Spaghetti westerns are simply film classics, as they capture a time and place in our history that is romanticized by the world including us but especially by Italian filmmakers. Sergio Leone’s movies with Clint Eastwood, stand the test of time as these not made the actor an iconoclast on celluloid but gave dimensions to a genre that most saw as serial adventures. Soon thereafter writers like Larry McMurtry and Zane Grey, were being rediscovered as their novels gave us characters more fully fleshed out then they were in John Ford’s movies. You also had actors like Randolph Scott and Lee van Cleef, which created archetypes that the world became enamored with and considered to be the typical tough guy.

Many characters came out of this genre, and many were immortalized in many western genre fans memories. Anyone who has ever heard the name, Shane, even those who are not fans of the genre, will usually associate the name with Alan Ladd’s brooding portrayal of the tired gunfighter. As of recent, The Son, on AMC, tells quite a different story of the West, one that is more brutal but more accurate to history. So, when I read the FCBD copy of Tex Patagonia, also a different story which portrays Native Americans in a more humane light, I wanted to read more and found the 1^st English translated version of it in a beautifully collected tome.

In the story collected in this book, we find a world weary Tex Patagonia, a weary gunfighter who wants to just live in peace amongst the Navajos tribe, that is until he gets a call to arms from an old war buddy, Ricardo Mendoza. He is asked to come to Argentina to help pacify the relationship between the government and the Indian Tribes, namely, the Calfucura. When he gets there, Mendoza’s orders have changed, and a total extermination of the existing tribes have been given. By story’s end, Tex, makes a hard choice but suffers no fools, as shows that true colors, involve always doing the right thing.

Overall, an excellent story, that I can’t believe has not come to American shores until now, as this story is much more complex than one can ever imagine. The story by Mauro Boselli is humane, elaborate and well developed as far as characters and story goes. The art by Pasquale Frisenda is luscious and lifelike, giving the characters and settings a tinge of reality through a spectrum in which life and art collide in gorgeous sequential art. Altogether, if you yearn for a good story and love westerns this book is more than up your alley.

Story: Mauro Boselli Art: Pasquale Frisenda
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy