|
THE
KENTS
Yes,
those kents. Up, up and hi-ho Silver!
 Writer:
John Ostrander
Artists: Timothy Truman, Tom Mandrake, Michael Bair
Colorist: Carla Feeney
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Trade Paperback
Published by DC Comics 1999
$19.95
Reviewed
by Mario Di Giacomo
Everybody
knows that Western Comics don't sell. Everyone, apparently, except
John Ostrander.
Two-and-a-half
years ago, his wife, the late Kim Yale introduced him to the genre,
and he became enamoured enough to propose a story set in the past
of the DC Universe, a story about a family named Kent.
| "Everybody knows
that Western Comics don't sell. Everyone, apparently, except
John Ostrander" |
There's
little enough to say about the art. Timothy Truman has had a long
career in the Western genre, most notable the recent JONAH
HEX miniseries, and Tom Mandrake, Ostrander's collaborator
on SPECTRE and MARTIAN MANHUNTER, excels at moody,
detailed artwork.
The
writing, on the other hand, while top-notch, is not without its
flaws. While ostensibly the story of two ancestors of Jonathan
Kent (the brothers Nathaniel and Jebediah Kent), the story includes
several elements which, taken at face value, seem a bit forced.
The
hero, Nathaniel, is a dead-ringer for Superman, right down to
his spitcurl. At one point he is given an Indian blanket, embroidered
for no particular reason with a stylised S symbol enclosed in
a pentagon. When this is remarked on, the Indian woman donating
the cloth speaks of "a great hero to come from the sky."
I
can't see why this would be necessary, other than to reinforce
the Kent-Superman connection. It threw me out of the story, and
that's no good thing.
| "THE KENTS
is about family, honor, and fighting for your beliefs" |
Another
problem with the story is something I call "cameoitis." Over the
12 issues of the storyline, one member of the Kent clan or another
bumps into nearly every major western character, real or DC-specific.
In a few cases, it fits the plot, but in others (such as the Jonah
Hex cameo) it's just out of place.
However,
the Superman riffs and extraneous cameos are merely adjuncts to
the story, and not the main thrust at all. At it's heart, THE
KENTS is about family, honor, and fighting for your beliefs.
Maybe, just maybe, everyone is wrong about Westerns.
[Note:
At present, John Ostrander is writing a 4-issue miniseries for
Marvel called BLAZE OF GLORY, also using Western themes. At time
of writing it's incomplete, but so far it's a rollicking tale
of adventure.]
Recommended
Mario
Di Giacomo is a regular contributor to PopImage.
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