A Phantasmagorical And Fantastic Finale: ‘Canary’ #6 Reviewed

After much delay, writer Scott Snyder and artist Dan Panosian’s final issue of their horror-western, Canary, dropped last week on ComiXology Originals bringing down the curtain on this enthralling, supernatural series. With the horror having been scaled up in the previous issue, we now witness our heroes enter the figurative belly of the beast and come face to face with the evil that lurks below. In doing so, Snyder and Panosian ramp up the horror even further throwing the reader into a more cosmic kind of horror, as reality begins to shift and change into psychologically damaging visions that Panosian clearly enjoys depicting in all its gruesome glory. His artwork is dense and detailed, with the results depicting a world of darkness and danger that seems to change with each new double-page spread that helps establish the insurmountable phantasmagorical nature of this underground domain.

Over the decades as an artist, both working in the comic book industry and beyond, Panosian has grown into a killer cartoonist. He is such a versatile artists who can just as easily capture the beauty of characters like Holt’s dead wife – who haunts him teasingly in this issue – as he can the horror that engulfs this issue, resulting in a tense, tragic and traumatic tale that’s worthy of the wait for this final issue. His art style is also most suited to the Western genre too, reminding me of such great artists of the past like José Ortiz and Bernie Wrightson. It’s a style that lends itself to the gnarly, ugliness of great horror that is so important, but not always achieved, in horror comics. Shades of ‘50s era EC Comics run deep throughout this series.

Snyder too is something of a dab hand at horror, having cut his teeth with his American Vampire series at Vertigo/DC Comics and excelled at including elements of horror in his Batman run. And, as with American Vampire, setting this in the mythical west of yesteryear works effectively well. And why not? The rise of gothic literature was witness in the 19th century, so why not have more horrors like Canary set in this century? The rough and rugged landscape, the vast size of the country and at a time when it was still somewhat “wild” suits this particular type of horror perfectly. 

Canary is a series that illustrates that originality can still be infused into a genre as well-trodden as the Western. A staple of American culture and literary heritage, Snyder and Panosian have delivered one of the best Westerns series I’ve read in a long time, right up there with the New DC’s short-lived Jonah Hex/All-Star Western series and TKO’s The 7 Deadly Sins. 

Highly recommended reading if you love horror and/or the Western. Or, if you just love good comics.

Canary #6 is out now on ComiXology Originals now.