The Legend of Joe Moon
Story by Gonzalo Ventura
Art by Manuel Silva and Leonardo Silva
Letters by Martin Blanco
Pit Bros. Productions
Cover price: $2.00; Available now

Chapter 0: “The Wolf, The Bad and The Worse”

Joe Moon is a rough and tough bounty hunter who spends as much time in the bottle as he does on the hunt. His targets tonight are the Harrison Brothers and he plans to collect them dead or alive. The Harrison Brothers have holed up in a cave outside the town they’ve been attacking, and Joe Moon waits patiently until they are good and drunk, and preoccupied with their female captive. When the time is right, Joe Moon makes his move, and the Harrison Brothers are about to find out just why Joe has such a peculiar last name!

Published by Pit Bros. Productions with a story by co-founder Gonzalo Ventura, this western-horror hybrid has a lot going for it in its short 14-page run, but also has several references that it will need to live up to. First off, the chapter name alone is enough association to put a young Clint Eastwood in the boots of Joe Moon. And even though Joe is a common name, it is also a name shared by Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars. Second, any comic reader worth their weight in trade paperbacks is going to notice that Joe’s dream of his “tough love” childhood shares a thematic vision with the childhood raising of Preacher’s Jesse Custer.

What gives The Legend Of Joe Moon its angle is Joe’s lycanthrope affliction. This will become the key selling point and a great source of character development and revelations should Joe Moon find himself in a continually published series. Joe’s werewolf origin is not touched upon here, and though a single panel shows a full moon, it is not clear just how closely tied Joe’s powers are to traditional werewolf mythos. And while Joe does seem to have some control over when he transforms, he does not have much control over his animal persona once he does change. And with a few panels and a some key lines that Joe mumbles, it is hinted that he even seems to regard his transformation as a curse he must live with rather than an asset to his bounty hunting.

The Legend Of Joe Moon is a comic that truly takes advantage of its visual medium. Dialogue is sparse through most of the book, and the artwork plays a very important part in telling the tale. Even without the dialogue, the story could be easily understood by the black and white art alone, which dwells in blacks and shadows much more than whites and grays. Artists Manuel and Leonardo Silva also layer many of the panels on top of each other, but to their credit the comic remains easy to read and the eyes follow from one panel to the next with little difficulty.

It is unclear as to why this is issue 0, rather than issue 1, as both writer and artist successfully set up everything needed to make a great issue 1. Joe Moon is an intriguing character, with a mysterious appeal that will keep him fresh and interesting as he is expanded upon, and a bottomless well from which to draw out storylines. Though none are hinted at, one must wonder what other supernatural oddities inhabit Joe’s world. The book is suggested for mature readers, and if the vile acts of murder and rape perpetuate through the series, and Joe continues to gnash through his victims, it will certainly earn its rating.

Available at IndyPlanet.