By Jean Van Hamme, art by Grzegorz Rosinski
“Wyoming, 1868. Ambrosius Van Deer has come to Fort Laramie to meet Jess Chisum, a young man who claims he’s found Van Deer’s nephew Eddie. Ten years before, Edwyn Van Deer disappeared after his family was killed in a Lakota raid. Proof of his identity: a silver watch with a portrait of his parents. But fate has other plans than a happy family reunion, and the events of that day will set in motion a tragedy 15 years in the making.”
Well, the odds were fairly high that I’d enjoy this one, after all, Van Hamme is responsible for two absolutely beloved series of mine from Cinebook; Largo Winch and XIII. And, yes, it’s a hugely enjoyable, complete in 64 pages Western tale.
As you’d expect from Van Hamme, there’s tight plotting, twists and turns, great action sequences, but more than that it’s just great to see a Western comic – a rare thing, especially one this well done.
(The opening page to Western, as Ambrosius Van Deer pulls up in Fort Laramie. From Western by Van Hamme and Rosinski, published by Cinebook)
It all opens with successful rancher Ambrosius Van Deer and his daughter rolling into Fort Laramie, following up a lead of his nephew, long ago feared lost in a murderous Lakota raid. But in actual fact it’s all a con, a con that goes disasterously wrong for all involved. The only survivors are young 14 year-old Nate Chisum (or Nate Colton as he becomes known) and Van Deer’s daughter.
Van Hamme successfully cuts then to later in young Nate’s life, where, even with only one arm, he manages to eek out a living until he rolls up in Wichita, gets a job as a bank security guard and finds himself embroiled in the devious politics and betrayals all around him.
(A beautiful page, taking Nate from 14 to 25, losing an arm and letting Rosinski loose on the big sky of the old west. From Western by Van Hamme and Rosinski, published by Cinebook)
Rosinski’s artwork, from that beautifully composed, portrait like cover onwards is simply a delightful, lush mix of incredibly tight work, all delivered in moody, atmospheric sepia tones and muted colours, perfectly capturing what we like to think of as the old Wild West.
Every so often he even slips in a double page full colour painting, something you’ll want to stop and observe a while, although it does break the flow of the pages, sometimes quite naturally, acting as a perfect break in the narrative, but at other moments seeingly just inserted without thought, depending on what Rosinski fancied drawing.
(And of course, being Van Hamme, the action sequence in Western is practically perfect – from Western by Van Hamme and Rosinski, published by Cinebook)
Van Hamme manages to do a lot in Western, getting in a beautifully choreographed action sequence, treachery, betrayal, a vendetta, and a lot more – all in just 64 pages. But with Van Hamme, you’d really expect nothing less than a perfectly plotted, perfectly paced, thoroughly enjoyable tale. There’s little in Western that’s original, but that’s not the real point. This is meant, I’m sure, to feel like a good, old fashioned, classic Western. And it does that just perfectly.
August 8th, 2011 at 9:45 am
That looks great!