★★★★★ 5
Favorite graphic novel of all time
Format: Paperback
Daisy Kutter used to be train robber. And she used to be partners (and perhaps more) with Tom. But those days are past as Tom is now the Sherif and Daisy is owner of local general store...and bored out of her mind. She can't acclimate herself to "normal" life like Tom can and one night trying to relive her boredom she loses the store in a poker game. Mr. Winters, who she lost the store to, has a proposition though: try to rob his train and test his new security robots. And he's willing to pay. But it appears that not everything is on the up and up. And Daisy and Tom are fighting to survive.
Set in a steampunk version of the old west, where robots and humans live together, Kibuishi creates a masterful story that has a great deal of humor. You know that classic stoic character in the old west movies? That's Daisy. But instead of being played by some curmudgeonly old man, it's played by a young woman with a bit of humor to her, which is a nice change of pace. The relationship between Tom and Daisy is set up beautifully and it's easy to relate to them and understand where both of them are coming from.
The artwork has some of the elegance and detail that can be found in Kibuishi's current series,
, but in a bit simpler style. It's a completely black & white, but Kibuishi uses the gray tones effectively to create a lot of depth and energy to the characters. And with just a few simple lines Kibuishi gives us memorable characters that keep us coming back for more. I especially love the close ups of the characters eyes, particularly Daisy's. When those happen we get a real sense of who the character is and the emotion that they're feeling at the time.
Like the title says, this is my favorite graphic novel of all time. It was the first one I ever picked up so yeah it hold some sentimental value, but the combination of a great story and great artwork make this a must read for anyone. My one complaint...no sequel (although there is a short story in Flight volume 6)!
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Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2011
