Growing up, watching movies with my grandfather, the one genre he blessed me with that I have an affinity for to this day are Westerns. There is something both rudimentary and primal to the human condition that this genre represents. At its most basic, it represents the ages old battle between good and evil. Some of the best villains have come from this genre, most recently Jeff’s character in the miniseries, Godless.

One of my favorite revenge movies from the genre, is the underrated celluloid classic, Once Upon A Time In The West where a powerful landowner gets killed by a band of thugs. What looks a like typical revenge movie becomes even more complicated when his widow finds out he was killed because of a railroad being built. For fans of the film, you know where this plot ramps up and adds intertwining storylines, something that both movie and tv fans have seen replicated in all of their favorite shows. Rarely in that genre or most genres and the stories that fill them, do they have protagonists battling mental health issues and considering the conditions they were living in, the probability of the number of individuals dealing with it, is considerably high. In Lee Francis 4 and Weshoyot Alvitre’s  Sixkiller,  we find a heroine dealing with schizophrenia and the death of a close family member.

We meet Alice Sixkiller, as we tour the family’s disheveled house, we find her at her sister’s funeral trying to make sense of her death, she quickly takes out her frustration on the mourners, whom she doesn’t recognize. AS she returns to the mental heath facility where she is being treated for schizophrenia, she reads the last letter her sister sends her way, leaves her with even more questions. This is where a conversation with an animal leaves her pining for justice for her sister’s death  and her time there is suddenly an impediment in her life.

Overall, the comic is an intriguing introduction to a character we have not seen before and we should see more of. The story by Francis 4 is smart, allegorical, and tense. The art by Alvitre is gorgeous and alluring. Altogether, a story of a hero that resembles most heroes in real life and who most of the world turn a blind eye to.

Story: Lee Francis 4 Art: Weshoyot Alvitre
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy