The only monthly supernatural western comic returns this
week from Oni Press and it kicks off the next storyline in the series. The last
issue saw Sinclair and Becky board a train with the preists of the Sword of Abraham, a group that have sworn to dispose of the guns and General Hume. They’re
transporting Hume’s body to a safer location to prevent him from escaping his
coffin yet again.
The issue actually begins with Hume’s wife, the possessor of
the one of the six guns and the only one that isn’t in Sinclair and Becky’s
possession. She kills a group of slaves to restore her youth and then calls in
a favor to get her husband’s body back. She commissions a man by the name of
Eli Barlow to retrieve Hume’s body and the guns. Barlow happens across a town
that has recently killed a group of criminals, he lets out some magic that
reanimates the dead gang’s bodies and puts them in his service.
The Zombie cowboys catch up to Sinclair’s train and begin
attacking. Brother Roberto and the rest of the Sword of Abraham begin shooting
back, but soon discover that not only are their attackers fast, but that
they’re damn near unstoppable. Sinclair takes two of the guns and gets involved
with the dead men, which solidifies him as a bad ass. He takes aim with the
first gun and blows the side of the train off killing the Zombie. His bullets
kick ass, but they’re not putting the rest of the dead men down for good.
This is a great issue for new readers to jump on to and
really that’s the strength of this series. Writer Cullen Bunn finds new and
interesting ways to reintroduce the story. Even if you’ve missed out on the
series up to this point, the recap at the beginning of the issue and the
narrative are perfectly balanced to give you all the info you need to catch up
if you want to. Really you could come into the series on this issue and not
need to know what happened prior in the series and that’s a mark of a great
book.
The character development is non-existent in this issue, but
that’s due to establishing the story for new readers and the next arc. The
character interaction is still great as it reminds readers of the characters
personalities which is just as important as developing them. Sinclair is full
of great lines and continues to walk that line of the hard to trust hero. It’s what
makes his relationship with Becky so interesting as they have opposing
personalities that are at constant war with each other and yet share the same
goal.
The art is as always perfect for the book. Brain Hurtt is an
amazing talent as he draws a period piece setting filled with supernatural
horrors that have crossed every range imaginable. This issue he treads into new
ground once again and knocks it out of the park. His drawings really make the
characters come to life as Hurtt gives them as much personality and character
as the dialog does.
This is a great monthly book and really one of the best
western comics on the market. What’s truly great about it is that it’s an
independently produced monthly comic that has never had a shipping delay. Some
creator owned books can barely get four issues out in a year *coughmillarcough*
so a big congrats to the team for doing over a year of books now. If you’re
looking for supernatural action adventure then don’t write off this book and
its unusual place setting, by doing so you’re missing out on one of the best
monthly comics on the market.
Overall Score – 8.5/10