So I mentioned the other day that, at least in my neck of the woods, quarter bins are now usually dollar bins, or more; and twenty-five cent comics are few and far between, unless they're chewed-on, water-damaged, and/or crummy. But! My regular comic shop has been clearing some stuff from a storage unit, like those
Marvel Frontier titles, a lot of various versions of
Dark Horse Presents, and a bunch of Playmates
Simpsons figures that are tempting me. (Rainier Wolfcastle comes with an Oscar! You understand how I need that, right?) Then the other day, they put out a box that probably was last out well over a decade prior, without bothering to retag anything, so the return of honest-to-goodness quarter comics! Some First
Dreadstars I may or may not have already had, and today's book: from 2003,
Cinnamon: El Ciclo #3, "Desafío" Written by Jen Van Meter, pencils by Francisco Paronzini, inks by Robert Campanella. Cover by Howard Chaykin.
I think Cinnamon first appeared in
Weird Western Tales #48 back in '78, but that was set in the old west like DC's other western titles. This was a modernized version, but stayed close to the original: as a child, her marshal daddy had been shot down in a robbery, so she took to the gun--and cowboy hat, and badges used as throwing-stars--to kill the killers. Sometime after that, while not particularly old, after years of bounty-hunting and "security" work, Cinnamon seems like she's had enough; and the daughter of one of her dad's killers was now old enough to want revenge of her own. But that girl, Mace, had also been using the money from her dad's robbery--"blood money," she admits--to take care of orphans and runaways, and a lot of bad people were looking for one of them.
Cinnamon and Mace back each other up driving away thugs and gangbangers, but make arrangements to have it out at midnight regardless. Although Cinnamon didn't seem to have a lot of friends, the proprietor of a local strip club was probably one (and the girls working there idolized her) and he knows she won't draw on Mace, that this was like suicide. Still, when midnight comes, Mace refuses to let her "turn this into a
sacrifice" and tells her where her money had come from, trying to goad a fight. They both draw, although we only see Mace shoot, as nearby, Mace's building was on fire...
Paronzini's art reminds me of Eduardo Risso from 100 Bullets in places; and some of the story does as well: streetwise girl taking no guff while shooting up the place. The circle of vengeance coming back around likewise brings back the first Kill Bill. I picked up the whole series for a buck and a quarter, but that's not a strike against it; I lucked out! I'm also mildly surprised I didn't buy it before: I'll almost always buy a full run of a mini-series from the quarter bins if I find one.
8 comments:
ABSOLUTELY you should get that Wolfcastle figure! Oh the possibilities!!!!
While I’m tempted to say leave some quarter comics for others, at the same time if you can grab em while you can afford it, grab em all like Pokémon cards! It’s definitely sad to hear inflation has even impacted ye old quarter bins. But it’s definitely understandable.
Yeah Paronzini's art DEFINITELY looks A LOT like Eduardo Rizzo’s art, like too much & maybe that’s intentional, maybe just a tribute, who knows. Story & dialogue also match the writing of 100 Bullets, so either this was meant to be worked on by that team or it was outsourced to a duo who could make it look like they did.
They’ve always been 50 cent or dollar bins for me (although the main difference is the dollar bin ones are bagged and boarded and usually in a little better shape). I don’t think I’ve gotten anything three times like you but I’ve bought a couple of runs twice because they were in a box on the bottom or in the back.
That strip club scene is giving me some major Sin City vibes. Speaking of, I wonder if Frank Miller’s gotten to that prequel series yet- it was one of the ones announced when he started his line and is definitely the one I was most hyped for.
Hmm, I've had a trade of Frank Miller's RONIN for seemingly ever; I should look for RONIN 2--I guess it's RONIN RISING. I had heard good things, although I never would have thought that one would get or even needed a sequel.
Yeah, that one has a really cool idea behind it but I don’t know if there’s much more to be said there.
So who asked for a sequel to Ronin anyway?
Frank Miller, obviously
He really had to didn’t he? What’s the matter Frank, not making enough off your royalties?
I think it’s just he gets bored easily so he needs something to do, even if there’s not much call for it outside of his hardcore fans.
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