Review: The Shaolin Cowboy: Who’ll Stop the Reign? #1
I have literally NO idea what I just witnessed! This is either insane, or brilliant. Or brilliantly insanity!
I have to admit, that I am more into “bad grls” and “good grls” in comics and only just sometimes I like to venture beyond the overly sexy cover, to get my kicks via a new “visual treat” and I am fine by that. That way I have discovered great and must-reads like Blacksad, Preacher, The Walking Dead, The Psycho Circus, Nocturnals, WE3... I have forsaken most spandex-comic other then an occasional Spider-Man event even.
I like to look out for hidden gems (do check out Marguerite Bennett’s Animosity from Aftershock Comics) and I have been hearing a lot of good things about Geof Darrow’s artwork and truth be told: it is beyond amazing. The only other bloke I can think of doing stuff this detailed and visually stunning is Juan José Ryp. Or Frank Quitely. And this book here is a showcase for Darrow for sure. His storytelling skills, combined with perspectives, motions and the fact that each panel is a story on its own, is overwhelming.
So why did I not check out The Shaolin Cowboy before?
Mostly because IF and WHEN I venture beyond the overly sexy covers and stories (which to all its intents most of the times have great stories as well!!!!) I want to not only enjoy art but also a good story. And from what I read in previous reviews on The Shaolin Cowboy the story was just kinda missing or so off-the-wall that a comment had to be made.
Just look at these pages here!!
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So this vulture’s eyes pop out of its skull and are now bullets with which the other vultures are being killed with? Yeah RIGHT!
Not to mention the talking crab sitting on top of this shirtless (with bra) blond White Supremist… or that smoking cat… or the insane amount of animals (pigs, dogs, cats) in just one panel or the astonishing amount of debris everywhere…
So why is The Shaolin Cowboy cool then? I have NO idea! This is not a story I could ever like if Darrow did not draw it the way he does. It is not a story I could even make a synopsis for.
This is really a title that falls in the “Must Have Must Read” pile, because it makes your mind flicker in and out of reality. This experience is unlike anything you think you would even WANT to experience. It makes you TRY to think but then the visuals stop that effort right in its tracks and just experience it as a whole.
It is like these combinations in food that you just háve to experience to know it is delicious! Like ham/cheese sandwhich, or a bowl with salted peanuts and raisins or eating french fries with apple sauce instead of mayo, or putting chocolate flakes on your baguette and then add a slice of (young) cheese on top….
Nuff said?
The Shaolin Cowboy: Who’ll Stop the Reign? #1
Writer: Geof Darrow
Artist: Geof Darrow
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Cover Artist: Geof Darrow
Genre: Fantasy, Action/Adventure
Publication Date: April 19, 2017
Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries
Price: $3.99
UPC: 7 61568 00141 9 00111
About the Author
Richard Boom Richard is the driving force behind Comics for Sinners. His love and admiration for female comic book characters is virtually unparalleled, which immediately explains his biggest 'sin': his Hot Mummy fetish. This sketchbook theme is philogynistic in nature and even the source of his WIP comic book series "The Sisterhood".
