Streets of Glory

Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Mike Wolfer

I loved the HBO TV show Deadwood, which I suspect Garth Ennis had been watching when he wrote Streets Of Glory, his take on a Western.  He was probably reading Jonah Hex too...

The series opens with a man travelling through Montana with his older brother.  It's his first time going 'out west', and he's there to join his brother in a new business opportunity.  In no time, they are attacked by bandits, and the younger man survives only because of the intervention of Joseph R. Dunn, a legendary veteran of the Civil War, and America's varied conflicts with its indigenous population.

Dunn has history with two people in nearby Gladback; the bar keeper is an old friend of his, and the town doctor a former lover.  He's not there long before learning that his old enemy, an Apache named Red Crow (of course) is attacking settlers in the area.

Things follow their course, in the revisionist vein, as Dunn puts together a posse to hunt Red Crow, although he has to put up with considerable interference from the hired guns of the incredibly rich Charles Morrison (picture the way George Hearst was portrayed on Deadwood).  This being an Ennis book, there's a great deal of gore, a few odd deaths, and a touch of sentimentality to things.

It's not Ennis's greatest work, but it is an engaging enough read.  Mike Wolfer is a solid journeyman artist, who gets to work with some remarkable writers at Avatar.  His art is serviceable, although, like when Gary Erskine draws a comic, none of his characters are attractive.  I'm sure most people in the Old West weren't though, so it's all good.

Wolfskin: Hundredth Dream #4

Written by Warren Ellis and Mike Wolfer
Art by Gianluca Pagliarani

I only just realized that this was a six-issue mini-series.  Many of these Ellis/Avatar series have trained me to expect between three and five issues for a series, and with the last issue, I figured there could only be enough story for one more at most, until I read this chapter.

The Wolfskin and his crew are still fighting mechanical beast-like things in the Northern barbarian lands - this time a large flying device that drops balls of flame.  They fight it.

That's about it for plot, but Ellis and Wolfer manage to work in some decent character moments - I especially like the Wolfskin's approach to solving problems, and the scene where the Noi scientist begins to doubt his usefulness.

The real star of this issue is Pagliarani, who gets to design any number of cool medieval machines, and a huge city/device that resides inside a volcano.  This is a pretty simple comic, but it's quite pleasurable.

Wolfskin: Hundredth Dream #2

Written by Warren Ellis and Mike Wolfer
Art by Gianluca Pagliarani

Ellis and Wolfer are using this Wolfskin series to really explore the myths and religious beliefs of their Barbarian character's world.  This issue starts with the various characters pictured on the cover talking about the end of the world stories of their own cultures, and of some others.  Most of this stuff is based on established legends in our world, although the writers have put their own little spin on things.

The rest of the issue is taken up with the journey to one of the character's homelands, which is being threatened by some form of black beast.  Along the journey, we see that the Wolfskin has a deeper aversion for machines or technology than we had thought.

It's an interesting comic, so far almost completely lacking the brutality of the other Wolfskin outings, which I find kind of interesting.  It's a little like Wolfer and Ellis decided that, if they were going to tell any more stories with this character, they would need to add some depth to the proceedings.

This is not the best of the Ellis Avatar series, but it's definitely decent.

Wolfskin: Hundredth Dream #1

Written by Warren Ellis and Mike Wolfer
Art by Gianluca Pagliarani

I enjoyed the original Wolfskin series and the Annual issue well-enough, so I figured it was time to journey back to Ellis's take on sword and sorcery barbarian stories. 

This new series, like the Annual issue, is based on a story by Ellis, but really written by Mike Wolfer, who, aside from an over-wordy introduction, does a fine job of maintaining the integrity of the original appearances of this character.

This new series is more concerned than previous ones with the growing popularity and commonality of science in the world.  People who made their livelihoods through magic, like the fire mage who drives the plot here, are finding themselves increasingly obsolete.  When a letter comes from his homeland telling of regular monster attacks, the mage puts together a group of 'questers' to go free his people.  Included in this group is the Wolfskin character (I don't remember if he has a name or not).

The art this time around is being handled by Pagliarani, who did such a wonderful job on Ellis's Ignition City.  His art looks nice here, but he doesn't have the same freedom to design the books visual aesthetic, like he did in his earlier series.