Cover art courtesy of Twighlight Uprisings, 2008
Let me begin my piece by stating the obvious about myself: I'm old-school, as many who know me and know of me can attest. I like my clothes to fit properly in the backside without falling, I like my heavy metal music without benefit of men dressed like women, I like my meat medium-rare and I like my paper-product comic books.
The recent mergers between Marvel Comics and Disney and DC to DC Entertainment have me worried my tangible comic book may go the wayside like the cassette tape ,so you might understand my reticence to read comic books online. However, I'm not an unreasonable man (sure I am, but...posturing and all) so when I got a Facebook request to add Twighlight Uprisings as a friend I added them and took a look around their site. I was further elated to see they were not associated with that damn movie of a similar name (I also like my vampires dangerous, old like Bela and without an insipid love story, thank you very much).
I understand in this day and age that if you want something done at all you pretty much have to do it yourself in any fashion available. For this reason I decided to suspend my "no-reading-online" rule (#12 in my log if memory serves) and give these three Jersey guys a look-see.
If it matters coming from me, I'm pretty impressed.
Again, as personal preference dictates I'm not a "manga-guy"; I don't like my characters with big eyes and pointy elbows and chins, sorry. So when I read the byline about The Devil's Horn being a "new manga set in an Old Western motif" I sort of groaned out loud a bit and forged ahead anyway. Again, I'm happily surprised and glad I ventured forward. The comic does not rely on "old" manga, but rather incorporates some of the nuances associated with it and just flows with a more modern style that doesn't look at all obstreperous or overdone. It helps that I'm a huge Clint Eastwood fan as well, so the Man-With-No-Name aspect is always cool to me.
The comic is set in an old west where the gunfighters rule supreme and are summoned to take part in a tournament of skill by one William Devlin, or Billy Devil. He runs the town and has more than just a skill session on his mind, especially when the mysterious old gunman shows up and unsettles the town. The comic is on issue 18 as of this writing, and it has gotten better with each issue. So what happens? Read them and find out.
Taking a look at the creators we have Mark Clark, writer and artist, Adam De Oliveira, web and tech support, and Robert Pincay, writer and artist. They have put a great deal of heart and effort into their comic and you should seriously check them out when you can. The comic art is mainly pencils and shading, but the "unfinished" look adds to its charm in a few cases, and this is certainly one of them. I recommend it for anyone looking for something new and fresh. Give them a chance...I'm glad I did.
The old dog learned a new trick.
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Comments
Chris I had taken notice and an interest to your articles before but I must say you may have dropped the ball on this one. I have to disagree the storyline seems like a complete movie ripoff. I would agree with the artwork it does bring originality, only if it was done good. I couldn't make it through the second issue.
I think its okay. Don't think I would want to read that many issues.
First, thanks for the input.
Everyone has his or her own taste, which is fine. I liked it because it's relatively new to me since I stick mainly to superheroes and a similar ilk. Does it reinvent the wheel? Of course not, but in my case after reading thousands of books it's better than some of the indies out there. Hopefully with some honing and fine-tuning the ideas will be a little more innovative for these guys down the line, but I liked it as an initial in-door.
Thank you both for keeping up with me and for honest feedback! It's always welcome and appreciated.
Well I agree with Chris, "Everyone has their own tastes". I don't think he "dropped the ball", it was a very entertaining story. You can see the potential these guys have in inventing a story with a cast of 23 characters and so far juggling all of them without the story seeming overcrowded or growing stale. I don't know if this is their first attempt at writing a story, but I think it is good for an initial try. And my kids love it, and they hate westerns. So these guys are doing something right.
And "theAdvengure" you sound like you didn't even give the work a fair chance to see some of its growth. If you would have stuck around to read a few more issues, it might have changed your opinion.
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