Durango #5

Three riders thunder across a sun-baked desert landscape — a sombrero-wearing gunman leveling a rifle in the foreground, flanked by two mounted companions against a backdrop of towering saguaros — and Yves Swolfs renders every detail with the kind of dusty, cinematic realism that makes Franco-Belgian Westerns so compelling. Sierra Sauvage promises hard-riding adventure deep into unforgiving wilderness, and Swolfs' painted cover work gives the 2008 Soleil edition an atmosphere that rivals the best of the genre. Fans of gritty frontier storytelling will find this fifth installment of Durango a handsome addition to their shelf.