Monday, November 29, 2010

The Long Haul by Anthony Johnston drawn by Eduardo Barreto YP FIC JOHNSTON

The days of the lawless West are coming to an end and former outlaw Cody Plummer wants one last big score before he fades away. A secret federal money train carrying 1.9 MILLION!!! dollars* is heading across the wilderness and Cody has a plan to make sure that the 1.9 mil never sees its destination. The one problem is that the train has been designed to be completely impervious to robbery. With a group of former outlaws Cody has to rob the unrobbale train.

This is a clever, fast-paced graphic novel that is half western, half heist story, and all awesome. The art reminds me of the classic comic artists of the 60s and 70s, so while it is never incredibly stylized it tells the story well and brings the characters to life. The heist itself is the big draw, because you will be wondering how they will pull off the impossible score until the very last pages. The majority of the book (like any good heist story) is the job set up with the last chapters being the payoff of the score in action. A great read for fans of the Oceans 11 style movies or comic fans wanting something a bit unique.

*That would be $33,625,614 adjusted for inflation!

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