I want to see DeConnick’s script for this comic, just because I want to know how much Rios comes up with on her own and how much is already in the script. Because there’s a lot I can’t imagine someone getting from just the text of a script. There’s a big action sequence too and that action is very straightforward (compared to the rest of the comic) but the scenes leading up to the action? They’re bewildering.
As a rule, Westerns tend to be obvious. Probably because the genre started in mainstream filmmaking. Pretty Deadly isn’t just revisionist because it’s about women or non-whites; DeConnick and Rios are trying tell their story in the most confrontational way they can find. Not just for a Western either… it’s hard to think of another comic demanding so much of its reader.
They’re successful in their efforts. Maybe not entirely, but enough.
B+
CREDITS
Writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick; artist, Emma Rios; colorist, Jordie Bellaire; letterer, Clayton Cowles; editor, Sigrid Ellis; publisher, Image Comics.
the first issue was quite a load. It came off as an ethereal western to me, with a very poetic aftertaste to it. The second kind of convinced me this was visual poetry of a sort. I’m on for a third, so I’ll count that as a success. So far , there’s just enough narration to keep me engaged.