The Return of Jake Sunrise: The Dead Draw is a comic written by Dean Page with lines by ABRAYTART(Yudhi Nugraha) and colors by Juan Manuel Gutierrez. Bound and imprisoned at the bottom of a mine with grotesque captors leaves our leads with little chance of escape. This is a western tale with eerie supernatural elements starring a man and woman in a bad situation. The man in question is Jake Sunrise, a bounty hunter who doesn’t really talk much. He fits the gruff gunslinger archetype with a bunch of weapons to boot. Accompanying him is an unnamed woman who is very talkative and deceptive. The plot begins with them in the belly of the beast and they instantly meet some interesting characters. There is an overall sense of fear and creeping dread throughout. The violence is of the western variety with blood and gore not being spared. Expect to see thing that’ll might make you queasy. The dialogue is old timey as well with words like “gussy“ being used. Only one page is wordy and that hits early on so it is smooth sailing after that. This is a debut comic with a good balance of danger and mystery along with interesting characters and Lovecraftian influences.
The art here is drawn in a modern style but has a rougher look that pairs well with the story. Most of the colors are brown or brown-adjacent which brings to mind western shows from early television. The majority of this story takes place in a mine that features high ceilings, long shafts, and wide open spaces. This is a very expressive comic and a variety of looks run across the faces of these characters. Faces have wrinkles, sweat, and scars which help the people here seem more alive. Some of these faces might creep you out. The action here is very shooty and bloody with gore, and there are some other grotesque non-violent moments. The action scenes tend to be short and sweet and are scattered throughout the issue.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you like westerns starring people in dire straits with unsettling antagonists and a good amount of violence then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Blood, gore, and other nastiness.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“Woah, woah, not so fast sugar. This ain’t some debutante ball.”
Purchase Link: https://picturebooksproductions.com/deaddraw
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/26144418/the-return-of-jake-sunrise/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 28
Violent Pages: 11, for 39% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% 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 – 4
“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 – 1
“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.”
