Earp: Saint For Sinners #1, Driver For The Dead #3, Ryder On The Storm #2, Abattoir #2 & Time Bomb #3 – Comic Review

Establishing and maintaining a persistence of story remains in the structure of recognizable characters within a less familiar milieu. Placing these personas in similar situations might seem formulaic but in an alternate timeline, decisions have different repercussions whether it be Wyatt Earp in modern day Vegas or a would-be reaper driving the bayous of Louisiana in a muscle car. Intention only has to do with perspective. Driver For The Dead (#3 of 3) Watching Graves move towards the tendency of his birthright, the reality of the man he is hunting in Fallow, the undead head of his own Wild Bunch, becomes more defined. The hunting of a werewolf through a gator infested swamp has its moments to be sure especially withing the final reckoning. The energy here seems to carry more weight than the requisite Fallow finale. However, through the ideal of Graves being the Ferryman of the River Styx motivated in dreams by the seers, the backstory and the caul seen on him at childbirth focuses his resolve. The eventual death of Fallow and the rescue of Moses' granddaughter resets the clock but the legion of the dead still seeks the burial of Graves...as soon as he finishes his beer. Earp: Saints For Sinners (#1 of 5) After the tease which shows Wyatt Earp reduced to drinking in haste inside the last bastion of civilization: Las Vegas, the modern perception of the man changes. After a mangled train wreck leaves his only remaining brother Morgan maimed, Earp must find a way to redeem himself. In a great twist, Doc Holliday who is more maligned by his corruption in balance to his loyalty, actually tracked down Bin Laden in the Middle East and cut off his head, making our favorite nihilist both rich and unencumbered. After Earp loses his other brother Virgil in a shootout, Holliday brings Wyatt to Vegas in order to open the A-OK Casino but the mercenaries in town, despite their outward demeanor, want to make an example of the former lawman. This begins with burning out his latest investment. Making Las Vegas into the Old West and restructuring the government and societal constraints to the point where air traffic is restricted and money is back to its non-digital form restarts the clock but with a population that can be more cunning than ever. What this outlay shows is the primal nature of man without the texture of modern technology to define him which is an interesting construct.Ryder On The Storm (#2 of 3) Like the Wolfman originally finding out that he is not who he seems to be, the lead characters here are structured by the fact that he is from an underworld species that longs, like the vampires of lore, to dominate the world. After finding his brother had drilled multiple holes through his own head, the ideal becomes one of scitzophrenic rage. However the story continues in terms of structure showing a decades long struggle. The great turncoat in terms of Ryder is the fact that he straddles both the human and daemon side which speaks to both his power and to the women around him. Their agenda is fueled by what they believe him to be. Katrina, who seems to have more than a passing interest in both brothers, fuels a dexterious S&M streak which seems to affect both sexes in the fact that they heal themselves. Add to the progression a bounty hunter of sorts combined with Gene Hackman's character from "Enemy Of The State" who realizes that knowledge, secrecy and chemistry based weapons can make all the difference. The entrance of Lady Danton and her chicanerous ways paints for an imbalance which might throw readers off the scent. While the monster structure has its place, Ryder relies more on an internal struggle to motivate its characters. Watching the intellect come to a head will increase its potential because in this game, strategy is the only advantage.Time Bomb (#3 of 3) Continuing the idealization of time travel without a loss of introspection offers up the narrative continuation to many divisive timelines. The main aspect of how Hitler might have changed his own past from a person in the future that pushes up a time deadline for a doomsday device actually plays to the aspect that time will always correct itself. No matter what this crack team from the future accomplishes the timeline will always allow certain acts to move through. Eventually the entire idea of Hitler committing suicide and his remains hidden is answered with a little bit of time play. The interrogation sequence and initial "spies in a cell" interchange hark back to the film noirs of the 40s giving the piece of a throwback feel despite the lurid red and oranges that pepper themselves between the snowy landscape. The ultimate resolution is timed correctly though hardly formulaic and places to the underlying political structure of the actual conflict.Abattoir (#2 of 6) The dark unsettling background of the comic flourishes with a "Phantasm"-type character who seems both aware and unaware of the impending doom that he unleashes. Granted the murderous nature of the people involved speaks to a larger storyline. The notion of identity as with other Radical elements figures throughout the plot but at a more subdued pace. The family man, a realtor, who feels himself slowly being dragged into a notion of insanity, brings parallels to "Pet Semetary" but seeing a reflection of evil indicative of yourself in a mirror can be much more than a metaphor.