RETRO REVIEW: The New West #1

Black Bull, $4.99

The story set-up of this two-issue mini-series from the late Wizard magazine’s mostly unlamented Black Bull imprint is so fiendishly cool that we’re basically out of adjectives right from the start: The New West #1 is solid, compelling stuff.

Daniel Wise is a former police detective in a near-future Los Angeles, a city that has been victimized by terrorists who set off an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) and rendered the city without power. Months after the incident, electricity still won’t work in the affected area. Horses and walking are the preferred modes of transportation, lighting is by candles or sunlight, and much of the region has plunged into looting. Now the mayor has been kidnapped and Wise finds himself in the middle of it.

Writer Jimmy Palmiotti, no stranger to praise from our Off The Presses section, and Phil Noto (who also worked with Palmiotti on Black Bull’s Beautiful Killer) have outdone themselves. Steeped in the real world and sprinkled with all sorts of cool pop culture references. On just one page they mention California’s best fast food, In And Out Burger, and kill “comedian” Carrot Top, and that pretty much is worth the price of admission.

While the price ($4.99) seemed a bit high at the time, even for more than 30 pages of art and story and five more of bonus material, in the end it was worth it. The concept is screaming with potential, and the creators deliver on it. Both creators embrace subtlety, sensuality, sadness – all punctuated with action – in what becomes a modern western.

This book is a proverbial “sleeper” waiting to be awakened by fans looking for something beyond superheroes. If your shop doesn’t have it in its back issue stock, start your search online. You’ll thank us.

By the way, this two-issue mini-series hasn’t been collected, so you’ll need to track down the individual issues.

– J.C. Vaughn