Welcome to the Michael's Musings. Here I, Michael Panush, esteemed author of Clark Reeper and various and sundry other works of delightful fiction, shall pontificate on manners Clark Reeper-and-western-related. What shall I do to mark this momentous occasion? Why, an overview of my favorite western elements in all media, of course! Yes, after enjoying a long afternoon reading Clark Reeper Tales, why not cozy up by the fireplace and feast your senses upon these beacons of worth. These elements of the cinema, the comic book, the auditory realms, and the small screen of television all spring fondly to mind whenever the word ‘west’ is mentioned in my presence.
1. Western Movies
The Western is mostly represented in the medium of film, and there are countless sub-genres that you can peruse to your hearts content. For me, the best westerns have always been made deep in the heartland – of Italy. Yes, the Spaghetti Westerns, crafted by Greatest Director Ever Sergio Leone and his ilk, truly defined my view of what constitutes a ‘cool’ western, and their tough-as-nails characters, brilliant cinematography and music, and, of course, blistering gunfights echo like thunder down the ages. Leone’s famed ‘Dollars Trilogy’ consisting of A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and the Good, the Bad and the Ugly are utter masterpieces, but other Spaghetti Westerns such as Sergio Corrbucci’s Django, The Big Silence, and Companeros don’t get nearly the recognition they deserve.
If it isn’t made in Italy, (and even if it is) the presence of Clint Eastwood is always a good sign. Eastwood’s The Outlaw Josey Wales is a particularly favorite of mine, but the shocking and raw glory of Unforgiven, which deservedly won the Oscar for Best Picture, also comes to mind. The weirder a western gets, the better. One I’ve enjoyed recently is Sukiyaki Western: Django, a hyper-stylized offering from Japan which is as surreal as it is awesome. Except more about Western Movies off all kinds, from John Wayne to Franco Nero, in the near future.
2. Comics
Back in the 1950s, when every self-respecting lad had a pair of toy six-guns and a lone ranger mask to his name, Western Comics were all the rage. But as Super Heroes took to the sky, the Western Comics found themselves out of a job, until recently that is. Now a whole new generation of Western Comics are back in the saddle again. I’ll talk more about my favorites later, but here are a few that a worth a quick mention.
DC, fine purveyors of Superman, Batman, and Aquaman, have recently re-launched the adventures of Jonah Hex, a scar-faced bounty hunter modeled on Clint Eastwood who first appeared in the 1970s. The ongoing series features two-gun action, and plenty of raw western rage that you’d expect from a man with a cut the size of the Grand Canyon in his face. DC’s adult imprint, Vertigo Comics, recently finished Brian Azzarello’s Loveless, a bleak, violent and very mature western taking place after the Civil War. In the 90’s, Vertigo’s series Preacher, written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Steve Dillion, provided an excellent, if utterly depraved, sacrilegious and obscenely entertaining, modern western, with some flashbacks that took the story back to its old western roots. And the hero has John Wayne as an imaginary friend. I’ll talk about Weird Western comics like Doug Tenapel’s Iron West and Eric Powell’s Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities in a later post. They’re the closest thing to Clark Reeper Tales in panels and word balloons, and they deserve a special treatment.
3. Tunes
What music could you enjoy while flipping through Clark Reeper (Besides humming Ennio Morricone themes loudly, as I do)? Well, there’s a host of Weird Western sounds you can partake in, besides just straight Country Western. Ghoultown is a wild and crazy rock-a-billy, cow-punk outfit straight out of Texas, and they’ve got countless songs about gunfighters, ghosts, and tequila. Dezperadoz is another favorite of mine. They’re a German metal band specializing in epic orchestrations that sound like Spaghetti Western themes with guitar solos, and they did a whole concept album about the Shootout at the O.K. Corral. That makes them O.K in my book! Other than that, listen to Johnny Cash….and nothing but.
4. T.V.
Sometime around 2007, when I discovered HBO wasn’t going to do another season of Deadwood, something in my normally placid mind snapped. I fastened on my gun belt, rode my horse over to the saloon where this HBO outfit hung out, and challenged the yellow dogs to a duel! Well, not really, but I was mightily upset. Deadwood was the greatest thing on television since the picture box started flickering. It created a living, breathing, terribly realistic version of the old west, with all the profanity and nasty bits left in. The air goes blue every time I pop a DVD into the player, but no other series has succeeded in making me care about the characters, even the most villainous ones.
Other than that, Bruce Campbell, he of the big chin and Deadite chainsawing fame, starred in a weird western series called the Adventures of Brisco County Jr., which aired from ’98 to ’94 and is now available on DVD. It’s got a healthy dose of humor, Bruce’s famous chin and awesomeness, and plenty of dastardly villains, daring adventures, and plenty of zany inventions and sci-fi weirdness.
