Louis L’Amour was the king of the western novel. Among his many iconic characters were a family called the Sacketts where even the women were dangerous. This group was no joke and L’Amour brought to life a world where retribution and a code of justice were king. What’s more he never romanticized the old west. Instead he created a rich, complex world filled with people who had to make tough choices. The terrain made them men and women who understood that the content of an individual’s character, not to mention how he treated his horse were more important than anything of material value. Kingsway Law will remind you of a Sackett.
In issue one of “Kingsway West,†Greg Pak has created a fantastic world where, in the 19th century a civil war between the Mexicans and the Chinese over an element called red gold. It has the perfect western setup. Kingsway is a Chinese gunslinger who the audience meets years after the civil war is over. People are still after him for a variety of reasons – some the reader is not privy to. It’s a narrative that even though it is told from one person’s point of view you get the sense that it’s the only perspective that matters.
And with the western theme comes the fantasy element. Kingsway seems to be able to wrangle that red-gold like mist like an original gangster. Think of the blind kung-fu master in that show from the 1970’s starring David Carradine. He would be the one snatching the pebble from the master’s hand before that Shaolin monk would even start speaking. Kingsway may be a self-described monster, however, he’s one who understands who he is. In this world that sense of self seems to be in small supply. It also makes him a continuous bull’s eye.
For Kingsway, being target means that as the hero in this tale his enemies would at least be of equitable veracity. That appears to be the case in “The Dead Zone†of California in the early 1860s. There’s the imperial guards of someone known as the queen and a Dr. Uhrmacher whose associates, are at the very least intriguingly drawn. There are beings with wings and small dragons. It makes the reader want to explore this landscape. Just what are the stories behind this supporting cast? Why does Uhrmacher ooze diabolical intentions even though he drawn as a harmless man? He barely looks average height, yet you get the sense that you should fear him? Then there’s the queen. What does she look like and is she just a thug, a figurehead or some sort of artificial intelligence?
From the cover, two Asians dressed in western garb, with a dragon (giving the perfect side eye) between them should make the reader realize that there is an empty space in the comic book universe. “Kingsway West†will fill that void.
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