Coyote Buckley’s Wild West
Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven forever changed my opinion of all things Western, but I still get a bit leery when I see a comic with a Western theme. I’m always afraid that it’ll be a silly, cowboys and Indians kind of thing. It’s great to see something like this that proves me wrong. The story here is simple. A cowboy nicknamed Coyote Buckley, angry at what he sees as the relentless forcing of “progress” down his throat, decides that he’s going to convince the country that the values of the Wild West are what’s important. He holds a contest to see who is the most skilled at various cowboy-related things for the sake of touring the country, and that’s the bulk of the issue. The art’s simple and clean, the writing is suited for all ages without being noticeably dumbed-down for adult readers, and it’s a fast-paced, interesting story. Good work all around. My only minor complaint is that some of it seems a bit too simple at times, but it’s only minor bits of dialogue here and there. The whole picture is interesting though, and I’m curious to see where it goes from here, which is all you can ask of from something like this. Contact the writer or the artist, or check out the website for ordering information (it’s $3).
