The Enfield Gang Massacre is a new Western that came out swinging with great visuals and a great story. It also came with a cliffhanger that likely has everyone returning for more with The Enfield Gang Massacre #2 out this week. Enfield is facing a Texas Ranger who recently un-retired to take him in for a crime he didn’t do. With both certain the other is lying or worse, a whole lot of death is coming on both sides.
If you love Westerns, you’ll love The Enfield Gang Massacre. This issue delivers some big action, something usually reserved for the climax in the genre. We’re talking guns blasting, TNT exploding, and good men dying because they’d never back down. Jacob Phillips exceptionally renders this scene with great coloring and kinetic action. The zip of bullets and danger in every panel is hard felt.
Prior to this scene, we get a foreboding dream montage from Enfield’s wife. She’s shaken awake from the nightmare to find Enfield covered in blood. It’s not his.
The “Gang” part of the title focuses on this issue as we learn they’re holed up in a small collection of buildings. There’s a good amount of time spent as Enfield attempts to warn everyone, which helps set up just how screwed they are when the cliffhanger drops. The stakes are even higher by the end of this issue.
It’s about to get crazy.
Credit: Image
I can’t say enough about the colors by Phillips here, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he scores an Eisner nomination at the very least. The reds bleeding into yellows adds intensity and energy to the shoot-out, while the blues in the night scenes create a sense of dismay and worry.
Chris Condon’s dialogue is also exceptional. The accents are loud and clear and even fun to read. There’s also good lettering that punches up the dialogue. A “You murderin’ sonuvabitch” looks quite cool laid over a red word balloon too small for the words.
What’s crazy is the murder the Texas Ranger is seeking justice for still lingers with no answers, which makes me wonder how that may play into the ongoing story. It’s quite possible it was just a catalyst, but it could mean interesting twists are afoot. There’s still too little info to know how this will play out, though, and I was hoping for more of that mystery to be uncovered. The last nine pages feel a bit slow, juxtaposed with the shoot-out, which helps highlight the lack of details on the murder in the previous issue. That said, there’s tons of good Western goodness in this issue.
There’s a lot to love in The Enfield Gang Massacre #2. A thunderous shootout and a foreboding second half continue to show The Enfield Gang Massacre sets a new standard for Western comics.
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