Back in the Seventies, Bat Lash was one of the regular features in the comic WEIRD WESTERN TALES, along with Jonah Hex and El Diablo. The stories featuring him were probably the most traditional in that group, but they still managed to be off-beat in a MAVERICK sort of way. Bartholomew “Bat” Lash was a drifting gambler who read poetry, wore a flower in his hat, romanced every good-looking woman he encountered, and tried to avoid violence. Of course, he was never very successful at that, so it was lucky he was fast on the draw and good with his fists.The character has attracted a number of devoted fans over the years and continues to make occasional appearances, usually as a guest star. A recent mini-series brought him back as the lead, however, and it’s now been collected into a very nice trade paperback. BAT LASH: GUNS AND ROSES finally gives us an origin story for the character and finds him as a young man in Texas, the son of a former outlaw who’s trying to go straight and run a horse ranch. Bat’s romance with the beautiful daughter of the local cattle baron leads to all sorts of trouble, including a clash with the corrupt local sheriff who wants the young woman for himself.
Authors Sergio Aragones and Peter Brandvold take this standard set-up and throw in some nice changes on it. The story definitely doesn’t play out the way I thought it would. Every time things seem to be leading up to a cliché, Aragones and Brandvold find a way to put a new spin on the plot. And the art, by comics veteran John Severin, is just wonderful. I enjoyed Severin’s art for years back in the Sixties and Seventies, especially on SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS (and what a great comic that was, by the way, silly title or not). Severin hasn’t lost any of his skill, and looking at his panels in these stories was great fun for me.
As some of you know, Pete Brandvold is a good friend of mine, and I know that this mini-series was a real labor of love for him. He’s a fine writer, and in tandem with comics legends Aragones and Severin, he’s produced an excellent Western mini-series. Highly recommended.
10 comments:
This came out in the UK as a six parter comic (part 1 had an alternative cover). Unfortunately, I missed out on part 4 - I picked this up not for Severin's art but for the Brandevold take on the old Bat Lash series.
The complete series is due for release here in graphic novel form so, at least, I'll find out what happened in the bit I missed.
Yeah, it was first published as a six-issue mini-series here, too. I'm hoping there'll be more to come, but I haven't heard anything about that yet.
More and more I see there's a whole world, or many, I haven't been part of.
Patti,
I think that's probably true of all of us, just in different areas.
This is something I've been meaning to pick up for ages. Reckon I'll wait for the complete novel now.
BTW for Peter Brandvold fans keep an eye on Western Fiction Review as the finishing touches are being applied to a great interview...
I'm not familiar with this one, though it definitely sounds interesting. I do know of all parties concerned, though, so I'll be looking this one up.
Yes, I used to love the Sgt Fury comic as well and that title was a bit unwieldy.
You know you're old when ... you'd already stopped reading comics regularly when Bat Lash and Jonah Hex debuted, and your western comic memories involve earlier characters like the Trigger Twins, Johnny Thunder, Nighthawk, Matt Savage, Ben Bowie and his Mountain Men, Kid Colt, the Rawhide Kid, and Two-Gun Kid.
Fred - Look out for 'Blaze Of Glory' as it revives the likes of Kid Colt, Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid along with the original Ghost Rider.
I remember all those characters, Fred, although some better than others. I was a big fan of Kid Colt and the Rawhide Kid. Never cared much for the Two-Gun Kid, for some reason.
Severin's art in the EC war comics was superb. I've been a fan of his for decades.
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