Dead man’s hand! Bullseye! Elektra! Grizzly! Doc Ock! ‘Nuff said, partner!

Secret Wars as a whole has been Marvel‘s best event in quite some time. The spin-off series have been as solid as the main series, and as a whole they’ve been all really good. What’s interesting though is that most of the various series have been remixes of classic stories or events.

1872 as far as I know pretty much stands on its own. There’s been a lot of wild west based Marvel series, but I can’t think of one called 1872.

What I’ve liked about this event is because it involves worlds that’ll be gone after, anything can happen, and it does here in the second issue. Like any good western tale, this is a stand off in the town’s main road, and that involves shoot outs and death, and anyone can die. In a series where anyone can die, it keeps me on my toes. You never know what will happen. Written by Gerry Guggan, the first issue had some things that made me cringe due to a non-PC nature (but appropriate for the genre). That’s gone in this issue where Duggan has moved on to the next chapter of his western tale.

Nicole Virella‘s art is solid. Not sure what there really is to say except the design is fantastic. The characters are all familiar, but a western vibe, and it doesn’t fall too much into a steampunk trap.

I’m really close to saying this should be a buy. The main reason I don’t is I want to see where it goes from here. It could be great, or it could go off the rails, and the issue doesn’t quite stand on its own, but it’s really damn close.

Story: Gerry Duggan Art: Nicole Virella
Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Read