Scan barcode
peter_xxx's review
4.0
A very good space western. Everything i like about westerns is in here: tough sheriff with a mysterious past, mysterious lone gunman, rich shaddy mineowner etc... the caracters are interessting and colorfull. I really recommand this to everyone who likes things like Star wars, Firefly or Defiance.
matt08's review
5.0
I was actually surprised that this book was good. I was expecting a cheesy comic with flat characters and poor artwork, but it was actually very good.
crookedtreehouse's review
4.0
***Update: On second read, I think it's important to say just how excellent the coloring is on this book. I don't usually notice this kind of thing. For the most part, [a:Dave Stewart|19585225|Dave Stewart|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] and [a:Jordie Bellaire|3193030|Jordie Bellaire|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1581437277p2/3193030.jpg] are the only names I know, but [a:Ron Riley|975743|Ron Riley|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s subdued color pallete here were perfect.***
I don't know why I find police procedurals annoying, or why if you take those exact same plot points but set them in space, I'm suddenly interested. I guess the world is a mystery.
This first volume is a murder mystery involving a new sheriff (two "f"s) in town, a partner who should probably have had her job, a fmaily set in its ways, former warriors the sheriff doesn't trust, and an outside-the-town culture viewed as a threat. It's paint by numbers, but the paint has been applied gorgeously.
I recommend it for fans of space westerns, flawed protagonists who try to be better, and redemption stories where you're not entirely sure what the character is being redeemed from.
I don't know why I find police procedurals annoying, or why if you take those exact same plot points but set them in space, I'm suddenly interested. I guess the world is a mystery.
This first volume is a murder mystery involving a new sheriff (two "f"s) in town, a partner who should probably have had her job, a fmaily set in its ways, former warriors the sheriff doesn't trust, and an outside-the-town culture viewed as a threat. It's paint by numbers, but the paint has been applied gorgeously.
I recommend it for fans of space westerns, flawed protagonists who try to be better, and redemption stories where you're not entirely sure what the character is being redeemed from.
chrisshorb's review
3.0
Western meets sci-fi. Female protagonist in law enforcement. Great art.
Protagonist is casually specist and anti-android. I believe both of those beliefs will be tested during the course of this series, which will be interesting.
There's some good stuff in here, enough to keep me reading the next volume. Here's some tension points that I'll be interested to see how they get resolved.
Tension between sheriff and her 2nd in command, who wanted the sheriff role.
Tension because her young son is tired of moving, and also bored. But he admires his mother the law enforcement person.
Tension in her policing methods (this book was published in 2015. It would be a different book today I bet) in relation to locals (called "natives" - that's a bit icky).
Tension between her trying to clean up the town and the existing power structure not wanting any cleaning that's going to hamper their/his operations.
Tension between her attitude towards artificial people (arties) and how they sometimes go against her expectations in a good way.
Sadly, my understanding is the series didn't actually finish, but there was an attempt at a wrap up in issue #19, which was not reprinted in graphic novel form - and is hard to get.
Protagonist is casually specist and anti-android. I believe both of those beliefs will be tested during the course of this series, which will be interesting.
There's some good stuff in here, enough to keep me reading the next volume. Here's some tension points that I'll be interested to see how they get resolved.
Tension between sheriff and her 2nd in command, who wanted the sheriff role.
Tension because her young son is tired of moving, and also bored. But he admires his mother the law enforcement person.
Tension in her policing methods (this book was published in 2015. It would be a different book today I bet) in relation to locals (called "natives" - that's a bit icky).
Tension between her trying to clean up the town and the existing power structure not wanting any cleaning that's going to hamper their/his operations.
Tension between her attitude towards artificial people (arties) and how they sometimes go against her expectations in a good way.
Sadly, my understanding is the series didn't actually finish, but there was an attempt at a wrap up in issue #19, which was not reprinted in graphic novel form - and is hard to get.
iffer's review
4.0
In a short few pages, Faerber, Godlewski, Riley and Mauer manage to lay the foundation for an intriguing space western with interesting, complex characters. I love the strong female main character of Sheriff Clara Bronson, her convincingly irritating but endearing son Zeke, and the smart-mouthed alien deputy sheriff Boo (short for Budroxifonicus) who was passed over as sheriff. The creators of Copperhead manage to set up a believable space western setting in one issue, and I've kept reading not only for the suspense of the police procedural aspects, but because I'm attached to the characters and curious about their pasts, as well as the setting. I absolutely love Ron Riley's coloring on this series. It's nuanced and subtle, and his choices of color palate are indispensable in establishing the series as a space western; I've never seen such a masterful balance of Southwest-mimicking (I should know since I live in New Mexico) oranges, browns, and azul skies with the grays, blues and greens that evoke science fiction/technology.
Merged review:
In the few short few pages of the first issue, Faerber, Godlewski, Riley and Mauer manage to lay the foundation for an intriguing space western with interesting, complex characters. I love the strong female main character of Sheriff Clara Bronson, her convincingly irritating but endearing son Zeke, and the smart-mouthed alien deputy sheriff Boo (short for Budroxifonicus) who was passed over as sheriff. The creators of Copperhead manage to set up a believable space western setting, and I've kept reading not only for the suspense of the police procedural aspects, but because I'm attached to the characters and curious about their pasts, as well as the setting. I absolutely love Ron Riley's coloring on this series. It's nuanced and subtle, and his choices of color palate are indispensable in establishing the series as a space western; I've never seen such a masterful balance of Southwest-mimicking (I should know since I live in New Mexico) oranges, browns, and azul skies with the grays, blues and greens that evoke science fiction/technology.
This series should be more popular than it is. I'm not quite sure why it's not, considering Brian K. Vaughan's glowing praise of it and his huge following by male *and* female readers. I don't want to state it, but it just occurred to me that BKV is kind of like Joss Whedon insofar as writing strong, complex, believable female characters and capturing a wider audience than comics and sci-fi traditionally do.
Merged review:
In the few short few pages of the first issue, Faerber, Godlewski, Riley and Mauer manage to lay the foundation for an intriguing space western with interesting, complex characters. I love the strong female main character of Sheriff Clara Bronson, her convincingly irritating but endearing son Zeke, and the smart-mouthed alien deputy sheriff Boo (short for Budroxifonicus) who was passed over as sheriff. The creators of Copperhead manage to set up a believable space western setting, and I've kept reading not only for the suspense of the police procedural aspects, but because I'm attached to the characters and curious about their pasts, as well as the setting. I absolutely love Ron Riley's coloring on this series. It's nuanced and subtle, and his choices of color palate are indispensable in establishing the series as a space western; I've never seen such a masterful balance of Southwest-mimicking (I should know since I live in New Mexico) oranges, browns, and azul skies with the grays, blues and greens that evoke science fiction/technology.
This series should be more popular than it is. I'm not quite sure why it's not, considering Brian K. Vaughan's glowing praise of it and his huge following by male *and* female readers. I don't want to state it, but it just occurred to me that BKV is kind of like Joss Whedon insofar as writing strong, complex, believable female characters and capturing a wider audience than comics and sci-fi traditionally do.
ohnoflora's review
2.0
Read for the Excelsior Award.
On the surface, a pretty enjoyable space western. It includes a lot of the usual tropes - a new Sheriff with a secret to hide, the tycoon who has the town officials in his pocket, the mysterious hard-bitten loner with a heart of gold + replicants ("arties"), aliens, spaceships etc. It handles these pretty competently and tells a decent enough story.
I do have a problem with these sci-fi stories that riff on established genres with loaded racial dynamics (particularly Westerns) and yet include no actual people of colour. E.g. the native - hostile, violent, murderous and with a fondness for gambling - alien race are called "Natives". (I mean...)
It's also not difficult to read the "Arties" (artificially intelligent androids, created to fight for the humans in the war with the "Natives", now viewed with suspicion) as an allusion to e.g Buffalo Soldiers in the American Indian Wars or Black regiments in the Civil War or freed slaves in the post Civil War era - you get the idea. The Sheriff's attitude towards them is racism by any other name.
It feels really gross. I'm sure it wasn't meant to; in fact in the notes the creators say explicitly that they wanted to avoid these kinds of allusions. Well, I'm sorry, in a story as genre-reliant as this, you cannot avoid them.
On the surface, a pretty enjoyable space western. It includes a lot of the usual tropes - a new Sheriff with a secret to hide, the tycoon who has the town officials in his pocket, the mysterious hard-bitten loner with a heart of gold + replicants ("arties"), aliens, spaceships etc. It handles these pretty competently and tells a decent enough story.
I do have a problem with these sci-fi stories that riff on established genres with loaded racial dynamics (particularly Westerns) and yet include no actual people of colour. E.g. the native - hostile, violent, murderous and with a fondness for gambling - alien race are called "Natives". (I mean...)
It's also not difficult to read the "Arties" (artificially intelligent androids, created to fight for the humans in the war with the "Natives", now viewed with suspicion) as an allusion to e.g Buffalo Soldiers in the American Indian Wars or Black regiments in the Civil War or freed slaves in the post Civil War era - you get the idea. The Sheriff's attitude towards them is racism by any other name.
It feels really gross. I'm sure it wasn't meant to; in fact in the notes the creators say explicitly that they wanted to avoid these kinds of allusions. Well, I'm sorry, in a story as genre-reliant as this, you cannot avoid them.
fantasticmrethan's review
4.0
Fantastic southern gothic sci-fi western concoction with interesting characters and world. Roll on volume two.
reanimatedreader's review
3.0
This was an enjoyable read. The artwork was lovely. I'm a fan of aliens being just as stupid as humans so that was fun. I didn't quite get along with the single mum and son storyline in this. I'm not entirely convinced a new sheriff in town really needs to go straight out on a job as soon as she lands when she has a capable deputy and leave her son in a brand new house on his own for his first night. I'm not sure even I would do that and don't have kids!
elturko64's review
4.0
This reminded me of firefly mixed with riddick and star wars. Very fascinating and very cool.