East of west vol 1 by Jonathan Hickman

Vol 1: The Promise, illustrated by Nick Dragotta, lettered by Rus Wooton, colored by Frank Martin Jr

Three of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been reincarnated as children in a nation that very slightly resembles the United States in a bizarre future. One of the Horsemen is nowhere to be seen, and the other three set off to find and kill him. We move to another scene where a man, dressed in an all white Wild West outfit, extorts information from a barkeep in exchange for the man’s life. What our mysterious man in white receives is a list of "The Chosen", the seven people who can bring about the End of the World based on the teachings of "The Message". The man in white is Death, and he’d very much like for the world not to end.

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This World is ridiculously complicated and there is relatively little explanation in the beginning, which, admittedly, probably would have bogged it down a little more. The second half, once some context is achieved, is a little more enjoyable. The rough start to this might turn off readers who need more details about who these people are; we don't know these children are Horsemen until well into the book. Nevertheless, some readers will be pulled in by the serious tone of the story, and the stoicism of Death, who is very interesting and a bit mysterious.

Image rates this for Teen+. There is a lot of violence with bloodshed on the page, and quite a bit of language in this story. 

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-12

Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: September 11, 2013
ISBN: 9781607067702 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 7/10, Suitability: High School, Comicbooks, ​Western, Dystopian, Image Comics