Stern v2 City of Savages cover detail
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Stern v2: “City of Savages”

Writer: Frederic Maffre
Artist: Julien Maffre
Colorist: Julien Maffre, Laure Durandelle
Lettering: Calix Ltd.
Translator: James Hogan
Published by: Dargaud/Europe Comics
Number of Pages: 83
Original Publication: 2017

The first book in this series was a pleasant enough murder mystery set in a strange western town where the local undertaker is a quiet, book-reading, unassuming man of German descent named Stern.

This second volume goes in a wildly different direction, and it’s wonderful.

Stern Returns (to Kansas City)

The set-up is simple: Stern’s book supplier went out of business.  It’s going to take months before a new one can be lined up.

Stern doesn't like cities, but he does like books. A lot.

The only way to fix the problem sooner is to travel to the big book store in the closest big city of Kansas City.  It’s a day away. Stern hates the city. He’s been there before and doesn’t want to go back.

But he really misses new books to read.

So, off he goes!

That’s When the Craziness Starts

Stern rides into Kansas City, atop his mule.

(I love this page so much, I had to include it here.  Perspective is one thing. But curving those perspective lines is a next level skill to master.)

Stern used to live in Kansas City, you see. He has some old friends there. It’s an interesting cast of characters, each of them more dangerous or threatening to Stern in their own way than the last.

When he gets mugged, he goes about getting his things back.

The longer he stays in town, the more of those dangerous elements he meets up with.  And the only one of them who doesn’t want to hurt Stern in some way is an old lady friend of his who now owns the local bar.

It’s hard to run them all down without spoiling parts of the plot, but here’s a rough outline. You can see how this cast of characters just wouldn’t get along in so many ways.

  • Gene is Stern’s old flame who’s still in town, and now runs a bar.
  • Trish is the bar bouncer who hates Stern.
  • Fergus is the old acquaintance with an ulterior motive.
  • Fergus’ mother is the crazy lady with a tomahawk and a shotgun and an intense hatred for sodomites.
  • The Old Man is literally crazy but likes to paint.  He also thinks he killed Abraham Lincoln. He has his moments.
  • Merrill is the giant who like to hurt people, Stern included.  On the side, he’s attempting to bring blood sausage to America.
  • Shylock is the loan shark who also arranges some fights on the side.
  • And the book dealer makes his money as the loan shark’s accountant.

Mix all of that up into one package, shake it and stir it up, and you get nearly 80 pages of increasing lunacy. It’s a very fun ride, with a new surprise around every corner.

Hard to Explain

It’s hard to explain what’s going on in this book without spoiling it.  There are too many twists, surprises, and reversals to list off here.  Hopefully, what I mentioned above is enough to give you a taste of the specifics.

Now, let me tell you a little about the general tone of the thing: This book is a comedic farce.  Everything that happens is just a bit wilder or crazier than everything that came before. There’s a scene late in the book that involves a stick of dynamite that feels like a more realistic version of a Road Runner cartoon.

That’s why I love this book.  At first glance, you’d expect this to be a serious western throwback.  It has the proper art, the watercolored style, the grime and the dirt and the fancy clothes of a period piece.  People aren’t throwing one-liners back and forth, but I smiled through the contortions everyone goes through in the story.  Just when you think you have someone figured out, you’re blindsided by something new.

Stern gets beat up and comes back with a vengeance, but he’s not exactly Asterix hopped up on Magic Potion here.  He’s still a relatively physically weak guy with some complicated feelings towards some old acquaintances who keep getting him further in trouble.

The Art of Julien Maffre and Laure Durandelle

I watch the videos Enrico Marini posts on Instagram when he’s coloring his work.  He’s using acrylics, not watercolors. It reminds me of the look “Stern” has, so I’m going to guess they’re using acrylics on this, too.

Rembrandt lighting on Stern's face

They’re beautiful.  It works well, in large part because Maffre and Durandelle pay close attention to their light sources.  When a character has Rembrandt lighting, it makes sense given where the light source is.  The shadows stay consistent and interesting throughout, though.

Color choices tend to make sense.  This is a western, so it’s filled with sepia tones, yellows, and browns.  The more dramatic colors feel dusty and a little more drab.  There are some exceptions for drama’s sake, but it always look good.  This isn’t drab brown that covers up the art.  This is color that promotes the art, and tells the story very well with how it’s realized.

One dramatic use of color in "Stern"
Here’s a dramatic use of color outside the usual yellow spectrum from the rest of the book…

It also looks like the paper this was drawn on has a little tooth. There’s a natural grain to all of the colors that looks like it comes through from the texture of the paper.  For me, that gives it a bit of an old school pre-high-def Hollywood feel to it.

One Possible Lettering Issue

Lettering sample from "Stern" v2

The font used in this book feels very narrow and tight.  The line weights are also very thin.  The x-height feels a little low. I’m not sure what it is, but the font is not the easiest thing in the world to read.

There were times in reading “Stern” that I had to concentrate to pull the letters apart to make sure I was reading things right.

If you’re reading this digitally, use the best display you have.  I’d suggest a big screen iPad, or a smaller one in landscape format to make the panels bigger.

Recommended?

Stern v2 City of Savages cover

Yes, without hesitation. This book stands on its own, even if you didn’t read the first book. You don’t need to. This is a done-in-one story pulled off with a bunch of extra pages and a riotous pace.  It’s extra long, running over 80 pages, so you’re getting your money’s worth.

the story continues in my review of “Stern” v3, titled “The Real West.”

— 2018.044 —

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