First an anime, then a live action show, now a comic. Although Netflix’s take on the world of space cowboys won’t chase any more bounties on screen, the live-action Cowboy Bebop now attempts to find a second life in comic books. Can sequential storytelling correct some of the faults of the recent adaptation?
Cover by Stanley 'Artgerm' LauWritten by Dan Watters
Penciled by Lamar Mathurin
Colored by Roman Titov
Lettered by Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy BetancourtBased on the new Netflix live-action adaptation of the original anime!
An original story set in the year 2071. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop chase an ex-gang member who holds a vest which gives the wearer unlimited luck.
Titan Comics’s adaptation of Cowboy Bebop isn’t the first time that the property has jumped to comics – – there were two manga adaptations in the late 1990s. Nor is it the first time a comic tells original stories set in that world, also something that the aforementioned manga series did. So this particular series isn’t really breaking new ground, except in that it’s taking its story cues straight from Netflix. And with the lackluster reception that Netflix show received, one has to wonder if the delays in this release (originally for December) had less to do with the supply chain issues and more with the parent series’s cancellation.
But Titan has a decent track record in expanding canon of existing properties (their Doctor Who and Blade Runner series are prime examples of this), and the seeds for doing the same are here in “Cowboy Bebop” #1. They just need a little more love and care to make them truly bear fruit.
The story in this series – – a chase by the Bebop for a vest that gives unlimited luck – – is not one taken from the Netflix series, though the opening scenes in a casino are almost straight out of the first act of the very first episode. It’s almost too good to be true that Spike, Jet, and Faye are on the chase for not only a bounty but a prize that could change their fortunes forever. And Lady Luck appears to put all the pieces right in their path to make this a smooth capture. There’s a chance meeting with this new bounty, Melville, in that casino bounty hunt that goes (in typical Bebop fashion) all sorts of wrong. There’s a chance landing not far from where this Melville’s safe house is located. But of course, this wouldn’t be Bebop (or even a series), if things were too easy. The typical dysfunction of the team with the odds never really truly being in their favor does start things off on a wrong foot. But that’s half the fun.
Although there is a primer to the setting and characters in this issue, there is a certainly level of familiarity with the world of Cowboy Bebop assumed by the reader. If you had to insert this in the Netflix Bebop canon, it’s somewhere at the mid-point of the series. Ein and Faye are both established members of the Bebop, with that love-hate relationship between Faye and the men quite clear, and something Dan Watters does very well. What there is lacking though is some introductory characterization for those new readers. There isn’t a need for the entire Bebop history, but some touches here and there to add an extra sense and subtext of these players’s values and motivations.
In fact, the less is more take on character development may work to the comic’s advantage. One of the main faults of the Netflix series was weaker storylines receiving too much screen time, which kept viewers from wanting to get emotionally invested. (Looking at you, Vicious and Julia.) A cleaner approach to characters and narrative was what the Netflix show needed, and this script certainly has shown how well that approach works, while giving what fans of the series love best: a lot of action and humor.
Lamar Mathurin knows how to deliver noir art, and here he does it well. His heavy shading complements the color work of Roman Titov quite well, making this one very stylish noir. More importantly, he’s done his homework on character design, making everyone look as they should. It’s no small feat translating three dimensions to two, and there are many artists that sometimes try too hard to do so. However, it’s certainly not perfect – – more than one moment ends up being too heavily shaded, which does result in making people unrecognizable to the eye. Doing that too much will be the one crutch that holds this series back from its full potential. Within this noir is also a well-executed retro-futurist look, particularly when it comes to Melville. His aesthetic is pure steampunk, which itself works with the rest of the series’s setting. The only other artistic weakness is in panel layouts, which do pay nice homage to the classic Cowboy Bebop opening sequence. Yet, there is too much of a good thing, as it’s a meta-joke that wears thin by the time the panel borders change from black to white about halfway through the issue, and ends up hindering effective setup of some plot elements.
The live-action Cowboy Bebop is done, but there’s building blocks here for some new adventures. With a little bit of that luck that evades the Bebop team so many times, this creative team could secure a new legacy for this series.
Final Verdict: 7.2 – See you next issue, space cowboys.
