169. Holliday by Nate Bowden

Holliday by Nate Bowden. Illustrated by Douglas Dabbs  (US) - (Canada)

Pages: 192
Ages: 18+
Finished: Jun. 20, 2012
First Published: May. 23, 2012
Publisher: Oni Press
Genre: graphic novel, crime, urban, gangs
Rating: 4/5


First sentence: "Don't lie to me Henry, it's written all over your face."

Publisher's Summary:

Tombstone is a city as bleak as its name suggests and for most, life depends on the gun kept in their waistband. When Doc Holliday, a gambler with twisted morals and a deadly reputation, arrives, his presence upsets a fragile balance in the fractured urban center. The gunman and his allies are a threat to the ruling powers and eventually the long simmering tension boils over. Deception surrounding Holliday and a gruesome double homicide serves as the catalyst for war.

Acquired: Received an egalley from Netgalley.

Reason for Reading: I'm interested in the original story.

Very brutal violent rendering of the Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp and the shooting at the OK Corral story re-situated as a modern day tale of urban gang warfare.  Drawn in stunning, stark, shadowy black and white the art matches the atmosphere perfectly in this tale of dentist turned gunman, Doc Holliday.  Personally, I'm not an expert on this story only having seen a few old Westerns and did a bit of google research after reading the book to see whether the tale portrayed here held with history.  The book makes a vividly real presentation of these legendary figures, Holliday and the Earp Brothers, by today's standards as modern urban gangsters.  Memorable moments are retained but modernized, Doc doesn't have tuberculosis but AIDS, they don't fight at the OK Corral but at a street sign "OK".  This is a well done re-imagining of an old tale.  Though not a Western here, fans of the original should still enjoy but so will fans of gritty-noir crime and those who want graphic books that skip the fantasy/sci-fi angle.

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