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Still on the Shelf #39 - El Cazador Originally published December 29th, 2003 on www.ComiXtreme.com. This work is, of course, © Craig Reade. Well, everyone else is doing a “Year End” edition of their columns, so you are probably expecting one from me… well too bad! In all honesty, I has considered it, but I have not yet been writing this column for a full year, so a “year in review” column seems premature for me. However, for those who really enjoy that sort of thing, be on the lookout for a pretty big announcement regarding this column once we approach my ACTUAL year anniversary with #50. (Contest? Wha? A real prize? A good one? Trivia???).If I was to do any reflection over my work here over the last year- I would have to admit that I covered CrossGen quite heavily- devoting nine columns this year to something out of that publisher. Maybe some might find that somewhat excessive, but in all honesty, before I covered Meridian way back in week four, I never picked up a single copy of a CrossGen book (aside from the Primer). Boy was that a mistake- over the last couple of years, CrossGen has put out some of the consistently best books on the market. On top of that, they fit perfectly in Still on the Shelf’s little niche in the market- and most of their titles are exactly the sort of thing that need and deserve the extra attention. This year also marks a turning point for CrossGen, with their widely discussed financial problems, and their virtually ignored rebirth. The latter is somewhat disturbing for me- it seemed as if everyone was rushing out to bash the company (save for avid fans) when they rightly deserved some criticism, but those same people have been quite silent regarding the righting of the ship. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that some people are just unwilling to admit that someone new has a chance of succeeding. This is not to say that CrossGen has totally bounced back- in fact, they still have a long way to go. But the “New CrossGen” has begun to take shape, with a crop of three new titles now finding their way to the shelves. The first of which- El Cazador, met with rave reviews and its first three issues promptly sold out. They sold out so quickly that I was totally unable to get copies until fairly recently. Pirates are in vogue once again, and CrossGen jumped on that bandwagon super-fast with this comic, and it sold like hotcakes. In what I consider to be an excellent move, they have released a “collected edition” of the first three issues in one book at a very low price of $5.95, along with the fourth issue this past week. A steal if you ask me. So what El Cazador all about? Let’s make it an even ten for CrossGen this year and talk about it. Cast of Characters Donessa Cinzia Elena Maria Esperanza Diego-Luis Hidalgo, or Lady Sin, was aboard the La Misericordia when it was taken by a group of pirates after it left port at Vera Cruz en route for Spain. One of her brothers was killed in the fighting, and her mother and other brother were taken captive aboard another vessel. Cinzia hid during the attack, and was later discovered by Captain Dane, the pirate assigned to captain the newly captured ship. He was a bit shortsighted and blinded with lust when he tried to “enjoy” this lady he discovered oh-so-convienently in his cabin, and ended up with a knife to the back for his troubles. Cinzia managed to take the rest of the crew hostage, and forced them to swear fealty to her as the new captain of the La Misericordia, newly renamed El Cazador- the Hunter. To help entice the crew to follow her, Captain Sin offered a rich reward of treasure to the crew aboard the ship- once Blackjack Tom, their former Captain, was hunted down and killed. Redhand Harry Newcomb (having just been to the theater, the similarity for “Redhand Jill” had me chuckling) is a British Privateer who was taken captive by the French and was set to be hanged for piracy. His crew rescued him, and they set out in their remaining, rotting ship to bolster their compliment and resources. They stumble upon El Cazador, seeing the ship as a potential upgrade to their own failing vessel. Of course, they move to take the ship. Jean Gillon is the sole survivor of the few who mutinied against Captain Sin after she took over the ship. Mistake or no, she left the men alive and stranded them on a seemingly deserted island. Of course, it was populated, but by a group of cannibals who made a meal out of the entire group. Gillon, the lone survivor, was later rescued by Redhand Harry, who happened upon the island after his initial conflict with El Cazador. Of course, revenge is on the mind of Mr. Gillon, and he is sure to pop back into the picture very, very soon. Thoughts After reading the first issue of El Cazador, my first thought was “horse-hockey!” I just could not imagine ever a situation like the one presented that allowed Sin to take control over the ship actually happening. It kind of spoiled the whole first issue for me, and I began to wonder exactly why this book achieved so much acclaim out of the gate. Mercifully, I was reading the 1-3 Collectors Edition (another reason why this is such a great idea) and it picked up rather quickly. The action was great, and the remaining details of the world Dixon crafted were right on. Sure just tossing some swashbuckling action together works good in the movies (sometimes) but in something like this, more detail is needed, and when I read about crews needing shore-leave, supplies of fresh water and fruit, and the like- I have to smile. When taken all together- issues 1-4 have combined for one of the best new story starts of the year, and I am excited to see where it goes from here. As to the initial distaste- I can IMAGINE a crew of pirates with a woman as captain, just not under those circumstances. However, with a healthy dose of “Suspension of Disbelief,” and some patience, it is really easy to work past that one minor point and see what is so entertaining about this book. I am not so much of a fanboy that I am going to let one minor bothersome plot point ruin a story that has the potential to be otherwise great for years to come. CrossGen has a high standard of art to live up to with this new crop of titles, and so far, El Cazador lives up to it. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as Steve Epting is something of a CrossGen veteran at this point, having previously worked on Crux. One of the most important things an artist can do on a title is to capture the feel of the setting the writer is trying to convey, and the art on El Cazador just screams “pirates.” I am not the best art critic out there to be sure, but as always with CrossGen, nothing about this book was visually unappealing in the least. Bottom Line El Cazador is completely sigil-less- in fact, it does not even take place in the “Sigil-verse.” All of you out there who shied away from CrossGen books because of that sigil interdependency owe it to yourselves to finally give this publisher a shot. I cannot stress enough the awesome-ness of the Collected Edition- in this day and age, it really does take a few issues to really see if a new title is worth the expense. For this title in particular- I am not entirely sure I would have continued past the first issue if that was all I had to go on. It really took all of the first three issues for this title to settle into its stride, and $5.95 for all three is just too good to pass up. With the players all set in place, I expect some good storytelling out of this title in the near future. I am glad I waited this long to cover El Cazador- honestly it has only improved since #1 and I am not sure I would have been able to recommend it as highly had I covered it sooner than this point. CrossGen has lead the industry in genre-hopping over the last few years, and El Cazador continues that tradition. I can’t think of any real pirate comics out there today that don’t bring in other elements (sci-fi and horror often are added in a hybrid mix), so in that respect this title is truly unique. That wraps up 2003 for me, and I was glad to go out on a good note. Thank you all for sticking with me over the last several months- hopefully I managed to turn some of you on to some new titles that you would not have otherwise sampled. Let’s hear some testimonials out there! “Gee Craig, I am really glad you covered Strangers… had you not talked about that one, I would have never read it!” I really need the ego boost here! I do have some cool things planned for next year, so be sure to keep reading. I really must still renew my invitation to all of you to let me know if there is a title out there that you feel deserves special attention, especially amongst the ranks of the independents. It is my goal to focus more on them in the next year, and I think that is a step in the right direction. It is so tough for an independent title to succeed in this market, and with gems out there like Super Hero Happy Hour and Dead@17: maybe it is time that someone out here in editorial land worked a little harder to shine the spotlight on titles that would never see print in the now corporate powerhouses of Marvel and DC. Thoughts, suggestions, testimonials, hate mail? I want to see it all. Thanks for reading, and have a happy New Year! Credit where credit is due- El Cazador is Written by - Chuck Dixon Illustrated by – Steve Epting Colored by – Jason Keith with Letters by – Dave Lanphear |
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