Highwayman, from Top Shelf and IDW, takes some getting used to. It’s a long story, made up of chapters that occur many years apart.
Highwayman is a hitchhiker, traveling the roads in North America. Alone with just a duffel bag, he is no Jack Reacher. He’s not solving crimes at the five and dime and doesn’t have a dime to his name. But he DOES have plenty of time. You see, he appears to be immortal. So, he hitchhikes, looking for a way to end a life that never seems to reach a destination.
Century after century, the Highwayman travels. Times change, but the true motivations of his transporters never seem to.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this volume as I was reading it. It seemed truly sad and without redemption. But as I progressed, Highwayman, written illustrated and coloured by Koren Shadmi, started to grab me. There was a reason for its chapter structure, and the journey, haunting as it seemed, revealed secrets.
It’s deceptively slowly paced. The drawings, as simple as they seem to be, are part of the telling of the story. And the story is a deeply interesting one.
IDW, Top Shelf, Highwayman $19.99 for 160 pages Not rated, assume Teen +
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