Broken Frontier

Butcher Baker, the greatest hero of years past, has been drafted to take out all the villains that survived his war on crime. He's up for the mission, riding across the country in his semi. With villainess White Lightning and rather agitated Sheriff Arnie B. Willard taken out of the picture, he's far from finished. Arnie may have a demonic trick up his sleeve to get back at the Righteous Maker.

The plot has moved from Baker driving across the countryside and having just taken out one of his former villains. He's now faced with the angry allies, alongside one ally from his own past, Ms. Mayhem. Willard, now supernaturally rejuvenated, continues to be the unseen threat to Baker. The world of Butcher Baker continues to show how much more there is than just a crazy premise, if only from one panel of Ms. Mayhem in the past. Four issues in, the book has moved at a decent pace, introducing nearly a dozen characters and already taking a few out of the roster. This issue continues to prove that nobody is safe from the wrath of Baker or his enemies, and maybe even Baker himself.

Butcher Baker: The Righteous Maker has been a surprisingly entertaining title from Image, effectively going as far out as possible when it comes to visuals. Unquestionably, the high point of Butcher Baker has been Mike Huddleston's artwork. Highly kinetic and fully embracive of the comic book medium, the minimalism of backgrounds only serves to highlight his character designs. Color is used sparingly but strongly, with such characters as the Sheriff's new friend being ethereally composed.

This isn't to belittle Joe Casey's writing, which works great. Thankfully, Casey has taken the action from the highway to actual cities and locations, allowing Butcher Baker to show off why he's such a great fighter. Casey does, as usual, end the book with a few pages of blog-like commentary that some may feel is better suited for an Ultimate Edition or an actual blog, but nobody can complain about a creator taking time to talk about his craft in his book. It's like special features on a DVD; you can skip it if you want, and some will. But you shouldn’t... it’s fun stuff.

Altogether, Butcher Baker is something that needs to be on your pull list if you enjoy some truly crazy action. Take the iconic manliness of Burt Reynolds and mix it with some superheroics, and you've got a great book that looks amazing.