After all of the conflicts and battles that the Shaolin Cowboy has experienced, this may prove to be the most challenging one yet as he is caught in the crosshairs between Hog Kong and Big Daddy Snell. It’s the bloody finale everyone has been waiting for! Will this be the end of The Shaolin Cowboy?
Darrow has been making this passion project for some time, and throughout the majority of his series, this might be the most complete story of all. It’s interesting seeing a comics creator such as Darrow craft a story that is so out there while simultaneously having depth within all of the ridiculousness that brilliantly surrounds it, making this series a satisfyingly enjoyable read. This is surely the most completed entry of all of the installments with a complete ending compared to the previous installments, with many conflicts reaching their ultimate conclusions with satisfaction.
It’s sufficient to say that Darrow has time and again shown that he can do anything and everything when it comes to illustration and visual storytelling, and this issue is exemplary of that. Whether it’s composing detail-oriented fight scenes, subtle facial expressions, emotive gestures, dense cities and scenery, people, weapons, animals, everything is on full display within every panel and layout. Each layout is composed so well that everything contained within the page contrasts with clarity, displaying the story as clear as can be for readers to follow. And paired with Dave Stewart’s coloring with the additional flatting from Mark Sweeney, Raunak Singh, Fred Paculba, Josh Laird, and Gabe Fischer, everything is dry, bloody, and scummy in all of the best ways. The way the colors and Nate Piekos lettering embellish Darrow’s illustrated pages as the Cowboy viciously battles against Snell and Hog is expertly done, and tonally fitting. This is possibly the best and most cohesive entry of the series yet and is worth adding to your pull list for new comic book day.
Newsdesk