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FAR WEST VOL. 1
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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NBM Books
Writer/Artist: Richard Moore
Price: $13.95 US |
I discovered Richard Moore when I picked up Deja Vu on a whim, based largely on an attractive cover. I've since learned that he has a fair bit of work behind him, all of it heavy on magic and cheesecake, and from what I've read of it, all of it pretty good. Far West is a great genre mix, western and fantasy, and Moore takes the base concept and runs with it, using as his protagonist a female bounty hunter who seems to have come from the same mold as the characters by another Moore, that being Terry Moore of Strangers in Paradise. Far West actually reminds me quite a bit of Strangers in Paradise in tone, if not story, with a wicked sense of humor, likable and
very human characters and gorgeous artwork.
Of course, it's ironic that I
find the characters so human, given that the lead is an elf and her partner is
an anthropomorphic bear. But the banter between the two rings true as that of a
couple of old friends, and Meg is a great lead character. She's pretty but not a
knockout, with a big nose and a sensitivity about it, and while her ability with
a gun or a round of poker is super-heroic, her difficulty in handling buttinski
detectives or dragon-using outlaws is flawed and difficult makes her vulnerable
and easy to relate to.
Moore has a terrific
imagination, one that he has put to use in every one of his projects that I've
read. The high concept of this book, western meets magic, is one that I haven't
seen much of (at least not without horror rather than comedy overtones), and he
does some fun work with the concept. A water demon slipped into a bathtub or an
enchanted soldier is a nice bit of flavoring, and the sight of a dragon
attacking a train straight out of the 1800s is a weird but undeniably catchy
image.
Images are as much Moore's
strength as words, actually. While there are times when the storytelling isn't
the easiest to follow, his artwork is definitely beautiful. Though his
characters aren't human, they have a grounding in realistic anatomy. Though Meg
often shows a little bare breast and a lot of bare butt, she's not a supermodel.
And the work on settings, from a room at the inn to a cavern hideaway, maintains
the western feel with perfect accuracy. Also, while I've mentioned it once
already, when Moore decides to go big, he does it very well; the scene with the
dragon breathing fire on a moving train was breath-taking.
The Far West trade is a great package, oversized to show off Moore's artwork and laden with a couple of nice bonus features. The sketches show Moore's work in pencil form, which is as impressive as his inked work, and the backup tale features a good premise, a nice twist and generally makes a nice sampler for the series or short afterword of sorts to the main tale. The book is also labeled volume one, and I hope that means there is more Far West to come in the future.
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