Yeehaw!
Hang Onto Your Stetsons, 'Cause Here Comes
Nimprod!
A real rip-snorter out of the Wild West, Nimprod blends classic style with modern grit for a fun and fast paced race through the West. In this one the bad guys wear black hats, the good guys wear red hats...and sometimes not much else. With characters like Snake the desert queen and Bang Bang Lucita, it's the perfect blend of spaghetti western and spirited spitfire storytelling. The creation of
Nimesh Morarji, Nimprod can be found at this link.
The Rating
She's a handsome filly an' no mistake!
The Raves
To begin with, this story is a beaut. I mean, look at this splash page above. Just look at it. Feast your eyes.And the art isn't carrying all the weight in the story, either. The writing is tightly wound, fast pace and fun, without an excess word or unnecessary idea to be seen. Crisp storytelling, a great sense of composition and space create a page turner of a story. The color palette is done in rust hued tones, rich and warm as the Rio Grande valley and perfectly suited to the material.
Nimprod feels like the best of the classic Western movies, with a twist: the most powerful characters in the story are all women. A refreshing and fun take on the tropes of the Old West, to be sure.
The character development is clean and direct: Snake and her new friend Lucita don't have time for anything wishy-washy, but you get enough story to go along with and the ladies play well with a bit of mystique. I'll admit, I fell in love with Snake just a little bit. Finding a powerful female character who is simply herself and needs no explanation is delightful.
The simplicity of storytelling allows it to move at a lively pace, with plenty of action and banditos to rassle (yes dear readers I will make you suffer through my attempts at ol' Western vernacularation for my amusement). The antagonists in this story are pretty much stock Western Bad Guy, but for the purposes of the story they don't need to be anything else. All in all this is a fun, flashy tale which lets you relax into a little nostalgia without feeling your IQ points drop, which is a rare find.
The Razzes
I do have one complaint as a lady reader. Um...ever had a sunburn on your midriff? It HURTS. A LOT. Oh, and so does riding a horse without wearing a bra. Imagine tiny hooks in your skin pulling it this way and that for a few hours straight. And by the way, there's cholla in the West. Ever met a cholla cactus? Let's just say anybody living anywhere near this beastie wears protection. But our lovely ladies of the gun are either demigoddesses, or....a little unprepared, shall we say?I know this is a point that others will disagree on, but as a reader and an artist I favor functionality over style. If I look at a costume and think 'no, no way you lived there wearing that, unh-unh.' the spell of the story is somewhat broken. All I could think when I viewed this page was 'oh, the sunburn...oh...the chafing...ow...'
Beyond the stylistic quibble, I'd like to see the word bubbles get a little more breathing room. The words often feel slightly crammed into their bubbles, and their square layout detracts slightly from the overall appeal. I'd much prefer to see a diamond layout to the words that allowed for more rounded bubbles.
The Revue
A real rip-snorter of a story. Mosey on over and ask Snake what she's been up to, why doncha?
