Skybreaker

When Cole rises from a hastily-dug grave and guns down his would-be murderers, he embraces the Sioux half of his parentage, declaring himself Skybreaker and swearing vengeance on those who threaten him and a nearby town halfway doomed already. But with a violent military force, a trigger-happy businessman, and self-interested thugs all around, Skybreaker has a long, hard road ahead of him.

This is rough-and-tumble, gritty, Old West action, a story filled with corruption and brutality, where regret and “Out, damned spot!” bloodstains dog every step of hero and villain alike. At the intersection of murder, mayhem, and megalomania, Skybreaker emerges like a crossroads demon, determined to cut deals and shred expectations. After all, few comics embrace the idea that killing ISN’T the solution to every problem.

While the art is vivid and evocative, it’s sometimes hard to distinguish one character from another, so pay attention to faces. With all the gray and blue coats around, along with so many faces bearing signs of hardscrabble lives, it’s easy to mistake one cutthroat for another.

Skybreaker is a hard lesson from history cloaked in the violence and pathos of the real Wild West.