The Old West That Never Was: East of West by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta

I am firing guns into the air with excitement after reading the first two issues of East of West by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta.

Yeah, like that! Thanks, Mysterious Pale Cowboy!

Anyway, East of West is a pretty damn interesting Sci-Fi Western Alternate History. It’s like a meaty chili comprised of genres. And meat. Literary and artistic meat. Hickman is setting up a mythology built on repeated phrases and symbols, while Dragotta…man, Dragotta is kicking some serious ass and really coming into his own with his own style. In the past, I feel like I’ve seen him trying to emulate Jack Kirby or Mike Allred, but this comic is where his art shines and is unique. He’s building and realizing a world that he and Hickman have imagined together, and it’s wonderful to see his style develop while building that world.

So what is the world of East of West? Well, rather than a United States of America made up of 50 states like in our plain old boring real world, Hickman and Dragotta quickly build a world in which the west was not won, but carved up along with the rest of the country into seven sovereign nations. Nations that appear to be united by a desire to bring about the end of the world.

There’s only one thing in their way. This guy.

Yes. THIS GUY.

BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM

Sorry. That’s Death. He’s not happy. Turns out theses apocalypse-happy world leaders have done pissed off one of the actual horsemen of the apocalypse. And he’s out to get vengeance against them and his fellow horsemen.

WESTERN STYLE

I have no idea how long this series is supposed to go on for, but I’m in it for the long run. If you’re someone who has enjoyed Blade Runner, Firefly, Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, The Stand, Django Unchained, Kill Bill, or anything even remotely like any of those things, THIS COMIC BOOK IS FOR YOU. Read it. It is available for purchase wherever it is they sell these comic book things. Issues one and two have come out so far, so you can get in on the ground floor of this shindig.

Sorry. One more time.