We’d get to see the Brubaker/Phillips give their gritty, moody spin on a Western. If they’d stayed in the old west, perhaps it would be a different story. But other than that, there’s nothing here that’s necessarily outside their usual wheelhouse. Yes, there’s a certain novelty to seeing Phillips draw cowboys, and I like this twist on the “old gunslinger” story. But at the same time, how does Pulp make itself stand out among such an extensive catalog? Readers know what to expect and are happy when you give it to them. As with any highly established creative force, that works both for and against them. Fans of Criminal and Kill or Be Killed will feel right at home here.Īt this point, Brubaker and Sean Phillips have done so much together they’re almost their own noirish, pulpy, crime-ridden sub-genre. Combine that with all the lamenting, the bitterness, and the urge to pull one last job, and we get something very Brubaker-ish. So you can more or less see where Pulp is going. On top of everything else, Max has a heart condition. Heck, space travel, as it feels like a different world altogether. The effect is almost like time travel, as we see this cowboy simply trying to adjust and keep up in a big city. On the other, you have New York City circa World War II. Cowboys, horses, six-shooters, stagecoach robberies, etc. One one end, you’ve got the late 1800s in the American West. The most interesting aspect of this book is the two very distinct eras it takes place in, separated by the Second Industrial Revolution. After all this time, Max Winters might have to become an outlaw one last time… Until a face from his past abruptly re-enters his life. But the world has changed, it’s leaving him behind. It’s a far cry from his youth, lived much like the characters he writes about. Set in the ’30s with World War II in full swing, our main character Max Winters is an elderly man writing Western stories for the pulp magazines, barely making ends meet for he and his wife in the process. Much of it depends on how you see good guys and bad guys, and what the difference is between them. Perhaps he even goes down swinging, fighting valiantly until the very end.

Like the old gunslinger who picks up his pistol one last time to do right, in the process reliving the glory days of his youth.

Lord knows we could use a good comeback story right about now. But will still drink it.Įverybody loves a good comeback story.

Pulp by Ed Brubaker