It turns out it was a good choice.
The quality of the art and storytelling on display here really shows up how basic the Outcast volumes are in almost every aspect. It's like comparing Ramsey Campbell's prose to Guy N Smith.
The Outcast volumes are still entertaining, but they certainly don't qualify as art in the way that this does.
This is a multi-layered, complex narrative, mixing weird western with high fantasy and magic realism. It's reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's work on the Sandman comics, but transplanted to the old west with an increased level of violence and nudity.
The story is narrated by a butterfly talking to a dead rabbit (opening two pages of each issue cover these two as they lope around the countryside and its curiously charming - the rabbit's naivety is rather funny) and follows our lead characters in a dramatic chase across the wild west - one of whom is the actual daughter of Death.
Initially a little confusing, as the details of the story fall into place it becomes an epic fantasy encompassing the nature of Death itself as at least one of its central themes. This will stand up to multiple reads. Knowing the full detail of what happens later will almost certainly give a different perspective on the earlier chapters. It's always good when a writer trusts to the patience of the reader and doesn't give the whole story in one dollop in order to make i easier to understand from the start.
The artwork is stunning throughout. This might be one of the prettiest sagas of death and vengeance ever committed to paper.
I've commented a few times in the outcast reviews about the artwork not being great, This book brings into sharp focus how bad the art can be in Outcast.
I'm definitely going to pick up the other two volumes of this. Storytelling of this quality doesn't happen often. As cheat reads go, this is pretty damned good.
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