Written by: Philippe Charlot
Illustrations: Xavier Fourquemin
Coloring: Scarlett Smulkowski
Publisher: Blloan
De Wezentrein #5 Cowpoke Canyon – Comic Book Review
Orphans probably don’t have the easiest life. Some might end up wandering the streets, others get placed in nasty foster homes, but luckily some find their forever home during/after their trip of misery. Nonetheless, in some cases this might mean that siblings have to live without one another, as not all families want to adopt more than one child. This was the case for Jim and Joey, who were split up, but have now found each other once again. Sadly, things aren’t going as smooth as one could have hoped.
Lisa, who has always taken care of Joey, has fallen ill, due to her old age, whilst Joey isn’t the youngest pickle in the jar either and due to this, Jim, his brother has regained contact with them. Jim heads over to visit Joey and Lisa, in the company of his own wife Bianca. Whilst everything seems rather ‘normal’ at first, making them almost seem as one big family, even if they did not have contact for many years, things go south after a small argument between Jim and Joey, where Joey throws some hateful comments towards Bianca. This makes Jim and Bianca decide to head home once again, even though it seems that it will not be for that long.
In the meantime we get to see flashbacks about Jim, his sister Anna, Joey and Lisa. Whilst Jim and Anna had the luxury of being adopted by a renowned family, Joey had to fend for himself in Cowpoke Canyon, with the help of Lisa, who had to help him behind her husband’s back. Her husband did not like orphans, and he only saw them as cheap laborers, who could curl up in a corner and die, as long as they did some work for him. When Jim finds out that he is actually the descendant of a lord, but his newly adopted father did not grant him his legacy, as he believes hard work is the key to success, Jim can still inform his brother of the matter. This means Jim will have to take a trip to Cowpoke Canyon, but things aren’t exactly the same as he remembered over there.
The overall flow of the story isn’t really that fast, but it trots along a steady pace. As this issue is rather lacking of ‘action’, it’s all about Jim and Joey, namely their bond in the present, as well as Jim’s arduous trip in the past. Information is spread quite evenly, making things manageable to follow.
Philippe Charlot writes an intriguing story of reconciliation, hardships and the pain of losing those the ones you love. He does a great job of combining the present with the past, which flow fluently in one another, never becoming bothersome.
The illustrator of this series has crossed our path before, namely with De Legende van het Wisselkind, and it was his drawing style that immediately caught our attention. Xavier Fourquemin is a very talented artist, but it seems he likes to use certain characters in more than one story, as facial features and even complete characters, resemble those of the aforementioned series. Nonetheless, everything is quite detailed, except for a few images that are ‘taken from a farther perspective’.
Conclusion
De Wezentrein #5 Cowpoke Canyon is an intriguing tale of family and to a certain extent, secrets. The art style is very loveable and the story combines present and past in a great fashion, making this an interesting album to read through. This issue might not be that action packed, but there’s still a lot going on.
De Wezentrein #5 Cowpoke Canyon - Comic Book Review,
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