By Shannon Eric Denton, Jeff Mariotte, John Cboins, Nima Sorat & various (IDW Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-60010-364-3 (TPB/Digital edition)
This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.
The iconography and intrinsic philosophy of the western is so strong that it will readily mix-&-match with any other narrative genre.
Space Cowboys? Done.
Murder mystery? War? Romance? Hell, Yeah!
Culture clash; political thriller; buddy movie; coming-of-age-drama; epic quest? All covered in landmark cowboy books and/or film tales.
However – probably due to the brutal nature and subtext of the Wild West mythos – the most effective genre-mash-ups have always involved broad humour or supernatural shock. An intriguing case in point is this short, sharp saga scripted by Shannon Eric Denton (The Revenant) & Jeff Mariotte (Desperadoes), beguilingly brought to un-life by illustrators John Cboins & Nima Sorat, with the whole chilling confection coloured by Chris Wood & Carlos Badilla. That thar fancy letterin’ comes courtesy of Ed Dukeshire.
Originally released in 2009 as a 4-issue miniseries, the tale is by no means an original one, but is stylishly undertaken (that’s a freebie from a veteran punslinger, folks), rattling along at a breakneck pace to its gory conclusion…
The drama begins in ‘The Devil’s Playground’ as a strangely gaunt man closes in on a night-time campfire. With little ceremony the top-hatted old timer despatches the man-like things basking in the fire’s glow and dumps them unceremoniously in the coffin on the wagon pulled by his trusty mule Lucifer…
In the growing daylight Frank Timmons meets some riders whilst crossing spartan cattle country and learns of a range war brewing between independent ranchers and merciless cattle-baron Harvey Newell. Frank has no time for their petty problems as he is involved in a relentless pursuit. He used to be the undertaker at Gila Flats Territorial Prison and, after a recent incident, has been tasked with tracking down some very dangerous escapees…
As Timmons heads on, one of the cowboys joins him. Will Saylor already suspects something nasty is occurring and, since the manhunter’s course is in a direct line for his own stead – where his wife and daughters are waiting – Will thinks he ought to be heading home…
As they near the ranch Will’s worst suspicions are confirmed. Timmons is no normal bounty killer and the things threatening his family stopped breathing a long time ago. They also seem immune to his bullets and crave living human flesh…
The old man does have some advantages of his own, though, and before long has the dead men on the run and the women-folk back with horrified Will. Sadly, the hunter’s problems grow in ‘The Undertaker’s Lament’ as Frank shares a few more unwholesome truths with Saylor, even as miles distant, the bulk of the risen dead Timmons has been following introduce themselves to local tyrant Newell. Timmons was not a good man when he worked at Gila Flats: abusing his position for profit and living the high life with a local woman named Dorothy. Things started to go bad in 1878 when Frank was cursed by hardened killer Bart Bevard as he fought the noose around his neck.
They then got much worse when Frank desecrated the corpse of Mexican witch-man El Brujo to steal the shaman’s fancy amulet.
That night 117 corpses dug themselves out of the Boneyard and went on a ravenous killing spree, slaughtering an entire town… including poor Dorothy. And that’s when something truly diabolical spoke to Frank: offering him a deal that could not be refused. Hell wanted its escaped souls back and, if Frank delivered them, he just might be reunited with Dorothy…
As Frank and Will reach the local town to spread a warning, they are caught in a lethal ambush. It isn’t Bevard’s corpse gang but Newell’s bully boys gunning for them and, faced with ‘The Good, the Bad, & the Undead’ Frank needs to make a quick decision about temporarily abandoning his unholy mission…
After a horrific gun battle he convinces a few cowed survivors to join him in a raid on Newell’s ranch for a showdown with the human monster before his own final apocalyptic confrontation with Bevard and ‘The Malevolent Six’ zombies he still commands…
When the shooting stops Frank and Lucifer the mule head for the sunset, painfully aware that they still have 107 more soiled souls to send to the inferno before they can rest…
Simple, straightforward, eerily evocative and leavened with just the right amount of gallows humour, Graveslinger was quickly optioned for eventual movie glory – although to me it smacks more of numerous TV episodes rather than 120-odd minutes of supernatural shoot-outs. Sadly, the original comic book inspiration has all but vanished from sight, despite its welcoming premise, solid action ethic and vast gallery of guest art (three dozen potent and powerful pieces by the likes of Adam Archer, Bloodworth, Francesco Francavilla, Michael Geiger, Phil Noto, Tom Mandrake and others) that came with this collected edition.
If you’re in the mood for spooky six-gun thrills, Graveslinger is well worth tracking down in either printed or digital editions.
© 2009 Shannon Eric Denton and Jeff Mariotte. All rights reserved.
To all of you who asked why we try to post even in the throes of plague tempest and torment. Thanks for asking. It turns out that I’m very old and much confused, and I thought that if I didn’t post a review every day or as often as possible, the specific hole in the Interweb we use would heal up. Turns out that’s not the case. We might post less often from now unless I see something I like…
Sorry, did I just say that?
Today in 1934 Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates first launched. Nuff said. In 1954 bon vivant George McManus died having made Bringing Up Father a global phenomenon. Our favourite collection is still Jiggs is Back so why not see why?