East of West No. 41 review: True friendship and battle preparations

Another riveting chapter in the drama that is East of West.

Hopefully, you’ve been following along with the masterpiece that is East of West. In a world where the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse literally walk the Earth, and Death is fighting everyone for the soul of his son, the intrigue, passion, and power of truly amazing storytelling shines through brilliantly, with a stellar script from Jonathan Hickman. The moody, powerful and energetic art from Nick Dragotta and luscious, vibrant and sometimes somber colors from Frank Martin are rounded out with perfect lettering from the classy Rus Wooton, creating a piece of art that is well worth the look. This latest issue brings old friends together and shows how far some people will go to win.

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A friend is a friend, in East of West

Last issue, Death did a whole lot of fighting, preparing to battle War, and Death’s son left with the other Horsemen. This issue partly focuses on Prince John the Chosen, who surprisingly isn’t dead. The issue opens up with a flashback to John meeting Wolf for the first time and the political motives behind it. The panels are rendered in a washed-out tone that conveys the passage of time quite well. The boys quickly become friends, which speaks to how strong their future bond would remain. The story then cuts to when the Vizier, John’s lover, apparently shot him, with the Ranger, and we learn that she substituted John’s younger brother for him, in a switcheroo that was hard to see coming. She and John barely escape the King’s attention, all the more stressful because he clearly knew what was going on the whole time. She ferries him out of the Kingdom, but then leaves him behind because she is more dedicated to the Kingdom than she is to him.

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The price of being evil is, you guessed it, more evil

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At the Black Towers, President of the Confederacy Archibald Chamberlain prays to God by the side of his niece Constance, saying that he would love to see her wake. But since there’s a war on the horizon, he would give her to him so that he could win the war. Inspiring, and just the thing you want to hear, as you wake from your coma, which Constance has. She utters and expletive, and we cut to Wolf, meditating on some rocks. Prince John shows up, and the two quickly treat each other like the friends they used to be, looking down on the army amassed by the leader of the People’s Army of California, Death’s wife Xiaolin. Wolf and John discuss not fighting, and then we see President Chamberlain speaking to the deposed Bel Solomon, talking of cowardice and greed. Chamberlain gets out of the car and we’re shown a gigantic plane, loading up with supplies to head off to war. The large-scale shots always look so good; Dragotta and Martin are masters at what they do.

Next. A friendship begins in Sharkey the Bounty Hunter No. 1. dark

It’s not very likely that you could find a bad issue of East of West, and this might even be one of the better ones. The art, the story, the colors, the speech bubbles, everything is top notch. 10/10, highly recommended. Let us know what you thought in the comments section below.

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