I've been a fan of Tim Truman's since he burst on the scene in the 1980s with his amazing art on books like Grimjack and Scout (which he also wrote).I was lucky enough to interview him at the beginning of his career, and I remember him mentioning his young son Ben, who - at the time - was fascinated by Godzilla.
Amazing to realize that Ben is now grown up and collaborating with his dad on a new comic, Hawken. How time flies!
The comic is a cross between a hard-hitting, no-punches-pulled western, a revenge flick and a horror story (the good kind).
It's the kind of story you could see Clint Eastwood starring in. It's set in a small village in the Arizona desert in 1881. A band of cutthroats attacks, and the villagers are unable to defend themselves.
Lucky for them, a grizzled man named Hawken has been trailing the killers - and what he has planned for them isn't pretty.
The story isn't much deeper than that, but there are quite a few twists, some great dialogue, and plenty of surprises along the way.
It's great to see that Tim Truman's art has only improved with time - his cinematic style captures the era perfectly, he knows just how far to press the horror for maximum effect, and the textures are amazing - from the wooden rifles to the clothing, the sand, the smoke - it all feels real!
Seeing such powerful work is to be expected from the "elder" Truman (who is, after all, one of the best artists in the business), but it's great to see his son has grown into an equally-talented craftsman in the family business.
There are too few westerns around to enjoy these days - but this issue shows why the genre has so many fans.
Mighty entertaining, and highly recommended!
Grade: A
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3 comments:
I saw this listed as coming out this past week and went to my LCS,
excited to take a look at it. No
copies available, and the new comics shelves were loaded with Marvel and multiple printings of the New DC. "Smaller" titles crowded out.
There's another comic shop in town.
I'm going to check there for this new Tim Truman title. Wish me luck!
Sam Kujava
Good luck, Sam! I was glad to see my shop had several copies, though no idea if any are left. If you can't find a copy, let me know and I'll see if my shop still has any extras.
I'm a Truman fan as well. I was hoping that the shop here would have a copy, but I might just order it once it's completed. It sounds top caliber like the rest of his stuff. I'd love to see someone try to bring his Scout or Grim Jack to the screen.
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