Post by Administrator on Oct 30, 2005 15:37:22 GMT -5
DC brings back Western comics with pair of gritty, violent entries
BY BILL RADFORD
The Gazette
It has been a half-century or so since the heyday of the Western comic book, since cowboy stars and their trusty steeds dominated comics.
Now DC Comics is bringing about a mini-renaissance of the Western comic with two new titles. The first issue of "Loveless," a series from Vertigo, DC's mature-reader line, is scheduled to arrive in comicbook shops Oct. 26. And Jonah Hex, DC's scarred bounty hunter who first popped up in "All-Star Western" in 1972, stars in a new series beginning in November.
Don't look for any genial, singing cowboys in either book. "Loveless," in particular, has a lot more in common with HBO's gritty, profanity-filled "Deadwood" than it does with the days of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.
"Loveless," billed as a "spaghetti Western-noir," is set right after the Civil War. It centers on Wes Cutter, a disillusioned Confederate soldier and former prisoner of war. He and his wife, Ruth, become outlaws and leave behind a trail of death and destruction as they travel from Missouri to the Pacific Northwest.
Wes and Ruth may be the stars, but don't mistake them for heroes. As in most spaghetti Westerns, there are no good guys in "Loveless," just different shades of gray, says writer Brian Azzarello.
"Bad guys are so much more compelling," he said.
Azzarello was influenced by what he calls the operatic nature of spaghetti Westerns, violent and often cynical Western films made by European companies. The name comes from the fact that most were financed by Italian companies. One of Azzarello's favorites is the much-imitated "Django," directed by Sergio Corbucci. He remembers being mesmerized by a long opening shot of a man dragging a coffin through the mud.
Marcelo Frusin, the artist on "Loveless," also worked with Azzarello on another Vertigo book, "Hellblazer," and is a fellow fan of spaghetti Westerns.
"It was like he was born to do this book," says Azzarello, who describes Frusin's art as cinematic-looking and masculine. "There's not a lot of soft edges to Marcelo's work."
"Loveless" marks a return to the Western for Azzarello: He wrote a four-issue miniseries for Vertigo, "El Diablo," a few years ago.
He continues to write Vertigo's award-winning crime series, "100 Bullets," which has about 35 issues left in its planned 100-issue run. He has an end in mind for "Loveless" as well; he sees it running for four years, or about 50 issues.
"Loveless," he says, is more brutal than the hard-edged "100 Bullets." "I'm going to cram twice the violence and twice the bullets into half the issues," he promises.
The world of "Jonah Hex," written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey and illustrated by Luke Ross, is also a bloody one.
Unlike the continuing story in "Loveless," each issue of "Jonah Hex" promises to be a self-contained story. The strong first issue follows Hex's search for a millionaire's kidnapped son - and introduces new readers to Hex's harsh brand of frontier justice.
The opening narration in issue No. 1 offers a pretty good clue as to what tone to expect:
"Human nature does not change," the story states. "Men steal, kill, rape and torture as they have since the beginning of all things. No one knew this better than Jonah Hex."
BY BILL RADFORD
The Gazette
It has been a half-century or so since the heyday of the Western comic book, since cowboy stars and their trusty steeds dominated comics.
Now DC Comics is bringing about a mini-renaissance of the Western comic with two new titles. The first issue of "Loveless," a series from Vertigo, DC's mature-reader line, is scheduled to arrive in comicbook shops Oct. 26. And Jonah Hex, DC's scarred bounty hunter who first popped up in "All-Star Western" in 1972, stars in a new series beginning in November.
Don't look for any genial, singing cowboys in either book. "Loveless," in particular, has a lot more in common with HBO's gritty, profanity-filled "Deadwood" than it does with the days of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.
"Loveless," billed as a "spaghetti Western-noir," is set right after the Civil War. It centers on Wes Cutter, a disillusioned Confederate soldier and former prisoner of war. He and his wife, Ruth, become outlaws and leave behind a trail of death and destruction as they travel from Missouri to the Pacific Northwest.
Wes and Ruth may be the stars, but don't mistake them for heroes. As in most spaghetti Westerns, there are no good guys in "Loveless," just different shades of gray, says writer Brian Azzarello.
"Bad guys are so much more compelling," he said.
Azzarello was influenced by what he calls the operatic nature of spaghetti Westerns, violent and often cynical Western films made by European companies. The name comes from the fact that most were financed by Italian companies. One of Azzarello's favorites is the much-imitated "Django," directed by Sergio Corbucci. He remembers being mesmerized by a long opening shot of a man dragging a coffin through the mud.
Marcelo Frusin, the artist on "Loveless," also worked with Azzarello on another Vertigo book, "Hellblazer," and is a fellow fan of spaghetti Westerns.
"It was like he was born to do this book," says Azzarello, who describes Frusin's art as cinematic-looking and masculine. "There's not a lot of soft edges to Marcelo's work."
"Loveless" marks a return to the Western for Azzarello: He wrote a four-issue miniseries for Vertigo, "El Diablo," a few years ago.
He continues to write Vertigo's award-winning crime series, "100 Bullets," which has about 35 issues left in its planned 100-issue run. He has an end in mind for "Loveless" as well; he sees it running for four years, or about 50 issues.
"Loveless," he says, is more brutal than the hard-edged "100 Bullets." "I'm going to cram twice the violence and twice the bullets into half the issues," he promises.
The world of "Jonah Hex," written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey and illustrated by Luke Ross, is also a bloody one.
Unlike the continuing story in "Loveless," each issue of "Jonah Hex" promises to be a self-contained story. The strong first issue follows Hex's search for a millionaire's kidnapped son - and introduces new readers to Hex's harsh brand of frontier justice.
The opening narration in issue No. 1 offers a pretty good clue as to what tone to expect:
"Human nature does not change," the story states. "Men steal, kill, rape and torture as they have since the beginning of all things. No one knew this better than Jonah Hex."