Review — ‘The Shaolin Cowboy: Staying A.I.Live’ #4 Stages A Panty Raid
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
For a limited series that has been so strong and entertaining, this conclusion to the latest ‘Shaolin Cowboy’ story ends on weaker note. The ending feels rushed and the complex illustrations don’t tell the story as clearly as we’re used to.
It’s a safe bet that that no other comic book creators besides Geof Darrow would end their series with an epic battle between a chainsaw-wielding, martial artist/cowboy and a fleet of used panty-slinging vending machines.
That, of course, is what makes Darrow the auteur that he is.
And your reaction to his sophomoric humor determines whether you will pick up titles like The Shaolin Cowboy: Staying A.I.Live or leave it on the rack. Rest assured that this latest mini, which concludes with this fourth issue, is vintage Darrow — even if this conclusion is the weakest in the run.
Having defeated the Cola-Cola Corporation’s bottle-dispensing vending machines in the last issue, the Cowboy finds an enemy that he has trouble defeating: used panties. (For those of you who have been to Japan, you know the vending machines spewing such things are real.)
So clearly this isn’t high art. But it is highly entertaining. Usually anyway. But there’s something a little off in this issue, which Darrow both writes and illustrates. The conclusion feels rushed. The big bad, Emil Cola, is in space and sending his machine minions to defeat the Cowboy. We don’t really get to see his ultimate defeat.
And even Darrow’s intricately detailed fight scenes — which often take a page or more — are confusing. One of Darrow’s gifts is to deliver amazing detail on pages but still make the action clear. That is occasionally missing here, leaving readers to gawk at the pages without easily understanding what is happening on them.
Writing endings is difficult, but we expect a bit more from Darrow. Still, even a subpar ending from him is more entertaining from many creators’ best efforts.
The Shaolin Cowboy: Staying A.I.Live #4 — written and illustrated by Geof Darrow, colored by Ian Herring, and lettered by Nate Piekos — is now available in comic books stores and on digital platforms from Dark Horse Comics.
