Black Coffins #2 is a comic written by Marcel Dupree and Joshua Metzger with art by Carola Borelli and colors by Agnese Pozza. A mother begins her quest for revenge while a detective hunts for criminals in this western tale. This comic goes from violent to romantic with underlying anger and desperation from this standout cast of characters. Our leading lady is Bella Rose Smith, a woman who is searching for vengeance after a great wrong was done to her. The most prominent man in this story is Caleb Buckley, a Pinkerton detective investigating a recent bank robbery. The plot shifts from the present day to ten years ago in the past. This helps us get a well-rounded view of specific characters and will leave you with questions about what happened in the time between. The story in the present is more crime-focused while things in the past seem more like something out of a western TV show; I mean that in the best way. There are cowboys here so guns do go off but action is pretty light overall. It does get gory at one point. The pacing is steady which fits the genre and it seems longer than it is. The intensity fluctuates and there is a good balance between uneasiness and calm. The talking style is very country with the conversations between characters having a great flow. There are a number of word-heavy pages but those tend to be long discussions and not just one person hamming it up. This was a great second issue that answers some questions and gives us some teases that might lead the story down a different path.

            The art here is smoother-looking now than it was in the first issue but it still maintains that style that could be described as an upscaled version of 1970’s comic art. The coloring here is accurate for the time with a lot of tans and browns; the occasional lively color is usually commented on by other characters. The majority of this story takes place in a saloon and the town it is in. If you’ve ever seen a saloon on a western show or movie you can picture what it looks like. The expression level here is high which adds more weight to the conversations they have. The faces here are very unique and with the different facial hair, scars, and skin tone, it is nearly impossible to confuse these characters. The weapons we see here are guns and fists, nothing you haven’t seen before. The action scenes are swift and aren’t hard to look at except for one. The outfits here are of standard western fare but when the characters dress up they look good.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like westerns starring a woman and a story that is being approached from different angles by different characters and containing supernatural elements this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Gore and nudity.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“But you don’t have any of that. What’s the point of this fantasy?”

 

Digital Link: https://nosleeppress.gumroad.com/l/mecurh

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/216615175/black-coffins-2/description

Indiegogo Link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/black-coffins-2/x/26236710#/

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24

Violent Pages: 6, for 25% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 2, for 8% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 5

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 3

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”