Leave your ready-made ideas about the Conquest of the West to follow Marshall Bass. You will discover the lives of black women and men in the western.
For addicts to the series
In this seventh volume of Marshal Bass, the passionate reader loves himself in this increasingly dark tone. The political context is more clearly present: the country is emerging from the Civil War that ended slavery in the southern states of the country. If blacks are free, they suffer even more from the economic slavery of nascent capitalism. Igor Kordey's depiction of battles is crude, illustrating that innocence has disappeared in this series. From childhood, the characters are confronted with injustice and violence. For several volumes, Bass can no longer protect his family from the murderous madness around. He has lost his daughter's respect since her Indian husband was killed. More seriously, his wife took all his children to Mexico. If Bass was able to bring them back, he must rebuild his family. Yet very little is still known about this first marshall. Master Bryce is just a break in the main story to describe his past. At a (falsely) happy family celebration, Marshall Bass tells a story: his dark past under the strict guidance of Master Bryce. Through various key moments of his childhood, the reader understands why Marshall Bass is currently so hard. As with every volume, the twists are as numerous as they are surprising until the last page. Could it be an announcement of the next story? Darko Macan always avoids miserabilism and depression. Indeed, totally absurd situations make us smile. A man has to play corpses for a photo. When River Bass is freed, the joy is short-lived as he finds himself aimless in life.
Back to the past
Master Bryce is certainly the seventh volume in a series but, being a return to the origins, it is a good way to start. We discover the moment when River Bass became the first African-American to become marshal. Edited by Delcourt, Marshal Bass is currently one of the best western series by bringing a new vision of the West. The reader enters families and neighborhoods almost never shown in cinema: the African-American community. But screenwriter Darko Macan shows the great diversity of social levels from the first pages of this volume. The African-American bourgeoisie imitates whites. The middle class is embodied by Bass' wife who runs a grocery store. The proletariat is embodied by domestic servants but who work here for other black families. This group is not free of racism because the lighter the skin, the better. The brothel manager is not integrated into the community. Darko Macan also shows the use of photography as propaganda during the Civil War. The other asset of Marshal Bass is the very original drawing of Igor Kordey. This Croatian cartoonist impresses on a double-page plantation landscape. He uses a very tight framing around grimacing faces. The very dark inking contrasts with Nikola Vitkovic's sometimes bright colors. With this seventh volume, Marshall Bass is still in the top gallop of western comics. The tone shifts from the absurd to the drama in one box, always superb by Igor Kordey. Offering to return to the past, Darko Macan's screenplay offers readers a perfect gateway for new readers. You can find chronicles to the first volume of the series and to Colt & Pepper by the same artists.
