Loveless: A Kin of Homecoming

Genre action Author Brian Azzarello Publisher Vertigo External Links Official Vertigo Website

In this day and age, a good Western comic is a hard thing to find indeed. Either the characters are too cliché or it is purely an action based comic where cowboys go around shooting each other for no real reason besides a bounty. Loveless: A Kin of Homecoming is not one of these comics and is probably one of the better Westerns out there and with a writer like Azzarello (100 Bullets), you know that this is going to be packed with great dialogue and storyline.

We follow the lives of three men after the end of the Civil War: Wes, a war veteran, Boyd, Wes's shifty brother, and Atticus, a free man. All three men are trying to restart their lives and we get a glimpse of the forgotten period in history where the US did not just return to peace and calm, but rather even more hardships and intolerance. Azzarrello blurs the line between right and wrong, good and bad, as all of the characters are not the stalwart cowboys, but anti-heroes. In fact this is the part that makes this comic more appealing is the moral ambiguity of all three men. Wes for example is trying to reclaim his home by any means necessary, even if it means giving into the Yanks. His motivation is purely for self-preservation, he's not trying to be a good guy, all he wants is his land and his wife (who seems to be missing towards the end). Loveless does a great job of portraying the war ravaged lands and showing the evils on both ends, that men on both ends are more concerned with turning a profit than doing the right thing. Not only that but the topic of racism and the Reconstruction are directly addressed in Atticus's story. There is no stone unturned as we even witness the rape of Ruth (Wes's wife) at the hands of the Yankees in a flashback. Loveless is gritty, violent, and real. In this volume, we get the whole package, and we are left wanting more.

The artwork helps to set the mood, the colors are muted and earthy. Frusin helps to accentuate the violence by having the gun barrels, corpses, and sex right in your face so you have to acknowledge them and you have the feeling that you are actually witnessing these things. It's powerful, although the flashbacks sometimes are confusing as they occur during current events. The character designs are gorgeous and the entire mood, lighting, and environment is reminiscent of spaghetti Westerns like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and also noir-esque. You get the whole gritty and darkness of the true South through the art.

Overall this is a comic to buy. The writing is superb and there are so many intricate threads and themes throughout that you will never be bored. Azzarello is at his best and the partnership with Fusin is amazing. The best part is that there are more volumes to come, so pick them up when they do come out, they will not disappoint.