Cowboy comics recommendations
February 22, 2010 9:26 PM Subscribe
Name your favorite cowboy and western-themed comics.
Especially looking for great obscure and/or foreign titles.
Especially looking for great obscure and/or foreign titles.
Lucky Luke, in my childhood.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:49 PM on February 22, 2010
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:49 PM on February 22, 2010
Preacher has some of those western/cowboy undertones, but they are undertones for sure.
posted by schyler523 at 9:56 PM on February 22, 2010
posted by schyler523 at 9:56 PM on February 22, 2010
Moebius' Blueberry seems to hit your mark.
posted by griphus at 10:09 PM on February 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 10:09 PM on February 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Well, Jonah Hex probably isn't quite obscure enough, but has had some awesome outings nonetheless.
2000ad has a great history of Science Fiction Western settings, including Strontium Dog and a number of Judge Dredd stories set in the cursed earth. It's not 2000ad but Garth Ennis's Just a Pilgrim has a real 2000ad post-apocalyptic western feel to it.
In fact expect to hear Ennis's name cropping up quite a bit...
posted by Artw at 10:26 PM on February 22, 2010
2000ad has a great history of Science Fiction Western settings, including Strontium Dog and a number of Judge Dredd stories set in the cursed earth. It's not 2000ad but Garth Ennis's Just a Pilgrim has a real 2000ad post-apocalyptic western feel to it.
In fact expect to hear Ennis's name cropping up quite a bit...
posted by Artw at 10:26 PM on February 22, 2010
Joe Lansdale's The Lone Ranger and Tonto, which Rush Limbaugh once held up as indicative of what was wrong with America, which I imagine must have been a proud moment for Lansdale. I know the characters are as far from obscure as western characters can get, but this is Joe Lansdale doing it. Also check his runs on Jonah Hex, which included this dialogue:
"I already saved your life."
"How you figure?"
"You were snoring last night. I didn't shoot you."
posted by Zed at 11:26 PM on February 22, 2010
"I already saved your life."
"How you figure?"
"You were snoring last night. I didn't shoot you."
posted by Zed at 11:26 PM on February 22, 2010
Blueberry
Kid Colt
Jonah Hex
anything by Jack Jackson (Jaxon), especially his Tejas history pieces. You'll live history when your read those, amigo.
Preacher is also pretty good, although not quite up to the mark of Jaxon.
I know you haven't asked for cinema recommendations, but any Sergio Leone movies will give you the same basic feeling as reading the comics I've cited will.
posted by motown missile at 1:19 AM on February 23, 2010
Kid Colt
Jonah Hex
anything by Jack Jackson (Jaxon), especially his Tejas history pieces. You'll live history when your read those, amigo.
Preacher is also pretty good, although not quite up to the mark of Jaxon.
I know you haven't asked for cinema recommendations, but any Sergio Leone movies will give you the same basic feeling as reading the comics I've cited will.
posted by motown missile at 1:19 AM on February 23, 2010
There's always Desperate Dan, who I'm sure was a big influence on Ennis...
Also Dynamite have been publishing various Lone Ranger and Man With No Name titles.
posted by permafrost at 3:48 AM on February 23, 2010
Also Dynamite have been publishing various Lone Ranger and Man With No Name titles.
posted by permafrost at 3:48 AM on February 23, 2010
I enjoyed the first trade of Loveless. The other two are optional.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:49 AM on February 23, 2010
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:49 AM on February 23, 2010
Yes! Another vote for Gus and His Gang. One of my favourite books from last year.
posted by Robot Johnny at 6:39 AM on February 23, 2010
posted by Robot Johnny at 6:39 AM on February 23, 2010
Here's an unusual, but awesome one:
The Kents by John Ostrander and Tim Truman. It's the story of Clark Kent's adopted family when they first moved to Kansas, as abolitionist settlers from Massachusetts, and their place in the "Bloody Kansas" conflict, a brutal little war fought over slavery that presaged the Civil War. No superheroics, but lots of history and gunslinging.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:01 AM on February 23, 2010
The Kents by John Ostrander and Tim Truman. It's the story of Clark Kent's adopted family when they first moved to Kansas, as abolitionist settlers from Massachusetts, and their place in the "Bloody Kansas" conflict, a brutal little war fought over slavery that presaged the Civil War. No superheroics, but lots of history and gunslinging.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:01 AM on February 23, 2010
Another vote for original Blueberry. Cinebook has a huge run of Lucky Luke; almost all the series except for a few individual books still optioned to another publisher.
Do you read French? Because if you do, there's a whole world of great cowboy bédé; Blueberry and Lucky Luke have been the only series popular enough to bring over to North America in translation (and Blueberry only in part, and not for over a decade IIRC -- I think over half of the entire Blueberry run, including the non-Moebius series Young Blueberry, has never been translated), but there are loads of other great bande dessineé with Western themes.
I'm not sure if Jason Aaron's Scalped would fit the bill, but the first trade at least was fantastic.
The Misadventures of Clark & Jefferson was a mini put out by Ape Entertainment (full disclosure: I write some other books published by Ape) in the Wild Wild West/Brisco County mold; the humour wasn't entirely to my taste but it was a damn earnest effort.
Daisy Kutter is a gorgeous SF/Western/steampunk blend book, but with a tissue-thin story that kind of ruined it for me.
posted by Shepherd at 7:05 AM on February 23, 2010
Do you read French? Because if you do, there's a whole world of great cowboy bédé; Blueberry and Lucky Luke have been the only series popular enough to bring over to North America in translation (and Blueberry only in part, and not for over a decade IIRC -- I think over half of the entire Blueberry run, including the non-Moebius series Young Blueberry, has never been translated), but there are loads of other great bande dessineé with Western themes.
I'm not sure if Jason Aaron's Scalped would fit the bill, but the first trade at least was fantastic.
The Misadventures of Clark & Jefferson was a mini put out by Ape Entertainment (full disclosure: I write some other books published by Ape) in the Wild Wild West/Brisco County mold; the humour wasn't entirely to my taste but it was a damn earnest effort.
Daisy Kutter is a gorgeous SF/Western/steampunk blend book, but with a tissue-thin story that kind of ruined it for me.
posted by Shepherd at 7:05 AM on February 23, 2010
Oh -- how the hell could I forget Journey? Probably the best work William Messner-Loebs has ever done, with the exception of some of his shorts in the DC horror anthology Wasteland.
posted by Shepherd at 7:14 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Shepherd at 7:14 AM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Jesus. Hand of Gold is amazing.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:07 AM on February 23, 2010
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:07 AM on February 23, 2010
Priest. Horror+western+religious conflict = good times for teenaged me going to a Christian school. I haven't read it post leaving Korea though, so don't know how the story's progressed so far. I saw them in bookstores a little while back, so getting a hold of it in English is easy (though I am not impressed with their new "Ooh, let's impress the Americans" fancypants covers. I liked the stark minimalist original covers.)
posted by kkokkodalk at 8:08 AM on February 23, 2010
posted by kkokkodalk at 8:08 AM on February 23, 2010
Seconding Scalped, which is ongoing. I think it's going to run 60 issues more or less, so it's about halfway done. Not quite a cowboy western, but it's set on an Indian reservation and is very gritty (though controversial).
posted by davextreme at 8:27 AM on February 23, 2010
posted by davextreme at 8:27 AM on February 23, 2010
I will third Gus & His Gang! It's so...French!
Mesmo Delivery was just revived with a second printing. It's a western in that it appears to take place in the Midwest, and there are lots of people in cowboy boots, and there's a bloody, awesome showdown. It's really about two strangers trying to deliver a mysterious cargo and having some...trouble with the locals along the way. Rafael Grampa's art is unbelievable and this is the only comic he's published in English that is currently in print.
Shaolin Cowboy is a good, weird little book if you can find yourself any copies. Ebay may be your best bet at this point. The basic plot: a wayward monk with a bounty on his head wanders the desert with a fancifully-named talking mule and uses his martial arts skills to evade capture. Geoff Darrow's art is beautiful and super-detailed like Grampa's. I think the style suits the setting really well. It's been almost 3 years since the last issue; they were supposedly making a movie out of it, but who knows?
Rapunzel's Revenge is technically a kids' book, but it's so great I couldn't not recommend it. Rapunzel of the fairy tales blows off the helpless prince and rescues herself, and then heads out into the Wild West for revenge against the witch who trapped her in the first place. It's a substantial enough story to satisfy an adult, and the art is lively & colorful.
posted by Fui Non Sum at 5:26 PM on February 23, 2010
Mesmo Delivery was just revived with a second printing. It's a western in that it appears to take place in the Midwest, and there are lots of people in cowboy boots, and there's a bloody, awesome showdown. It's really about two strangers trying to deliver a mysterious cargo and having some...trouble with the locals along the way. Rafael Grampa's art is unbelievable and this is the only comic he's published in English that is currently in print.
Shaolin Cowboy is a good, weird little book if you can find yourself any copies. Ebay may be your best bet at this point. The basic plot: a wayward monk with a bounty on his head wanders the desert with a fancifully-named talking mule and uses his martial arts skills to evade capture. Geoff Darrow's art is beautiful and super-detailed like Grampa's. I think the style suits the setting really well. It's been almost 3 years since the last issue; they were supposedly making a movie out of it, but who knows?
Rapunzel's Revenge is technically a kids' book, but it's so great I couldn't not recommend it. Rapunzel of the fairy tales blows off the helpless prince and rescues herself, and then heads out into the Wild West for revenge against the witch who trapped her in the first place. It's a substantial enough story to satisfy an adult, and the art is lively & colorful.
posted by Fui Non Sum at 5:26 PM on February 23, 2010
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posted by painquale at 9:47 PM on February 22, 2010