Comic Review - Daisy Kutter - The Last Train

Daisy Kutter is an ex-outlaw in the steampunk wild west. She use to be a big shot criminal, infamous for shooting down frigates during the war with only a shotgun. Well, with a really big shotgun. She has retired from all the action and danger to live a dull life, as the owner of a dry goods shop. Her days consist of playing poker and avoiding the advances of her old crime partner Tim, who happens to be the town sheriff. This simple life may come to an end when a couple of shifty drifters show up in town to propose a big job. The pay is good and this may be one last opportunity to find some action before she truly settles down for good.

The artwork in this comic was a little on the sketchy side. The artwork was not overly detailed, but just enough substance to get the point across. The character design was fun, but most of the shots are of people's faces. The backgrounds of almost every panel is really dark and just shaded pencil lines. This was obviously drawn mostly by one person, absent of background/coloring co-artists. This assumption makes the comic impressive, but seems a little unprofessional and kind of gives it an Indie feel. The artwork seems like a mixture of manga and Western art.

The story runs smooth, but fast. The dialogue is sparse and the comic focuses on action. This is what would be expected in this genre of comics. A mental image of a Western themed story is gun shoot-outs, riding horses in the desert and stare-downs. When there is dialogue it is humorous and a little quirky. Daisy is a little deadpan and robotic, but it fits her character. There are some genres of comics that need lots of dialogue and narration, this is not one of them. Overall, this comic was written wonderfully and is a joy to read.

This comic can be bought as a omnibus of the 4 comics that were released as a mini series. The whole book is not very long, and is similar to a one-shot manga from Japan. It's a perfect read for a rainy day afternoon, or a moderately long car ride. I'm a pretty fast reader, but I would imagine most readers would complete this in 3-4 hours of continuous reading. This could take longer if the reader gets stuck admiring the sketchy artwork. I went back through the book after reading it just to re-look at some of the action scenes.

I would buy this book again. I wouldn't buy this book for MSRP $17, I would try to find it for around $10. At the price of a movie ticket (in some places) you could get 3-4 hours of great reading entertainment. The story is good, but kind of follows a predictable arc. The characters are interesting. The art is good, but you have to be into sketchiness. You have to be into three things to enjoy this comic. You need to like steampunk, westerns and comics. This isn't the best comic I've ever read, but it is definitely above average.

Kickstarter Project to re-prink Daisy Cutter - The Last Train

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/439903302/daisy-kutter-reprint-project

Creator's Website and previews

http://www.boltcity.com/daisy.htm