Page 45 Review by Jonathan
"I can tell you, if you're so inclined.
"If you'd rather listen to my story instead of scratching at the earth in hopes of getting rich.
"If so, then take a seat next to me.
"Don't let my pipe smoke bother you.
"Now, I won't deny it, I like gold too.
"I've spent my share of time lookin' for it…
"… I broke my back searchin' everywhere you could imagine…
"Mountains, valleys, on foot and on horseback… even underground!
"But gold is like a beautiful lady: if you chase her, she'll just run away.
"I'm not the kind of guy to give up, though, so I chopped wood to earn enough money to buy the proper equipment… and then I set out again.
After buying some sequential art based reading material to pass the time out on the wide open prairies, obviously…
Here's the publisher to tell you more about the lure of the precious material that has driven people mad with desire trying to get their sweaty hands on it…
I'm talking about comics, obviously.
"Presenting the second in a seven-volume library of works by master illustrator Sergio Toppi. This second volume collects eleven tales of North American folklore, from the Canadian Goldrush to the American West and the Deep South, previously collected as Colt Frontier, Naugatuck 1757, and Blues."
Wow! As much as I absolutely adored THE COLLECTED TOPPI: THE ENCHANTED WORLD VOL HC, which was the first in this heptalogy, this second volume, full of highfalutin fools, wise Native American Indians and even some of that ever elusive gold is truly fabulous from start to finish. I think it might in part be the more cogent nature of the collected material this time around, actually.
All the primarily cautionary tales regarding the lunacy of rushing after and risking your life for a few ounces of precious metal, balanced with the harmonious, peaceful (soon to be shattered forever) way of life of the true locals, hang together in a collection just perfectly. Even the magic bagpipes aren't remotely out of place. Yes, magic bagpipes…
Plus the one outlier in plot terms, featuring a mysterious wandering blues musician, an almost apologetically mildly racist redneck, a former cop turned hitman and a particularly irascible Baron Samedi, is perfectly picked to conclude this tome and does so in a most wryly dramatic fashion.
Artistically, Toppi is simply a feast for the eyes. In terms of using linework as shading and texture, indeed structure, he may well be the very best there has ever been.
There's also a rare foray into colour in this volume with a tale called Katana in which a greedy gold searcher crosses paths and swords, well a sword gets crossed with him, with a Japanese ronin samurai. (For more ronin samurai in North American see Jiro Taniguchi's amazing SKY HAWK). Aside from cover illustrations I'm not sure I've seen any coloured Toppi before. I'm not entirely sure it's needed. Which is probably why so little of his work is!
