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| July 20, 2008 | |||||||||||||||
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 | Far West by Richard Moore | Reviewed by Amy Harlib | |
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| Publisher: NBM Publishing
http://http://www.nbmpub.com/ ISBN: 156163297X Genre: Fiction Subgenre: Comics/Graphics Release date: 2001 Format: trade paperback Pages: 112 Price: $13.95 | |||
| Talented American comic book artist, Richard Moore, well-known for his beloved and popular "Boneyard" series, deserves equal acclaim for his other major ongoing opus - Far West, the first four episodes of which are now collected, together with a bonus early tale and a gallery of cover art, in a large size, quality trade paperback displaying his dazzling artwork to full advantage.
Far West cleverly mixes two genres, the western and high fantasy, in Moore's uniquely witty way that makes this unlikely combination work brilliantly. The story's setting, an alternate, magical, 19th century western North American frontier populated entirely by beings from myth and folklore, provides an unusual backdrop for the resident multi-cultural elves, ogres, fairies, dwarfs, dragons, shapeshifters, demons, elementals, etc., with nary a mere mortal human in sight. The plot concerns a feisty, whip-smart, female elf-amazon named Ra'Meghan Val'Norium, AKA Meg, who dresses in male, mostly Native American, Lakota-style clothing, and her companion, Phil, sporting similarly-sourced ornaments, who is a large, sentient, articulate bear. The pair, who make their living from bounty hunting, have just arrived in a small town to collect the payment owed them on their recently-captured, wily shape-shifter. Upon turning the culprit over to the local sheriff, the duo get shown the "Wanted" poster for the notorius miscreant, Darien Voss, known for numerous crimes, including murder, train robbery, and "wearing mutton chops with a mustache" (I kid you not - that's what it says). Before setting out on their next job, our heroes seek a little R & R; Phil wants some shut-eye while Meg gets into trouble over a beer and card game. Things really get going when rival investigators from the Blackhawk Detective Agency appear to compete in their pursuit of Voss. Voss's most recent outrageous act involves a train robbery, with the help of the full-sized, flying, fire-breathing dragon serving as his steed. Although the locomotive's passengers luckily escape from the burning wreck, Meg and Phil vow that Voss will not get away. The protagonists' sleuthing strategy, differing from their competitors', takes them in pursuit of the villain's dragon (where one can be found, so can the other). This leads Meg and Phil to myriad escapades involving both action and comedy. A satisfying conclusion involves surprising twists. This book's unusual genre blend, with its outlandish setting, works thanks to the superb artistry of the creator. The overall atmosphere recalls the warmth and camaraderie of the best blockbuster buddy movies with the witty repartee of the dialogues (especially between the two leads) ringing true and being quite touching on occasion at the appropriate moments. This makes the characters, for all their folkloric (unearthly) appearances, believable and compelling. Equally accomplished in communicating the ideas and the story is Moore's artwork of crisp yet flowing black and white pen and ink lines (with judicious use of gray tones), brimming with swirling vibrant energy while rendering everything in gorgeously intricate detail. This, along with the scripting, embues the bizarre characters and their backgounds with an authenticity that also makes them spring to life with an intensity that begs to be adapted into full animation. The only caveat I have about Far West directly refers to the "for mature readers" label. This concerns Moore's erotic predilection for nubile, female naked buttocks. He nearly constantly depicts Meg clad in loincloth-like nether garments (along with protective chaps) that reveal her shapely posterior, or he contrives to have her clothing torn to expose that particular portion of her anatomy that he finds so appealing. Other than that and the heroine's fine figure, exotically attractive facial features, and interesting patches of spotted skin complimented by her long, flowing hair -- the overall effect quite fetching in male apparel, really -- there is no explicit sexual content in the stories, aside from verbal hints and innuendoes. I personally find this adds to the amusement to be found in Far West on the whole and is not offensive at all. Bare tushies and some occasional cleavage and revealing tops notwithstanding, Far West's highly imaginative fantasy version of the Wild West, in every sense of the adjective, with its delightful characters (especialy the memorable Meg and Phil), and their humorous and thrilling adventures (eschewing political sermonizing about colonial destruction of indigenous inhabitants) deserves a wide readership. You could do a lot worse to experience seriously fine, refreshing cross-genre FUN, than to go West young readers, go Far West! | |||
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