{"id":77,"date":"2014-11-21T23:12:44","date_gmt":"2014-11-21T23:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/?p=77"},"modified":"2014-11-21T23:12:44","modified_gmt":"2014-11-21T23:12:44","slug":"wild-weird-west-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/?p=77","title":{"rendered":"Wild, Weird West &#8211; Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Deadlands One Shots are single issue offerings that came out of Image in 2011-12 in conjunction with <a href=\"http:\/\/visionarycomics.com\/comic\/deadlands\">Visionary Comics<\/a>, who holds the rights and have produced a few follow-on digital offerings and a graphic novel called Raven, which is collected from their webcomic of the same name.<\/p>\n<p>All of the stories take place in the alternate timeline called the Weird West.\u00a0 The history, rules, and structure are based on the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Deadlands\">Deadlands RPG<\/a> created by Shane Lacey Hensley.\u00a0 The key features of this world are that, on July 3, 1863, a group of Native Americans, led by the shaman Raven, perform a ritual designed to drive the Europeans out of North America.\u00a0 Here the Deadlands timeline diverges from ours, with Raven unleashing a new and more dangerous hell to replace the one that they had been living under.<\/p>\n<p>All sorts of supernatural and ghoulish things start taking place.\u00a0 Monsters of all sorts, including werewolves and plant people, roam free.\u00a0 A portion of California fractures and falls into the Pacific, leaving a labyrinth of canyons and cliffs called the Maze.\u00a0 Wizards and demons ply their trade, and a mysterious substance called Ghost Rock fuels the new economy.<\/p>\n<p>It is against this backdrop that the Deadlands comics set their story, and what excellent stories they are.\u00a0 They manage to conjure a spooky atmosphere that blends wonderfully with the Old West setting.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-89 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Map1-1024x817.jpg\" alt=\"Badlands_Map\" width=\"810\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Map1-1024x817.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Map1-300x239.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Map1-810x646.jpg 810w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Map1.jpg 1914w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Each of the One Shots consists of a main story along with a short backup tale of about 4 pages in length.\u00a0 Listed in chronological order, they are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Devil\u2019s Six Gun &amp; Dime Store Back-up, Part 1 of 4, Showdown <em>(June 2011)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Massacre at Red Wing &amp; Dime Store Back-up, Part 2 of 4, Hunted <em>(July 2011)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Death was Silent &amp; Dime Store Back-up, Part 3 of 4, Prey <em>(August 2011)<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Black Water &amp; Dime Store Back-up, Part 4 of 4, Outlaw <em>(January 2012)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each of the issues has very nice, even beautiful art, clear exposition, tight dialog, and a seamless marrying of the horror and western themes.\u00a0 They are a pleasure to read and re-read, having a special place in my collection, but the best of the pack are The Devil\u2019s Six Gun and Death was Silent.<\/p>\n<p>In the<strong><em> Devil\u2019s Six Gun<\/em><\/strong>, we encounter the lead character, Copernicus Blackburne, who is clearly based on both the appearance and personal history on Nikola Tesla. Copernicus, an accomplished weapons inventor, is enticed from his native Prague to the US by the prominent American business man Samuel Tygian, who is, perhaps, intended to be an Edison knockoff. Mr. Tygian manipulates \u2018Penny\u2019 into improving the latter\u2019s signature invention, the Protean Pistol, by juicing it up with Ghost Rock.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-82 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_devils_six_guns_Tesla_pose-300x258.jpg\" alt=\"Badlands_devils_six_guns_Tesla_pose\" width=\"300\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_devils_six_guns_Tesla_pose-300x258.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_devils_six_guns_Tesla_pose.jpg 650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>When, after years of labor in America, Copernicus grows homesick, Tygian arranges that they both take a visit back to the old country.\u00a0 Perhaps sensing that they are an unwanted distraction, Tygian arranges for the Blackburne family to meet with a gruesome end, and then promptly disappears.\u00a0 Grief-stricken and vengeful, Copernicus perfects the improved pistol and comes back to the US with the Devil\u2019s Six Gun.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Devils_Six_Gun.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-58 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Devils_Six_Gun-431x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Badlands_Devils_Six_Gun\" width=\"431\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Devils_Six_Gun-431x1024.jpg 431w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Devils_Six_Gun-126x300.jpg 126w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Devils_Six_Gun.jpg 853w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 431px) 100vw, 431px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>He gets his revenge by shooting S. Tygian point blank with Ghost Rock bullets that cause his mansion to blow-up in the process.\u00a0 Story closes with an interesting surprise found amongst the rubble.<\/p>\n<p>In the <em><strong>Massacre at Red Wing<\/strong><\/em>, a European girl in Native American garb tracks a group of monsters as they move down along the banks of a river, killing every human as they go.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Girl_with_no_Name.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-83\" src=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Girl_with_no_Name.jpg\" alt=\"Badlands_Girl_with_no_Name\" width=\"800\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Girl_with_no_Name.jpg 800w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Girl_with_no_Name-300x183.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>She hopes to find a lead on the whereabouts of her \u2018mix-breed\u2019 mother, Mahala Two Suns, and by using some magic of her own, she forces them to give up the name of the man who owns her mother.\u00a0 This man, who goes by the name Wizard Morphine, is an enterprising and very sleazy pimp and is unwilling to part with Mahala.\u00a0 Taking a more hands-on approach, the Woman with No Name frees her mom from the grip of Morphine, only to have her die during the escape.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Death was Silent<\/strong><\/em> introduces us to Hoyt and Franklin.\u00a0 Hoyt is a Texas Ranger with no tongue and Franklin is his dead but still shambling brother. As the story opens, Hoyt enters a dreary little town with Franklin slung over his saddle, posing as his dead bounty.\u00a0 Stopping in the local saloon, Hoyt orders a drink<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-81\" src=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Ranger_Hoyt.jpg\" alt=\"Badlands_Ranger_Hoyt\" width=\"750\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Ranger_Hoyt.jpg 750w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Ranger_Hoyt-300x184.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/>and matter-of-factly tells everyone there that he has come to kill them all.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Hoyts_Threat.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-80\" src=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Hoyts_Threat.jpg\" alt=\"Badlands_Hoyts_Threat\" width=\"780\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Hoyts_Threat.jpg 780w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Hoyts_Threat-300x121.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><\/a>It seems that the entire town has been replaced by plant people and Hoyt and Franklin clean up the mess.<\/p>\n<p>In the final One Shot, <em><strong>Black Water<\/strong><\/em>, we follow the journey of a ruthless, back-stabbing schemer, one Harmon Rappaport, as he goes from New York City to Shan Fran, California deep in the heart of the Maze.\u00a0 His goal is to find the woman who tended him after he was injured in the Civil War.\u00a0 The memory of his brief time with her has haunted him since.\u00a0 Arriving in California, he hires a boat and a guide to take him through the Maze.\u00a0 Overcoming numerous dangers, Rappaport eventually is reunited with her, but not quite in the way he had hoped.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Dark_Water_Girl.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-79\" src=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Dark_Water_Girl.jpg\" alt=\"Badlands_Dark_Water_Girl\" width=\"383\" height=\"885\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The <em><strong>Dime Store Back-up<\/strong><\/em> stories paint a tale of a young and very fast-on-the-draw Billy the Kid as he visits revenge on the Werewolves that killed his family. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Billy_Bar_Fight.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-84\" src=\"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Billy_Bar_Fight.jpg\" alt=\"Badlands_Billy_Bar_Fight\" width=\"650\" height=\"592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Billy_Bar_Fight.jpg 650w, https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Badlands_Billy_Bar_Fight-300x273.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The narrative is cleverly written and, in the best traditions of the classic western, is equally about the protagonist\u2019s cunning as it is about his skill.\u00a0 My only complaint is that the tale suffers from being serialized over the four books, and my advice is either to read them all at one go, ignoring the main story, \u00a0or purchase the collected set.\u00a0 To do otherwise is to blunt the force of the story.<\/p>\n<p>Finally I would like to add a couple of notes about the graphic novel Raven.\u00a0 The first is on its availability.\u00a0 I purchased my copy of the 5 collected issues at the Baltimore Comic-Con, but it seems currently hard to come by.\u00a0 There doesn\u2019t seem to be a link to purchase directly from Visionary Comics, nor do third party vendors offer re-sales.\u00a0 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/470321830\/deadlands-raven-graphic-novel\">remains of the kickstarter<\/a> is still up, but of course it closed over a year ago.\u00a0\u00a0 The second is on the content.\u00a0 By its very nature, this story is far more political and larger in scope than the others, and for that reason I think it lacks the charm of the One Shots.\u00a0 It supplies the backstory that leads to the shaman Raven unleashing hell on Earth in the form of the Reckoners, the supernatural force behind all the weirdness.<\/p>\n<p>Let me close by emphasizing how good the Deadlands comics are, and how I hope that Visionary continues to produce material for years and years to come.<\/p>\n<p>Next week, I\u2019ll\u00a0 finish with the third installment on Wild, Weird West by covering East of West, an ongoing \u00a0effort from Image comics that uses the western\/horror theme mixed with sci-fi and a touch of the Book of Revelation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Deadlands One Shots are single issue offerings that came out of Image in 2011-12 in conjunction with Visionary Comics, who holds the rights and have produced a few follow-on&#8230; <a class=\"read-more-button\" href=\"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/?p=77\">Read more &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions\/93"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}