This issue reverses the usual trend. Oh, Billy the Kid is still pretty strong—Hotz’s artwork is magnificent—and Buzzard still has some rough, unfinished art from Powell, but the writing’s actually stronger on Buzzard here.
Powell moves fast through the Buzzard story, only really pausing when it gets to the big showdown. But he turns around and abbreviates it. The final few pages, though, are absolutely fantastic. The story all of a sudden becomes smart and significant and Powell manages some subtly in an unlikely situation. It’s just great.
But the Billy the Kid finish isn’t particularly special. We get an explanation for the series’s content and a tease of some subsequent series, but there’s no real point to it. Buzzard established the possibility of a point. The Billy the Kid backup just seems out of place once Powell actually tries on the feature as far as his writing.
Leave a Reply