LAW OF THE DESERT BORN

Imagine if you will that at some point in the mid 1960s, magazine publisher James Warren decided to produce a monthly, black and white, comic book magazine featuring western stories by the days best writers and artists. This imaginary magazine would have been done in the style of such other Warren mags as CREEPY, EERIE, VAMPIRELLA and the short-lived BLAZING COMBAT. I would have bought it for sure but alas, such a magazine exists only in the realm of the might-have-been.

But that's the thought that kept coming to me while reading LAW OF THE DESERT BORN, a magnificent hard cover graphic novel published in 2013. LAW OF THE DESERT BORN was one of the earliest short stories written and sold to the pulps by legendary western writer Louis L'Amour. The story first saw print in DIME WESTERN, April 1946. Years later, L'Amour's son, Beau, and writer Katherine Nolan, adapted the story for audio. Not long after, they re-worked the material once again into an as yet unsold and unproduced screenplay. But Beau and Katherine weren't through working with the raw material that Louis had provided more than sixty years ago.

In 2013 the story was adapted into a graphic novel by writer Charles Santino and artist Thomas Yeates (whose artwork looks like a combination of John Severin and Gray Morrow, and believe me, those men could draw), LAW OF THE DESERT BORN is a beautiful piece of work that more than does justice to and honors the works and legacy of Louis L'Amour.

The great thing about this story is it's moral ambiguity. There are no clear cut heroes and villains, no simplistic black and white hats identifying good guys and bad. The men here are complex, complicated people who do what they do for a variety of reasons. Honor, loyalty, desperation, necessity, survival and betrayal are all motivations that drive the narrative.

Relying entirely on dialogue and images, Santino and Yeates almost make the pages turn themselves in a race to the finale. But you'll want to slow down and savor the stellar work on display here. There's great background material included, courtesy of Beau and the whole package is handsomely produced in an over-size hardcover format.

A worthy addition to the libraries of both L'Amour fans and graphic novel aficionados, LAW OF THE DESERT BORN is first rate. Highest recommendation.