Written and Illustrated by Geof Darrow
Published by Dark Horse Comics
My god, do I love the work of Geof Darrow.
I love everything this guy touches from start to finish. He takes a long time and is very slow to produce work. However, he puts so much detail into his artwork and his stories that all of the extra time shows. Any one of Darrow’s pictures has different characters doing different things.
There is a story happening in each centimeter and it is a world of its own.
Like many, I first discovered his work on Hard Boiled, the crazy book that he drew with Frank Miller writing. But then, I followed him wherever he went: The Big Guy and Rusty the Robot of course, was another one of his creations that I loved (again along with Miller). And certainly I recognized his work on the Matrix movies (and even comics!).
Yet, when Shaolin Cowboy came along I didn’t know what to make of it at first. Eventually, years of reading it made me understand that this is one of the most brilliant comics being produced. Darrow is a treasure, and his artwork and storytelling are amazing. Yet, I eventually learned that he was doing this character at the start of his career. And that just blew my mind.
Now, over the years I did track down his work from overseas.
Even if I couldn’t read French, I enjoyed and obsessed over his artwork. The Shaolin Cowboy was originally known as the comic Bourbon Thret! He was more of a “bounty hunter” who basically caused the plot to go chaotic in each episode. I remember enjoying it very much and being amused with it all. I had always wished that they would translate the early comics into English.
I waited and waited and nothing. Now, after years of waiting, my dreams have come true. This book gets the early tales of Bourbon Thret into this edition. There is also a lot of back matter and things that are there for historical purpose. All of it is very enjoyable to delve into and explore and learn more about Darrow’s creation and his favorite character to tell stories with.
Some of the early work isn’t as polished as it later becomes.
Of course, that is understandable. Darrow was using the page to work out a lot of his artistic kinks as he was going. But that being said, Darrow’s kinetic style is there right from the get go. His penchant for the crazy is definitely there as well. It becomes more refined as time goes on for sure. But even at the beginning, you can see that Darrow was in a league of his own. His work is vibrant, funny and action packed. Even back at the beginning, there was nothing like it in the marketplace.
The greatest thing about the releases of Darrow’s work (and I recommend getting all of them) is the presentation.
Man, does Dark Horse do a top notch job producing these books to look amazing on your bookshelf. The quality control is stellar. I love this book because it really does show the development of both Darrow and the character from the start of the journey to where we are today with both. Darrow’s advancements are on display on each and every page.
And watching the character form into the Shaolin Cowboy we know and love is terrific.
We also get the first story from when Burlyman Comics was around called Start Trek. This has been collected before, but it is great to see it in this edition again. The Wachowski siblings in the 2000’s had their own publishing company and this was Darrow’s entry into that line. It’s a lot of fun to revisit this for sure and it makes sense that they included it. This is where Darrow cements the present day character into what he has become in the present day. And it is pretty awesome to witness.
You can’t go wrong with Geof Darrow and the Shaolin Cowboy character. It is one of the most entertaining comics still being produced and I am really looking forward to the next one, whenever that might be. I hope it is soon.
Until then, I’ll be revisiting the older work as much as I can until a new tale comes forth from the amazing mind of Geof Darrow.
RATING: A
