Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta answer some major questions in another satisfying issue of “East of West.” Read our Pick of the Week review to find out why this is consistently one of our favorite titles.
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Nick Dragotta‘BUSILLIS’
Our first good look inside the Lair. The Son of Death and Xiaolain makes his move. The beast roams free in EAST OF WEST #13.
Part of what makes “East of West” such an engaging read is the fact that the focus of the story has a way of changing from issue-to-issue, often letting plot threads dangle off in some other setting of the book for months. Having to wait for plot resolution sounds counterintuitive to the idea of reader engagement, but never knowing what aspect of the world we’ll be reading about before we open up the cover of the issue makes “East of West” feel like an event every time it arrives. The last couple of issues dealt with a declaration of war discussed by the leaders of the seven nations. “East of West” #13 brings the focus back to the character of Death, and the explosive cliffhanger that issue #10 dangling.
Jonathan Hickman explores many different themes through his creator-owned works, much of them filtered through complex plot machinations and high-minded speculative fiction. If you cut through that complexity, the universal nature of these themes are apparent, which is much of what makes “East of West” such an elegant and attractive book. Apart from the constant back-stabbing, confrontation, and political fisticuffs, the book’s neo-western pop future setting makes for an appealing veneer from which to deliver the core human themes behind. Power, corruption, Americana, conspiracy – “East of West” has dealt with these and so many more issues in the way that great science fiction tends to. After all, much of the best science fiction acts as a mirror to reflect problematic aspects of society back on us, exploring the logical extensions of our actions.
In issue #13, and most anytime Death is involved, the meaning behind the action boils down to love, regret, fatherhood, and a sense of renegade revenge or justice. The fact that it’s all coming from the personification of Death is the impossibly cool, supernatural framing device. Those themes themselves are universal. Here, we find him with a couple major roadblocks in his quest to get his son back from the clutches of the “Chosen” (a secret, apocalyptic cabal mostly made up of chief leaders from the aforementioned seven nations). His interrogation of the Native American “chosen one”, Cheveyo, has gone awry and left him stuck in a corner. What this results in is a knock-down, drag-out brawl with a Texas Ranger also charged with going after the “Chosen” cabal. (More on the viscerally satisfying visual feats of that encounter later.)
Meanwhile, Death’s traveling partners deal with the supernatural ramifications of the encounter with Cheveyo, adding yet another aspect to the rich fiction of “East of West.” To this point, magic had been spoken of, but mostly operated in the background. There were questions surrounding the role that magic plays in the seven nations, and many of those questions get answered in this installment. Issue #13 acts as a “bottle episode” of sorts, as the story never diverts from these events, allowing them to play out entirely and at a good pace.
That said, I must admit that “East of West” #13 gets a little too caught up in its own fiction this particular time around. Really, this occurs out of necessity, as Hickman attempts to explain the supernatural events surrounding Cheveyo’s ability to use magic and influence the world from beyond the grave. Cheveyo’s son, Wolf, has been a traveling partner of Death, but takes center stage in this issue to explain the age old magic that resulted in Cheveyo being shunned from the Endless Nation in the first place. “East of West” is anything but grounded in reality, and “making it up as it goes along” isn’t the right way of saying it, but the explanation of the supernatural in issue #13 feels somewhat out of left field. When the junk is hitting the fan, Wolf steps up to the plate, explains in great detail the mystic work that his father had been doing all this time, and attempts a little magic of his own. “Convenient” might be a better word for it, but still not quite right. It’s just that the magical exposition happens so suddenly, cleanly, and takes up so much of the issue that it feels like an info-dump uncharacteristic of “East of West.”
Continued belowNick Dragotta and colorist Frank Martin have grown “East of West” from something that looked really nice in its early issues, into something that ranks among the most expressive and visceral works in comics. While it has always sported top-notch western sci-fi design work, Dragotta’s linework has noticeably improved in its ability to convey raw emotion accurately – showing growth even as a comics veteran. “East of West” has also gradually become more and more impressive in its use of perspective and pacing to create a sense of grandeur. Martin seems to come up with a subtle color scheme that goes along with each setting or character in the series. This time around, earthy reds dominate a desert setting where conflict boils and life and death hang in the balance.
Again, the majority of the issue concerns a brawl between Death and the Texas Ranger. Dragotta builds up to this with deliberate pacing in the early moments of the encounter. As they approach one another, Dragotta uses lots of smaller panels to convey a separation – a distance – between the two combatants. Hickman throws a bit of humorous irony into their encounter (see this week’s “This American Death” for a showcase of this, including my favorite pair of panels in the issue), which Dragotta plays out nicely over the course of two pages.
The rest of the brawl plays out over bigger, emotionally explosive panels. Those high octane emotions apply to the other half of the issue as well, where Wolf and Crow encounter the fallout of Cheveyo’s meddling in the “Sea of Bones.” Even with more exposition than is expected of “East of West”, the drama lives on the faces of the characters. Every action weighs in the balance of apocalyptic conflict, and in issue #13, it is the art that brings this across more than ever.
Hickman and Dragotta continue to prove that “East of West” can jump to any part of the revolving door plot at any moment and command the interest of the reader. Plotwise, there aren’t any weak points at the moment, as each character’s role feeds into the greater narrative. This is impressive, when you consider that about a dozen major characters (among even more ancillary ones) are competing for the page. Issue #13 may have had to weather some uncharacteristic information dumping, but from the opening page to the end, the story makes a significant leap forward and looks incredible doing so. “East of West” continues to be one of the very best titles on the stands, making some impossibly large, completely fictional stakes seem important and impactful.
Final Verdict: 8.0
P.S. For anyone wondering about the solicitation text posted at the top of the review: I always get a kick out of the way that Hickman’s solicits often end up not matching up with what actually gets released. Then again, the man himself said it best:
I haven’t written honest solicit copy in YEARS.
— Jonathan Hickman (@JHickman) November 15, 2013
