleeping Beauty, new Jonah Hex, Dusty Star, Shaolin Cowboy?
Well there’s this really cool one called Loveless which is about an outlaw and it’s done in the spaghetti western style. It’s set in the time of Reconstruction from the Civil War so this is an ugly, gritty series.
Check these interviews I did with the writer, Brian Azzarello (5 page interview) and the artist, Marcelo Frusin
We talk alot about westerns, spaghetti westerns and their other projects.
A couple of new graphic novels that might be of interest to western comic book fans:
“The Ballad Of Sleeping Beauty”
By Gabriel Benson and Mike Hawthorne
This western retelling of the classic fable is very well written and has some terrific artwork.Originally published as an 8 issue mini series, it is now collected in one volume. The basic story without giving away too many details is about an old gunslinger who teams up with a young man to search for a village that has been placed under a curse, but their both being chased by some ghosts and the Grim Reaper himself in the guise of a U.S. Marshall named Drake. Very entertaining and original. Published by Beckett Comics. (www.beckettcomics.com)
“Gunned Down”
anthology
Ten short stories of the American west illustrated by artists from Brazil. This book was (in my opinion) very hit and miss. Some of the stories were quite good, but most were just decent and a couple were pretty bad. Published by Terra Major (www.terramajor.com)
and a couple of books from last year that I just reread and are worth mentionong again:
“Dead West”
by Rick Spears and Rob G.
A wild and strange mix of “A Fistful Of Dollars” and “Night Of The Living Dead” The basic plot: a small town is put under a curse and the dead rise as flesh eating zombies. All seems lost until The Man With No Name shows up. Very strange and weird. I loved it. Published by Gigantic Graphic Novels (www.pgw.com)
“The Long Haul”
By Anthony Johnston and Eduardo Barreto
A kind of “Oceans 11” out west. An ex bank robber is having a hard time going straight, so he puts togeter a gang and plans to rob a money train.
A good old fashioned western adventure. A lot of fun with some great art work. Published by Oni Press (www.onipress.com)
and for monthly comic fans, keep reading “Jonah Hex” and “Loveless”. Two great books.
Tex willer is a very popular comics in Italy created 56 years ago and still in action!
“Tex is an extremely popular and the longest running Italian comic book. It was first published in September 1948, with a script by Gianluigi Bonelli and illustrations by Galep (pseudonym of Aurelio Galleppini). Tex is an outlaw who later becomes a Texas Ranger, Indian Agent and Chief of the Navajos. In his adventures he is flanked by three pards: his son Kit, Tiger Jack, a fearless Navajo warrior, and Kit Carson (the historical figure, although romanticised). Characters and stories were heavily influenced by Hollywood Western mythology. Gianluigi Bonelli wrote every story until 1976, when his son Sergio began sharing the task. In 1983 Claudio Nizzi became the main writer. Galep drew most of the comics until the mid-1940s, when artists like Guglielmo Letteri, Fernando Fusco and Giovanni Ticci began to take over.”
it would be nice to find Italian ones translated to English, i’ve heard the great French comic Blueberry has been translated but i have not been able to find any.
In an documentary on the Blue Underground Django dvd it is stated that director Sergio Corbucci got the idea for Django from a character who dragged a coffin behind him that appeared in a comic book he he picked up at the news stand on Via Vento in Rome. Despite reading superhero comics over the years I’ve never come across this mystery character. Does anyone have any idea who this character could be and which comic book they appear?
My favorite western comic Ken Parker is being currently re-released here in Finland.
I noticed familiar face in one story:
Same story has some other nods to Leone too. Quite similar barber’s chair scene as in For a Few Dollars More and also duel where man with pistol faces a man with shotgun and both run out of their ammo at the same time.
[quote=“Phantom Stranger, post:4, topic:156”]“Dead West”
by Rick Spears and Rob G.
A wild and strange mix of “A Fistful Of Dollars” and “Night Of The Living Dead” The basic plot: a small town is put under a curse and the dead rise as flesh eating zombies. All seems lost until The Man With No Name shows up. Very strange and weird. I loved it. Published by Gigantic Graphic Novels (www.pgw.com)[/quote]
That sort of stuff goes on in this one as well - scept the protagonist is a very big-breasted Pamela Anderson type, who has great difficulty keeping her clothes on. She plays the gun-toting intermediary within a ‘western’ film-set town that is split between zombies (the Von Bismarks) and vampires (the McDonalds) and it’s all very ‘adult-orientated’. Lots of blood, guts and tits ‘n’ arse (all in b/w tho’ which is o.k., I suppose, but still a bit of a shame - I’m used to seeing Bisley’s work in its full-colour gory glory).
FISTFUL OF BLOOD by Kevin B. Eastman and (illustrated as mentioned) by Simon Bisley (2002). SB is perfect in illustrating this type of massively over-the-top cartoon violence. I have heard somewhere that there are plans to turn this into a film. I would say very Tarantino-esque, but its probably not gonna be by him, and I’d better be careful … this site linked as it is to the Trio … anybody know any more?
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Got recently hooked on another italian western comic book serie Storia del West know as Lännentie here in Finland. Serie is about Family who lives through important phases of the old West, it starts somewhere in early 1800 and ends in 1885 when cattle ranching is dying out because of the big snow storm. It features all the legendary characters like Hickock, Billy the Kid, Custer etc but mainly focuses on Indian wars, at least I think so -haven’t read that many issues so far. They released the serie here 75-81 but I have found them from the second hand book stores.
[quote=“Ernie Estrella, post:1, topic:156”]So are any of you into the new Western comic books?
Ballad of Sleeping Beauty, new Jonah Hex, Dusty Star, Shaolin Cowboy?[/quote]
I like the New Jonah Hex & Shaolin Cowboy was pretty crazy… but still good
[quote=“Reverend Danite, post:13, topic:156”]That sort of stuff goes on in this one as well - scept the protagonist is a very big-breasted Pamela Anderson type, who has great difficulty keeping her clothes on. She plays the gun-toting intermediary within a ‘western’ film-set town that is split between zombies (the Von Bismarks) and vampires (the McDonalds) and it’s all very ‘adult-orientated’. Lots of blood, guts and tits ‘n’ arse (all in b/w tho’ which is o.k., I suppose, but still a bit of a shame - I’m used to seeing Bisley’s work in its full-colour gory glory).
FISTFUL OF BLOOD by Kevin B. Eastman and (illustrated as mentioned) by Simon Bisley (2002). SB is perfect in illustrating this type of massively over-the-top cartoon violence.[/quote]
yeh after reading Fistful of Blood I find it hard for them to make it into a film considering the main character is butt naked half the time and does crazy kicks to peoples faces wear you can see her vagina over & over again…
would be interesting none the less but the movie would have to be pretty different and wouldnt be main stream defenetly B-C-Grade quality…
Oh! I wish I’d seen this thread before I posted mine… Yeah, I just found a new Western, Earp. The same publisher has another Western-style comic called Caliber, too.
