MITNG REVIEWS ARCHAIA ENTERTAINMENT’S “COW BOY” BY NATE COSBY AND CHRIS ELIOPOULOS

Not quite sure how the hero in this comic learned the skills to dispense justice the way he does, but he is pure Sesame Street badness. COW BOY written by Nate Cosby, illustrated by Chris Eliopoulos and distributed by Archaia Entertainment is magic to behold. This little boys story pulls you in and won’t let go. His history has a lot to do with it. He was one of several children in a rough household filled with liars and cheater’s, where if you weren’t the first at the dinner table you just didn’t eat or if you were blessed to have a dark lord for a brother you got to sleep with the pigs whenever he got the hankering and as for your parents…well…they couldn’t be depended upon to help you cause they were up to their own lawlessness. Normally it takes years to come to terms with that sort of abuse and neglect, not the Cow Boy, he’s only ten when he begins to turn the tables on his past and vows to take down anyone who breaks the law or has caused him any harm starting with his family who are now all career criminals with bounty’s.  He’s merciless in his pursuit and despite his families pleas, he wrangles them all in one by one. The way our hero talks is clever and gives him much, for the lack of a better term…SWAGGER. An example of this is on page 17, when the Cow Boy has to pop off a few rounds in a saloon to get folks attention, one of the bar patron’s says…Patron: Mighty big gun for a little boy. Cowboy: I wouldn’t worry too much about my gun sir, but I might fret about it’s bullets. SWAG! To add insult to injury it’s not even a real gun, but a pop gun with a hobby horse head for the butt that the Cow Boy wields like a katana shutting folks up who sass him. The art is light and simple. The drawings are reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbs and a surprising choice considering the heavy content, but it works in that it makes it seem like the stories taking place through the eyes of a child. Cow Boy is the ultimate morality tale. He’s so methodical and unrelenting you feel sorry for those he takes in, until you learn the person or persons a scumbag than you’re on board again. This story can and will go on and on. So much fun reading in this clever take on the western revenge genre. It tickles me shitty reading this amazing dialog, and the idea that this is all coming from a ten year old child adds that level of rightness especially in this day and age. You can checkout a free preview of the Cow Boy here. As an added bonus there are several great short stories included with the book. “The Man With No Underpants” by Roger Langridge, “A Penguin Never Misses” by Mike Mahack, “Yellow Rose and Black Billy” by Colleen Coover, and the badass “The Wireless West” by Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener and Mitch Gerads ( think Robot Jocks, but in the wild west).