Billy The Kit #2

Billy The Kit #2

Blue Juice Comics 2021

Written by Justin Gray

Illustrated by Barry McClain Jr.

Coloured by Slamet Mujiono

Lettered by Benny Lava

The saga of the Wild West's strangest and most unlikely hero continues as Billy is confronted by a dark vision of the tornado gods he must eventually face if he is to complete his quest for vengeance. However, to get there, Billy needs help - a lot of help - and training from a very reluctant teacher. Does Billy have what it takes to realise his dream, or is he destined to meet a gruesome end at the hands of a seemingly endless horde of supernatural monsters?

I’m a sucker for a good western and then throw in the anthropomorphic aspect and suddenly a good story takes on a new meaning. I like the idea of a bunny whom we don’t normally think of as ferocious animals taking on this quest of revenge for the death of his family and in the process becoming a fighter and one who relishes the battle has a much greater impact at least on me. There is also something added to the creativity and imagination with this that pushes the boundaries of what we know and believe and that just adds to the intrigue, interest and engagement factors.

I’m a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does this magnificent job in how we see their personalities grow and change. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story and the more we learn the more we want to see.

I’m really enjoying how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I’m also a fan of the way that we see the layers opening up new avenues to be explored. This is done through the backstory, the introduction of new characters and more add so much depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.

I’m loving the way that we see the interiors here. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality in the attention to detail is breathtaking. I do love that we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. As I said the creativity and imagination here are off the charts and from the way they look, to how they dress to the visage of the demons and gods are all splendidly rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is bloody gorgeous! The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a phenomenal eye for how colour works and there are moments when the colour straight up pops as a result.

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This is a classic Western in that a boy sees his family murdered and he takes up a quest for revenge, finds a mentor and a path which to follow. Along the way he’ll face challenges that test his mettle, skill and determination and how we see this getting underway is simply brilliantly done. The writing is sensational and the characterisation feels classic yet fresh and these interiors are a thing of beauty. So grab some animal crackers and open this book up and find a new adventure that’ll transport you to some place you never knew you needed to be.