Accent UK have been publishing annual anthologies since
2002, which saw the publication of their first anthology
title Remembrance Days. Each year has brought
more and more contributors, dying for the chance to work
with the publisher, making the page count of the
anthologies increase steadily from their original size of
about 40 pages to their current standard of around 200
pages. Every year has brought increased exposure for the
company, culminating in their latest Anthology tittles Western,
and Robots being carried by Diamond Distribution
for North American release.
I have mentioned before that I love comic anthologies.
When I was growing up, they were my bread and butter…
no, I didn’t eat them, fools! All of the popular British
kids comics like the Beano, The Dandy, The
Beazer etc. were anthologies, then when I got a bit
older there was 2000 AD, The Eagle, Warrior,
Crisis, Deadline, Toxic, Revolver,
Judge Dredd Megazine… in short, the anthology
style comic is a fine British tradition, and for many
years was a far more prevalent comic format in the UK than
the U.S. format single story comic.
Whilst I love anthologies, I
have to say that I find them rather hard to review. There
are so many different artists and writers contributing so
many different stories, how can one possibly do an all
encompassing review that sums up everything inside the
book? I shall try my best here though, because Western
is a fantastic anthology that is jam-packed with great
stories, and is overflowing with work from some of the
most creative people in the small press comic industry.
Art by Kirk Manley, Design by
Andy Bloor
Western is a Massive 192 page tome containing
no less than 32 new stories, based around the theme of the
old American West. Contributors to the anthology include
Steve Bissette (Swamp Thing), Andy Bloor (Wolfmen), Kieron
Gillen (Phonogram), Dwight L. MacPherson (Edgar Allan Poo),
Leah Moore (Complete Dracula), and John Reppion (Raise The
Dead). The book also contains a gallery of Western themed
pin-up illustrations from a variety of incredibly talented
artists.
The tales in Western vary greatly in style and
include: romantic cowboy tales, spaghetti westerns, grimly
realistic war tales, Native American tales, steam punk
tales, fantasy/folk tales, comedy, horror, zombie tales,
robot tales, anthropomorphic tales, and many more!
Basically, AUK’s only stipulation was that story
submissions must be related to the theme of the old west,
but apart from that creators were allowed to let their
imaginations run wild… and boy, did they ever! This
anthology is so packed full of so many incredibly varied
stories that it would be an impossible task to try and
review them all individually, so here are a couple of the
highlights:
Mrs. Henry – written by John
Reppion & Leah Moore, art by David Hitchcock
This
story starts out seeming like a classic tale a of a woman
scorned, but turns out to be much more than that. Upon
finding that her husband has taking up with a local
harlot, Mrs. Henry tries asking the strumpet nicely to
sever relations, but when her request is ignored Mrs.
Henry decides to lay a trap for the cheating scoundrels
that not only appeases her sense of vengeance, but lets
her take far more control of her own life. Far more than a
cowboy story, this is a tale of feminine empowerment set
against the harsh realities of the lawless old west.
Hitchcock’s art on the piece is quite interesting, as he
seems to have only inked some of the art, to highlight the
shadows and dark fabrics etc. while much of the penciled
art remains uninked, giving it a look that for some reason
seems to accentuate the old west feel of the piece.
The 7th Will Rise Again – written
by Dwight L. MacPherson, art by Kirk Manning
Dwight
MacPherson is one of the few American contributors to this
book, so there are certain exceptions to be met, and he
has to show those damn limeys how to tell a real western
tale, and let me tell you, he does not disappoint! Dwight
tells the tale of one Private Brown, a man who was a
member of Colonel Custer’s 7th Cavalry. He was with the
7th at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, but just before
Custer made his legendary last stand, Browning deserted
the cavalry and ran away! Ever since that day he has been
haunted by visions of Custer, telling him that he can
never escape his fate, and every time he tries to end his
misery he just can’t manage to kill himself. Now it is 7
years after that faithful choice, and Brown has came to
visit the graves of his fallen comrades, and atone for his
sins. I won’t tell you what happens next, except that it
is rather grotesque, and would quality the story for
submission to Accent UK’s Zombies anthology
Kirk Manning’s art is really nice. His undead Custer is
fantastic, and the scenes of gore and violence are
perfect!
The Men Who Built the West –
written by Kieron Gillen, art by Andy Bloor
This
one tells the tale of a man who is doing roofing on an old
lady’s shack when two cowboys come sidling up to the
property with the hopes of an easy robbery. It turns out
though that this roofer is far more than he seems, and a
massive shootout occurs between the noble stranger and the
good-for-nothing robbers. It’s a great little tale that
has an hilarious twist at the end that will make you laugh
out loud! Andy Bloor’s art on the tale is absolutely
amazing, and really brings across that true grit feeling
from all the classic spaghetti westerns!
Avenger – written by Mo Ali and
Brian Gorman
Mo
Ali tells an incredibly dark story here of a Native
American man whose family are attacked in their home by
hired gunmen, who are dispatched by a local rancher who
wants the family off his land, no matter the cost. The
killers murder his wife, kidnap his young daughter, and
leave him dying of a gunshot wound to the face. Our
protagonist, prays to the great spirit to help save his
daughter, and a shaman appears who he believes to be a
servant of the great spirit. The healer gets him patched
up but can do nothing for his face, so he must don a mask
to hide his hideous appearance. Our protagonist then
embarks on a mission of vengeance against his attackers,
seemingly gifted super-human abilities by the the great
spirit, hoping also to save his daughter from the
scoundrels who absconded with her. This tale is grim,
gritty and sad, but at the same time it is also probably
the most realistic vision of the old west in the whole
anthology. We tend to romanticize the old west, but it
reality it was a dark and terrible time, and no-one
suffered more than the Native Americans. The art on this
story by Brian Gorman is equally dark, and fits the story
perfectly. One of the best panels that Gorman draws is one
that shows the leader of the gang leering lustfully at the
underage girl sitting on his bed. Urgh *shudder*
A Fistful of Corpse Meat –
written and illustrated in magnificent style by the
inimitable Indio!
This
story is told in the form of a song, sung by a banjo
playing zombie redneck. It’s a tale of zombie cowboys
that come storming into a town and start eating horses,
whores, and babies. Their killing spree draws the
attentions of “an unholy gunslinger straight out of
perdition”, the devil his own self! The devil has come
to collect a bounty on the cowboys’ heads, and does so
in incredibly brutal style. The artwork that goes along
with this is is incredibly gross, and gory, and is full of
AWESOME! You will love this!
Scattered
throughout the book are six single-page cowboy interview
strips by one of my favourite cartoonists, David Baillie.
These strips take for the format of a journalist
interviewing a different townsperson in every strip,
asking them what they know of a man called ‘Wild
Jack’. It’s an oral history sort of piece, where
everybody seems to have a very different take on this
legendary character and his infamous adventures. Through
the different strips we are introduced to just about every
old west archetype, and get to see boiled down, condensed
versions, of these characters that really speak for
themselves. It’s a great character piece, with a really
delicious twist at the end.
There are also some fantastic stories in here from AUK
founders, and anthology editors, Chris Mathieson and Dave
West, of which my favourite is the following, posted in
full (I hope they don’t mind!):
I love it! Comedy gold!
Along with the stories there is also a massive gallery
pin-ups featuring amazing art from: Mo Ali, Garry Brown,
Martin Flink, Tim Keable, Roland Bird, Steven Howard, Sam
Wakeman, Andy Bloor, Crispian Woolford, Dan Denholt, Chris
Doherty, and Will Kirkby.
Art by Mo Ali
Art by Andy Bloor
The above are just a small selection of the many
amazing tales in this anthology. I didn’t mean to talk
about so many of them, but I started to get carried away
and had to stop myself. That’s how good this book is! I
have read several of Accent UK’s previous anthologies,
including Monsters, Zombies, and Robots
and I can say without a doubt that these annual
anthologies just seem to get better and better every year!
Western is Accent UK’s greatest collection to
date, and if these anthologies keep following their
current trend of improvement then the 2010 collection Predators
may just blow readers minds!
So now that you’ve sat through this mammoth 2000 word
review, don’t just sit back and wait for the collection
to appear on the shelves of your LCS! Make sure to email,
call, or ask your retailer in person to reserve you a
copy. The book has been picked up for distribution in
North America, a feat in itself because Diamond went and
upped their minimum order numbers, meaning that AUK had an
even greater hurdle to jump in order to get North American
distribution. They made it, but that still doesn’t
guarantee that it will be sitting on the new release shelf
when it comes out. Make sure to order it by name, or using
the Diamond order code (listed below). If your store is a Comixology
partneer you can order the book by clicking on the below
link!
Make sure you buy this one varmints! You’ll sure
regret it if ya don’t, I reckon’ – Sorry, I just
couldn’t resist!
Alright pilgrims, I admit my bias. I love a good anthology, and
this here anthology is good. Darn good. Accent UK is doing it
right, releasing their annual smartly packaged and themed
anthologies, each one growing jumbo-sized like a bootless foot
swelling from a rattlesnake’s bite. This time round the bend, we
get a massive heap of a stew of cowboy tales. I’ll ease up on
the lingo if you hear me out. And you really should, because
Accent UK’s Western is outstanding.
Two-hundred pages of wonder, where to begin?
Exploring dozens of angles to the Old West genre, this is a
motherload of a homage. Archetypal stories, characters and imagery
are everywhere, but without crossing into stereotype territory.
And with so many fantastic new spins thrown into the mix, readers
are offered fun points aplenty in this book, no matter your
personal tastes. The range of materials and styles truly is
impressive, skirting from the historic to the comical to the
hyper-realism of the modernist. The organized ebb and flow of the
voices and scenery play out almost like a mixtape full of earnest
and dedicated love. Other sizable anthologies could learn a strong
thing or three about pacing from this.
To illustrate the variety, here is my take on a sampling of what I
read as standouts:
Boots, written and drawn by Morgan Pielli. A wordless
strip showing the varied paths tread by a single pair of cowboy
boots, from one wearer to the next. Ever been curious of a
boot’s perspective of a card game? An eventful few pages, and
with a brushy linework that made me think of the great Carol
Swain.
A Town Called Desolation, written and drawn by Graeme
Neil Reid. A stone solid one pager, this offering has all of the
charismatic personality of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; and
is illustrated in a style that serves as proof that art can be
both purdy and technically sound, all rolled into one.
The Last Train To Jubilation, written and drawn by
Gary Crutchley. A group of gunfighters are brought together to
deal with a town and a mineshaft, and the horror of a thing
inflicting the whole mess. Not to give away too much, Jubilation
is a blending of at least a couple of separate genres, and in a
very well executed way. Though the graytones were a bit
inconsistant, the story itself absolutely made up for it.
Sixteen Horseless Riders, written and drawn by Douglas
Noble. A poem without verse, this is one of the more sobering
pieces. A mystery without details, we are only given a taste.
Brilliantly handled. Like a fragmented story, we are shown only
fragmented faces. Noble needs to be big and famous.
Mrs. Henry, written by John Reppion and Leah Moore,
drawn by David Hitchcock. This is an adult tale, and in a perfect
world would be the origin setup for something much more than just
a short story. The timelessness of love triangles, gore and all.
Fully formed characters within so few pages just hurts though. And
Hitchcock draws unbelievably well. Quite possibly one of the very
best stories in the entire volume.
Tenderfoot, written and drawn by Steve Bissette. Laugh
out loud funny with colloquial verbiage, Tenderfoot is an
observation in how misconstrued events can play out after the
fact. Stories can grow larger than life. And Bissette’s art is
definitely caught up in the mood of his story, master storytelling
and expressive faces make for a fun ride.
I could go on and on (like Dwight MacPherson’s Twilight Zone
take on Custer’s Last Stand, or the story adapted from Native
American folklore, or the one written by a fifteen year old
superstar in the making, but I digress). If you like demons,
steampowered robots, zombies, donkey-headed children, and other
things not generally associated with cowboys and cowgirls, then
this is indeed your cup of tea. Or rotgut.
Accent UK’s Western presentation is a thorough escape that would
look not at all out of place on your coffeetable, bookshelf or
nightstand. Especially in light of the current and ongoing fun
where regards the wonderful world of distribution, Western’s
journey has been a gunfight of its own. Support good small press.
If the naysaying readers of this review believe that the Old West
is void of new story potential, then boy howdy are they in for a
surprise with this pup. Give it a read and thank me later (after
applauding the efforts of co-editors Mathieson and West). Accent
UK’s Western is worth every damn penny, for quality and
diversity alone.
Western Writer(s): VariousArtsit(s): Various Accent UK
Review By: Jeff Marsick
Ask about Accent UK anywhere here in the states and the best
you’ll get is a referral to the diminutive sixty-five-word
entry on page 180 of the June Previews. The recent Diamond
minimum-order policy doesn’t help the publisher gain traction
on these shores, either. It’s unfortunate, too, because
Accent’s anthologies have been improving with each outing. Zombies
was good, Robots was better, and now Western
is the best of the three, even sporting some well-known talent
in the comics industry.
Western, as you can suss by the terrific
twin-barreled and in-your-face cover by Kirk Manley, is two
hundred pages of yarn-spinning by thirty-two creators, where the
Wild West is the central theme. Dwight MacPherson has a piece in
here, as does Leah Moore, Kieron Gillen, Andy Bloor, and
legendary scribe Steve Bissette. What I love about Accent’s
books is that while editor Dave West and his team are picky
about their selections for inclusion, they relish in publishing
work from no-names alongside those with better pedigrees. The
result is a refreshing and entertaining gamut of work that spans
from Sergio Leone-inspired steampunk (Robson and Coyle’s “A
Fistful of Steam Valves”) to Al Jaffee-inspired backwoods
zombie (Indio’s “A Fistful of Corpse Meat”).
While horror seems to be the popular catalyst for many of the
stories, like the Lovecraftian “Last Train to Jubilation” by
Gary Crutchley, and the spooky General Custer-as-a-zombie “The
7th Will Rise Again!” by MacPherson and the aforementioned
Manley (arguably the best artwork in the book), it’s not all
Halloween in Deadwood.
“A Hard Day’s Work...In The West” by editor Dave West is a
chuckler, all in a single page of five panels, while “The Men
Who Built The West” by Gillen and Bloor brings to mind Sam
Raimi’s Ash, if he had been a cowboy. There are tales poignant
and others perverse, most that hit their mark dead-center and a
few that wander off the reservation. This last is to be
expected, as no anthology is perfection from beginning to end,
but the ratio of good to bad in Western
certainly weighs heavily to the former.
Last week Image put out their anthology, Outlaw
Territory, which is pretty good and a decent fix
for western junkies looking for a score. But Image has the
advantage of a bigger bench of comics talent from which to draw
from, as well as the deeper coffers from which to dip. Western
doesn’t have the same production value, but what they’ve
done with less is just as entertaining and impressive, probably
more so given the number of unknowns who have contributed.
If you’re a fan of western comics or just love a good
anthology, you owe it to yourself to order a copy of Western.
And if your LCS doesn’t know what you’re talking about, show
them page 180 of the June Previews.
Accent UK (Zombies, Robots and The Wolfmen) are a publishing
house based in Cheshire, UK. Themed anthologies are their thing, and this year’s
thing is the western genre. Hence the title of this trade paperback collection:
Western--an anthology of short, self-contained stories and vignettes
set in the American Old West.
Editors Dave West and Colin Mathieson
always put together a professional product, and Western is no
different. Kirk Manley’s brilliant wrap-around cover let’s you know exactly what
you’re getting when you open this book--gunmen, lawmen, and whole lot of
six-shooters.
Andy Bloor (The Wolfmen), whose always-good
artwork is within these pages (as is Kirk Manley‘s), does a great job with the
book’s design. Accent UK’s anthologies have improved greatly since he jumped on
board. But let’s get to the important stuff.
The vast majority of the
stories come under the category of the classic British “twist-in-the-tale.” Some
of the twists are quite good, both relevant and unpredicted. There were a number
of them, however, that jarred, two or three of which had the exact same twist.
The book also contains many references to a number of famous film
westerns that you should be shot if you haven’t seen. Sergio Leone’s spaghetti
western trilogy and Django come to mind quite easily.
Leah
Moore and Dwight Macpherson lead the charge among the writers with crisp,
simple, yet effective writing that showcases their strengths. Yet it seems that
to counter a group of otherwise solid writers, a few less than solid varmints
have done gone’n’got smuggled across that there darn border (a-headed to
NU-MEXICO, naturally) with a fistful of clichés. These select few try their best
to ruin it.
The artwork has greatly improved from previous anthologies.
Unlike before, flicking through the anthology does not allow you to discern who
the “best” artist is. They’re all good (at least almost all of them are). Bloor,
Manley, and Mullins step to the fore, though--which is not to say that there
aren’t at least ten others that are of the same calibre, or close enough to
it.
One thing that always gets on my nerves when reading small press
black-and-white comics is when there is so much squeezed into a single panel
that it is impossible to tell what is going on. Thankfully that is not the case
with Western.
However, Noble, whose writing is great, still
caused me some distress. I appreciate it when a good writer does his own artwork
(as opposed to a good artist doing his own writing, which is almost never good).
Yet, after mulling over a page for ten minutes does not reveal the connection
between the pictures and the words, I get cranky. Maybe that’s just me and my
inferior deductive reasoning skills, though--and Noble’s words do provide a good
read.
Western is one of Accent UK’s best anthologies yet. The
book is a refreshing read in contrast to all the mainstream cack that is on the
shelves. While some stories may not be to everyone’s taste, most will keep you
entertained.
Two-hundred-odd pages of very different stories for
thirteen dollars sure is a helluva dang bargain--and that there bookshelf of
yers, like mine, will be better for having anthologies like this nestled in, all
nice and cosy-like, on it. Buy it.
Kirk Manning’s art is really nice. His undead Custer is
fantastic, and the scenes of gore and violence are
perfect!
