Advance Review: Here Comes The Cavalry In ‘The Enfield Gang Massacre’ #4

In Westerns, the arrival of the cavalry typically means the good guys have arrived, and the good guys will soon win the battle.

Throughout The Enfield Gang Massacre, though, many of those Western tropes have been turned on their head. While there really are no heroes in this story, there are plenty of victims. The first and most obvious is poor Bill Barley, whose murder started the manhunt for the members of the Enfield Gang. While the gang members have pulled off their fair share of heists, cold-blooded murder is not their thing.

That makes them the next set of victims in this story, as Captain Ely hunts them down, with the help of the cavalry. Ely is out for blood, the facts of the case be damned. Meanwhile Sheriff Hardesty is looking into the facts of the case, only to learn that the truth is the story’s final victim.

Writer Chris Condon has crafted a complex, yet relatively straightforward story that puts Enfield and his gang in and out of danger in every issue. Just when it seems the group has extricated itself from danger, a new challenge arises and more of their number fall. Condon even laments the fact that he is constantly killing off interesting characters in a letters column in the back of the issue.

That gives artist Jacob Phillips the chance to show off his many talents. This is not the clean Old West of the movies. It’s gritty, bloody, and occasionally even gory. But Phillips’ illustrations lend an aura of credibility to the story. At this point, the tale is told mostly during a rainy evening, so his colors also help to set the dark and stormy mood.

With two issues left in this limited series, the cavalry may have come a little early. To be fair, though, they were never really needed. This creative team is doing just fine on their own.

The Enfield Gang Massacre #4 will be available for purchase tomorrow.