Marshall Bass vs. Los Lobos

River Bass, a former freed slave, is the first black sheriff. He accepts it to promote equality, but society does not accept these changes very well. Moreover, he may be a Marshall, but he has a hard time enforcing his law in his family. In a previous volume, Marshall Bass had killed his son out of professional duty. This murder had prompted his wife Bathsheba to leave with her children. Meanwhile, his very young daughter lives with a much older shopkeeper in an industrial town. Her father comes with violence to retrieve her but she refuses being more afraid of her father than of her future husband. She nevertheless reveals to River where his wife took his children. He finds them in Don Vega's Hacienda. His pregnant girlfriend is going to marry the owner. But the vast farm property is occupied by the Los Lobos gang led by Don Vega's brother. Even more serious for a representative of justice, this Joaquin must soon marry one of Bass' daughters. However, the marriage is likely to be disrupted by the coming gunshots. As the series progresses, recurring characters even return outside of Bass' family and enrich Marshall Bass' universe, such as the unlucky bounty hunter Turtle.

Igor Kordey's illustrations can be disturbing at first. His bodies occupy a large part of the hut. The faces are very expressive sometimes. The ensemble can also be reminiscent of paintings by Mexican muralist artists such as Diego Rivera. But once you get used to it, his style hits the mark and brings great originality to Marshall Bess. In the same way, Nikola Vitkovic's colors are very successful.

The screenwriter Darko Macan offers you with Marshall Bess a western both absurdly funny and tragic. The Los Lobos gang is atypical to say the least. Joaquim was the heir to the huge hacienda but he was chased away by his father who was shocked at the waste of money on alcohol and light women. This selfish leader pushes the rest of the gang to sacrifice their freedom for the comforts of life on his brother's property. El Professor communist militant is found by a bounty hunter who will eventually dig his grave. Two other desperados discuss literature with El Professor. They exchange views on art… and the only pair of bezels in the band. Leandro is a trunk man carried on the side of a horse in a basket. He becomes suicidal when he stays too long in one place. This group has a habit of burying their enemies alive by letting out only the head. With this rather funny group, the reader begins the reading with a smile. However, when the shots arrive, blood spurts everywhere. Violence erases all feelings and breaks unions.