Customer Reviews

Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the classical sense, Will Eisner was a comic book titan. That is, he was there first, and he birthed the gods that followed. He is best known for his hero The Spirit, soon to no doubt be spoiled cinematically by Frank Miller, but he also created a much lesser known noirish detective hero called John Law, who Eisner never really did that much with.

A few years ago, Eisner tapped Australian comic book artist Gary Chaloner to write and draw new, original John Law stories. Dead Man Walking is a collection of these tales (there's a second one , alas, haven't gotten my hands on yet), and it's a wonder.

Chaloner's work here is marvelous. His style, while clearly influenced by Eisner, is very much his own, a noir cartoon that still allows for some fine human drama. His book design is gorgeous, his visual storytelling fluid and clear. And while Chaloner is mostly known as an artist, his writing in these stories is exceptional. John Law comes to life, and not only are all the stories fun and interesting, there are actually moments of emotion that are genuinely moving. Pretty damn good for short comic book stories.

This book is presently out of print, I think, but worth tracking down. In the meantime, I think some of the stories are readable online if you search for them.