Mitchell, Brian John – Just A Man #4 (with Andrew White)

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Just A Man #4 (with art by Andrew White)

One of the many reasons I caution people not to take these reviews too seriously is that I do them every day.  Well, I try to do them every day, but I come pretty close.  As that’s the case, I’m reading these in all sorts of moods, and I’m sure there have been times when a crappy mood has translated into an unfavorable review, something I take every precaution to avoid, but there’s no way I’ve been anywhere near 100% successful.  I mention all this because I had a negative reaction to the last issue of Brian’s Marked series, which was odd because I’ve been a fan of pretty much all of his other series (including the first issue of Marked!).  So was it my mood?  The comic?  Road construction pounding in my ears while I was trying to type?  I’m not sure, but will have a chance to revisit it when the next issue of that series comes out.  Either way, I still absolutely love this one.  This time around our hero has just discovered his wife (who he thought murdered in the first issue) is still alive, and that the “daughter” he has been sent to free from whorehouse is not the man’s daughter at all.  Our hero frees another whore and gives her some new cash to start a new life and has a confrontation with the man who hired him for his “daughter”, so we’re still going to have to wait at least an issue to see what’s up with his wife.  Fine by me, I’ve been enjoying every bit of this and am fine with him keeping it going for as long as possible.  I’m a sucker for the hopeless gunman trying to get his revenge on the people who wronged him, and if things aren’t as cut and dried as we’ve been led to believe, well, so much the better.  Things are rarely as black and white as depicted in most western stories, and the shades of gray are a welcome addition.  I’m assuming you people are already keeping up with this series, but if you’re not and if you wanted to check out just one of his books, I’d go with this one.  Or Lost Kisses, I love that one too.  Or Worms, that’s creepy as hell.  Or maybe XO… $1