Outlaw Territory Vol. 1

Edited by Michael Woods

Now here's an example of a trade paperback that appeared without making any ripples.  This Western anthology book went pretty much unnoticed when it was published in 2009 - I don't remember seeing any reviews or promotion for it, although I do remember seeing it in Previews.  I know that there is a second volume due to be released soon, but know very little about it as well.

As someone who loves a good anthology, I was happy to settle down with this book, which contains a good thirty short stories by a ton of different writers and artists.  Most of the stories are very good, but the limited range of the Western did make many of them blend together in my mind.

Frequently the stories involved gunslingers looking for revenge, and it did become a little monotonous at times.  Still, the quality of work in this book is pretty high.  Creators whose work stood out included Moritat, Joe Kelly and Max Fiumara, Khoi Pham, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Greg Pak and Ian Kim, Christopher Mitten, and mpMann (such a treat to see his work again).  Some artists who were new to me, but who made an impression include Yeray Gil Hernandez, Christopher Provencher, Simon Fraser, and Chad Sell.

I felt like many of the stories needed more room to spread themselves out, but in all, I was pleased with this book.  Some contributor bios would have been a nice addition though...