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ALONG THE CANADIAN #1-3
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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Obion Comics
Writer/Artist: Joel Rivers
Price: $2.95 US |
Along The Canadian vexes me, because it's a comic that is a decent read in a relatively-untapped genre, but it lacks polish in many areas, and if it were just a touch more polished, it wouldn't be merely a decent read, it would be a good, and possibly great, comic. Joel Rivers is going for a blend of the western genre with a touch of mysticism and horror, and while we've certainly seen that genre blend before, it's not anywhere near as common as superheroes, crime or even straight horror in today's market. The resulting mixture is heavy on the atmosphere, capturing both the spooky feel of ghostly horror and the rough-riding nature of the old west, but it's far too light on clarity, in terms of story and art, and that's a shame, because I think if the story were easier to get into and follow, I'd probably be much more entertained.
The real frustration for me with Along The Canadian is that I can't really call Rivers's art bad. He tends to use a touch too much shadow, and the similarity of some of his characters to each other and tendency to let the action scenes descend into chaos makes much of the book impenetrable, but his style is without a doubt professional material. His work looks very much like the kind of thing we saw in pre- and just post-war comics, reminiscent of the styles of Will Eisner, Chester Gould and (in terms of his work with shadows) Alex Toth. It's a very likable style, it's just that the storytelling could use considerable clearing up.
 Of course, Rivers doesn't make things easy for himself with the scripting, either. I thought after reading the first issue that maybe explanations for all of these events were coming down the road, but for the most part, the stories in Along The Canadian are self-contained, playing off past events and characters to some degree but having standalone plots. So the question of what exactly happened with Red and his deputies in the first story, what they did to get themselves killed and how the horse thief was involved, are left maddeningly vague. This vague storytelling is not quite as prevalent in issues two and three, but there are elements in both that aren't clearly explained, and that's disappointing.
On the other hand, when it comes to mood and atmosphere, Rivers does an excellent job. His inky artwork is beautifully drawn, and gives a real sense of the rough hewn town of Fort Smith as well as the desolate look of the plains and hills that surround it. His fight scenes, while difficult to follow, have a brutal, violent sensibility to them that is perfectly suited to the gun fights of the Old West. In addition, Rivers strikes just the right balance between folksy, western style dialogue and more approachable, "normal" dialogue, such that the book reads like a period piece, but it doesn't take a 17th century dictionary to understand what the characters are saying.
Along The Canadian has a lot to recommend about it, notably some very distinctive characters and a pretty smooth blend of the elements of western and spooky horror. However, it's also clear that while Rivers has great ideas and some exceptional dialogue skills, his plotting and visual storytelling are rough and slowly improving. Right now, Along The Canadian is something I can recommend only for those who are starved for some more western comics and who have already read what the medium has to offer in that genre. By the time Rivers finishes the series, though, the rest of his skills may have caught up with his other strengths.
These comic books were not among this week's new releases.
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