Undertaker v4: “The Shadow of Hippocrates” – a Western with a Great Villain

The doctor is in! And he’s a pain!

Surgical Precision Credits

Previously on “Undertaker”…

What’s Going On Now?

Doctor Quint has Rose, and he’s using her as bait to get Jonas Crowe. In volume 3, he hurt her wrist and is now withholding treatment of it to get Jonas to come out. He’ll lead him on a trail of death and destruction to get what he wants, all the while stringing Rose along while treating her with addicting medicine.

In other words, he’s a real bastard.

Jonas and Lin are, naturally, coming for him, but their hands are often tied by the traps Quint leaves in his wake, and the tough decisions that have to be made along the way. Rose is caught between a rock and a hard place, but continues to fight for her life…

Jonas vs. Quint: A Battle of Wits, Medicine, and Gun-slinging

Jonas has to face a tough opponent here. He’s stuck in a never-ending circle.  How can you kill the one man who can keep you or someone you care for alive?  How can you end that circle without hurting someone?

“Undertaker” v4 is one of the most tense thriller comics I’ve ever read. Every page has the characters walking on a very narrow tightrope, constantly being forced to decide between morality and survival. There are bigger topics that could be discussed related to medical ethics and “the greater good,” but Dorison doesn’t stop there. He wraps those very thoughts up in the form of a wonderfully sadistic surgeon and then dramatizes it all at the expense of anyone else who comes in their way.

And Jonas is not one who isn’t prone to anger. You can see his emotions fluctuating throughout the mood, rising to anger and blind rage, in cases. At other times, his traveling companion, Lin, proves to be a calming influence with her reason and logic. It doesn’t make anything right, but it certainly helps him to navigate what doing the right thing means. There are no easy answers here.

They don’t make enough villains like Quint. He’s diabolically evil, but with a cause he thinks is for the good of all mankind. He’s not mad like The Joker or as capricious as Negan. (Though Dorison does slip in a bit of a Joker-like origin story…) He’s consistent. He has a point of view on the world and everything leads back to that.

He’ll do anything he needs to do in service of that, including some steps that 99.9% of people would classify as going too far. But he can “get away with it” because he’s such a good doctor. He uses his skills to get what he wants at any cost to anyone else.

Don’t confuse that with some pure philosophy of helping mankind through scientific experimentation. He’s a mean and sadistic nutjob who does most of what he does for personal enrichment and the thrill of discovery. The screaming patients on the table as he learns are almost as exciting for him as the discovery of a new way to sew an artery shut.

He’s not quite a Josef Mengele-type, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was part of Dorison’s inspiration for the character.

Quint is also half Sherlock Holmes. He can out-think and out-reason any opponents. He can stir up a population to rally at his side, even if that is all based on a lie. He can think two steps ahead and plan for all possibilities.

He’s a wonderful villain that leaves those around him angry and helpless. Even as a reader, you want to ring his neck but also beg him for help. Xavier Dorison does an amazing job in defining Quint and using him in a variety of ways in each situation.

He takes it one step further, too. Dorison makes a credible case that Quint is doing more good in this story than Crow. When you look back at the events of the book, a shallow surface level view could shows more damage being done by Crow.

That look back might also show Crow walking a dangerous path in nearly becoming as big a monster as Quint. It’s a concern that Dorison hits upon more than once in the book.

For this story, Quint also has the advantage of having Rose. He’s hurt her and he promises her relief from the inevitable loss of limb her wound would result in — but only at great cost, not limited to a quick addiction to pain-killing drugs that would keep her in his thrall. Quint can fix her, but he’s going to keep that to himself until he gets what he wants.

He’s a master manipulator, not just of the surgical knife, but also of all the people around him. That combination makes for a deliciously evil villain, the kind who can always stay one step ahead of his victims.

You’re impressed by his genius, disgusted by his actions, but always interested in what move he’s going to play next. You almost don’t want him to lose…

The Continuously Beautiful Art of Ralph Meyer

Every page of this book is beautiful to look at. Meyer’s brushy ink work is a welcomed change of pace in an industry that still tries so hard to put as many small thin lines on a page as possible. It’s almost a throwback style. I usually say it reminds me of the Marvel bullpen of the 1970s, but it’s more lush than even that.

His depiction of Quint is brutal. He’s a man who can be your best friend, smiling with you while breaking bread. Then he’ll break your leg and withhold treatment until he gets what he wants. And he’ll be insufferably pleased with himself for having the powers of a god.

Meyer can paint him in the shadows with all the usual villainous lighting tricks, but then have him sit at the dinner table and have casual conversations with new friends who think he’s a life saver for them.

Meyer sells this book hard with his art, and that shouldn’t be overlooked. Quint might be a little over the top at times, but Meyer makes that look more like a bravura performance than an actor hamming it up.

I’ve pointed out the wonderful compositions of Meyer’s panels in the past. I’ll never pass up an opportunity to do it again.

So, here are two from this book:

The Ending

It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it’s logical and has impact, none the less. It not only ends this second story of the series (spread across books three and four), but also the series as a whole so far.

When volume five comes out — and it’s already out in France — Dorison and Meyer have left themselves a blank slate to build on. They can bring whatever parts back that they want, or they can start completely fresh. I look forward to seeing what they chose.

Recommended?

Yes, absolutely.  It’s a stunning finale filled with as much pathos and character as gun slinging and horse racing. It’s a book that propels you forward across every page, dying to know what’s going to happen next. Things just don’t sit still here.

— 2019.050 —

Buy It Now

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