Two-in-One Review: Last Shot Don and Randy venture into a mixture of western, science-fiction and fantasy with Studio XD's Last Shot. Randy: I've been intrigued by the promo artwork and buzz I've seen and heard on Last Shot, but not quite intrigued enough to add another $2.50 to my enormous comics budget. So when Long Vo, illustrator of the series, offered to send review copies for me and Don to look at, I was quite pleased. Don: Studio XD has crafted a fascinating cyber-Western book that boasts a lot of personality, Hong Kong-esque action and inventive designs. Last Shot, First Draw & Last Shot #1-3 published by Image Comics written by Locke illustrated by Long Vo, Charles Park & Saka Don: This series tells the story of Revolver, a bounty hunter so named because his hands have been converted into guns by a tinkerer named Aidan. Revolver -- Rev for short -- learns of a job worth six million: escorting a girl named L3M to Nolem City. He decides the job's not worth the hassle the big payoff would bring, but the amnesiac young girl ends up following Rev anyway, bringing him a world of trouble. Randy: Last Shot's tag line calls it "where medieval fantasy meets science fiction and the spirit of the American Old West." This wide range of influences is evident in the work, along with action movies of the Hong Kong and American stripe, manga, anime and more than a little time spent watching 80s post-apocalyptic thrillers. With such a potpourri of influences, one might think you'd get a messy stew, but in fact Last Shot is a wild and colorful thrill ride that features some especially impressive action and a lot of big ideas. Don: I've never been much for Westerns or manga, but the merging of the genres here is a lot of fun. Last Shot represents imagination unleashed. Sci-fi technology blends surprisingly well with the dust and duels of the old West. In some ways, Rev is the typical Clint Eastwood-like mysterious stranger, but Locke and Ken Siu-Chong have imbued him with a strong personality as well. He has his sarcastic side, and his kind side. He's a well-rounded, entertaining character. Randy: I love the concept of this book. The creators know how to make a pitch, and the notions of a lead character trying to pay off his bionics, a mysterious girl worth a king's ransom and a western/post-apocalyptic setting with steampunk-esque technology all combine to form a very intriguing setting and set of characters. The illustration and coloring style of Last Shot is reminiscent of that done first by Dreamwave Studios, a shiny look that reminds one of anime. Long Vo's style helps to reinforce this notion, especially in the action sequences, where he'll focus single panels on bits of action, such that you feel like you are watching an action animation in extremely slow motion rather than reading a comic. The gunfights here, a staple of many of the genres that Last Shot is evocative of, are simply incredible. You wouldn't be off-base to compare them to the filmed shoot-outs of Robert Rodriguez or John Woo. Don: The Studio XD crew pulls off these delightful cinematic tricks in part thanks to some well-executed computer coloring effects. The martial-arts battle between Rev and mine-manager Riley in #3 stands out as an excellent example of such effects. Rev spins Riley in the middle of a fight just like Lucy Liu did to Crispin Glover in the Hong Kong-inspired fisticuffs of Charlie's Angels. Randy: There's also a great sense of design in the work from everyone at Studio XD. The villains are grotesque and dangerous looking, and the towns have a rough, outlaw look to them. In addition, the technology, particularly the cybernetics, is drawn with the same rough and jagged edge, but it also has a crisp and gleaming appearance to it as well. Technology in this world is big, garish and often bulky, but at the same time undeniably beautiful and compelling. Don: Randy's right about the designs. All of the "gunners" in this series boast dynamic and inventive appearances. What's really impressive is how much thought the artists have put into the impossible technology at play in the book. In one issue, they actually provide a realistic, detailed schematic of Rev's hand-gun. These extra details make it clear that there's a lot of creative passion being poured into this book. Unfortunately, other passions intrude on the book. Every female character is overtly sexualized. L3N sprouts breasts in just a few pages in one issue, apparently aging from prepubescence to her teens in a matter of hours, whereas in earlier issues, she was asexual and the picture of innocence. In the opening one-shot, First Draw, a buxom waitress's breasts get more time on panel than her face, and somehow, her skirt seems to shrink by at least a half-foot just so we can get the obligatory panty shot as Rev departs a saloon. The female characters in this book are little more than sexual objects, I'm sorry to say, and it's a recurring motif in much anime and manga that I find unsettling. Randy: In terms of story, the book is also pretty impressive. Quite honestly, I sometimes felt as if the story jumped around a bit too much or presumed too much insight into the lead character's head by the reader, but in general I was just as entranced by the story as I was by the artwork. While there is definitely an over-arcing (and if they're smart, finite) story with Revolver's pursuit of money and the mysterious L3N's origin, each issue is more or less a self-contained face-off between Revolver and some danger in the world. The story plays off of the wandering hero archetype often found in post-apocalyptic and western genres, and it's always entertaining to see Revolver wander into town (or a patch of desert) and clean up a few bad guys. > Last Shot is clearly a labor of love for the guys at Studio XD, though, and it's a lot of fun. While it's fairly light entertainment, I imagine that anyone who enjoys the sensibilities of John Woo, Sam Raimi, Robert Rodgriuez or others like them would find Last Shot to be well worth their time. Don: Despite my concerns about the portrayal of women in the book, it is an impressive work. Too often, I assume manga isn't going to be my cup o' tea, and I was definitely wrong this time around. For more information on Last Shot or other Studio XD publications, visit www.studioxd.com. Email Randy and Don comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.