Reviews

Shaolin Cowboy: Start Trek by Geof Darrow

ogreart's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Great artwork, really bizarre and confusing story.

karinargh's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.75

Stunning art, but actually not enough to stop attention drifting as there's just...very little story.

mattait's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

The artwork's great, but oosh, that writing...

babettes's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Not as good as I thought it’d be. Very funny tho 

zorpblorp's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

n8duke's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Total insanity. And what a cliffhanger!

whitneydr's review against another edition

Go to review page

Not for me. The artwork squicked me out

shadowagentzero's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

houlcroft's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Well that was a wild ride. Nazi Crabs, Vengeful Parrots, Demonic rappers, more animal sphincters than you can really prepare yourself for, and so many sharks.
The sheet detail Darrow puts into every single panel makes this a phenomenal graphic novel.
I probably should have read the previous editions but I didn’t realise there were more when I picked this up.

rosseroo's review

Go to review page

5.0

I flipped through this and was instantly captivated by the incredible artwork and took it home not knowing anything about the creator, storyline, or anything. Having just finished it, I'm not sure there's really much of a story there, but anyone who's interested in the art of comics needs to check this out. 

The book opens in a desert, with a silent Asian man riding a donkey who provides wise-ass (and often punning) narration. It becomes quickly clear that the man has made a lot of enemies, because there's a stunning 5-spread (ie. 10-page) sequence that lays them all out, in their tattooed, crazily attired and accessorized detail. Imagine a panoramic shot of something like 70-100 villains, where the perspective zooms closer in the more you pan to the right -- it's something I've never seen before in a comic and it's kind of breathtaking.

Of course, mayhem ensues, as does extremely graphic gore. It's the kind of crazily kinetic over the top combination of chop-socky, gunplay, and swords that Quentin Tarantino adores. Then at the climax, there's a duel with a giant crab... and things just get weirder from there. There's a trio of demons with some kind of chi-channeling baby, a running battle that leads to the stomach of a mega-dinosaur with a city on its back. Double-headed chainsaw polearm vs. possessed shark... It's wildly surreal and some of the most detailed artwork imaginable with equally stellar coloring. I kind of wish the artistic chops were put to work on something a little less crazy, but it's still well worth checking out.

Note: Although I assumed while reading it that I had stumbled into the middle of a series, I subsequently learned that this book does collect the original 7-comic run of issues that were independently published. There are two more books that collect sequel storylines, and I'll likely track them down at some point.
More...