Mark Peters | November 11, 2024
What happens when you take the words out of a comic?
In most cases, disaster—especially with writer-driven comics that suffer from talking-heads disease. A dialogue-heavy comic with the dialogue taken out is just a bunch of static art: a freeze frame not worth your time.
But what if the comic is by one of the genre’s most distinct talents—Geof Darrow, the detail-obsessed artist behind Hard Boiled, The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, and the ongoing adventures of the Shaolin Cowboy, a creator who is also a designer for The Matrix movies? Well, you can see for yourself in the new “Silent But Deadly” edition of the latest Shaolin Cowboy arc, Cruel to be Kin, which removes all the lettering and leaves the gory and goofy action unblemished by words.
The concept of a silent edition of an existing comic begs a few questions. Is this edition just a gimmick that preys on the wallet of Darrow completists or is it a worthy addition to Darrow’s oeuvre that puts his best comic in a new light? Is it an art book or a legit silent comic? To both questions, the answer is, “It’s both.” But make no mistake: the wordless Cruel to Be Kin very much stacks up to the wordy version. A few gems are lost, but much is gained.
Darrow fans are likely aware that the Shaolin Cowboy doesn’t need words to kick ass, as a character or comic. As part of the Shemp Buffet arc, Darrow penned a 100-page zombie fight with no dialogue—just constant spinning, rotating, slashing, kicking, bleeding, and buzzing action, as the Cowboy and his trusty two-headed chainsaw weapon mow down the living dead in art that couldn’t be more lively. This is one of the most unique sequences in all of comics, imaginative and mind-numbing at the same time. It features some of the most excessive violence in any art form and leaves one speechless at Darrow’s ability to find new angles, perspectives, and atrocities in what appears to be- but isn’t- pure repetition. In some ways, this new edition is a sequel to that brawl.
The Shaolin Cowboy, described in the original version of Cruel to be Kin as “Kind of a John Wayne-y Buddha” is our paunchy hero, though he’s a hero who seems to cause trouble as often as he clears it up. Shaolin Cowboy comics have two main settings: a hellish, open desert—perhaps inspired by Moebius’ Desert B—and a hellish, congested city. Cruel to be Kin takes place in both settings, creating a stark visual contrast between the first and second halves of the story. Though mayhem and monsters pervade both halves, the first part of the story is about befriending a young Komodo dragon, and the second is about avenging that lizard and his family.
What’s gained from the silent treatment? Openness, especially in the scenes set in the desert. The lack of words lets the art breathe, and this art has giant lungs. The desert and city settings both feel vast in their own way, and the lack of words opens things up even more. In the wordless version, the reader becomes less of a reader and more of a silent witness to Darrow’s characters, from attacking kaijus to humping dogs. A mutated little Nazi freak riding a giant jellyfish isn’t the kind of thing you’ll see in the latest Batman comic, or the latest anything-but-a-Geof-Darrow comic, and taking the words away leaves Darrow’s distinctive imagery all the more distinctive. Plus, new details jump out. Cigarette-smoking turtles look on as the Cowboy dodges giant boulders thrown by that giant jellyfish. Those turtles, and other critters, just are, in a way that’s quite pleasing.
By taking out the lettering, the reading process is shifted, but there’s still plenty to read on many pages, and not just the “reading” of the art. Darrow’s unnamed big city is a hellscape of advertising. On one page alone, we can find “Cheatos XXX Escort Service,” “KKKmart,” “Vag Inn,” “Cock Dock,” “Jesus Joint,” and “Meat God,” whose ad shows Hitler holding a hamburger and wearing a t-shirt with a cross, along with the slogan, “Time to…… meat god!!!” A popular store appears to be JESU.S.A.GUN, with the slogan “God loves guns” and offering “Liquor, Opioids, Guns, and Ammo.” In Darrow City, “Super Sexxx Stores” offer “New Porn Handcrafted,” and you can always go to “Ballmart.” Meanwhile, “KKKFC” offers “white meat only” and an image of Colonel Sanders with a Hitler mustache.
Elsewhere in the comic is the “Chick Inn,” featuring the “Biggest Breasts in Town” and a supermarket, complete with a cross, called “Holy Food,” plus many ads for Trump. Trump is everywhere in this comic—in the form of posters, graffiti, made-up businesses, and MAGA supporters—and as the villain of our age, why shouldn’t he be? Alongside Hitler, Jesus, guns, meat, opioids, cocks, balls, breasts, and vaginas, Trump is part of a media landscape, satirized by Darrow, that preys on the worst impulses of humanity. It’s interesting that Darrow’s cities are so MAGA-soaked, given that actual cities tend to be pretty liberal, but this is just one example of Darrow’s topsy-turviness. His cities don’t appear to represent actual cities, but less physical destinations, such as social media or the dark web.
Darrow is infinitely praised for his hyperdetails, but he deserves equal attention for his choreography. In the first Shaolin Cowboy arc, subsequently titled Start Trek, the Cowboy faces a mob of accusers who he has done wrong. As the accusers, led by recurring villain King Crab, lay out their Festivus-like grievances, the Cowboy subtly strikes—a motion indicated only by faint action lines around an accuser’s throat. One Cowboy kick later, it’s revealed that our hero sliced an inch-thick steak out of the dude’s throat, which is now hurtling behind the poor guy, to be fought over by the many dogs that populate Darrow’s comics. It’s a beheading for the ages, and an unforgettable sequence. Similarly gross and vivid scenes populate Cruel to be Kin, and the removal of words does nothing but heighten them.
In a climactic fight with a Nazi monster turned giant monster, the Cowboy is eaten, only to fight his way out of the literal belly of the beast, swinging by the monster’s bowels, which the Cowboy ties to a speeding car and uses as a tightrope to return to battle. As you do. Not long after that sequence, the Nazi’s head is eaten by a giant pig (Kong, from the previous Cowboy arc, Who’ll Stop the Reign?), who then farts out the head with violent force. Every disembowelment, beheading, and extreme act of violence—often involving the Cowboy’s trusty hat—is accentuated by the lack of words. As often happens with wordless comics, the reader simply sees what’s happening, rather than decoding the action. The more direct observing process pairs well with Darrow’s shenanigans.
The wordlessness also highlights Darrow’s mastery of body language. Early in the tale, the Cowboy rescues a newly hatched Komodo dragon from his child-hungry father, saving and orphaning the little fella. In a terrific use of perspective, you can feel the little lizard pleading for adoption by the Cowboy, who is enormous by contrast. The somber expression of the Cowboy sells the notion that being the lizard’s “new dad” isn’t the greatest idea, since the Cowboy lives a life of mutilation and death on a good day. Later, when the pair are reunited, the Cowboy recognizes the now full-grown lizard by his partly chewed tail—a recognition that is purely visual. In moments like these, Cruel to be Kin rises to the level of the best silent comics.
Darrow comics have plenty of humor, and some of that humor is heightened by removing the words. Seeing the baddies of this piece portrayed in mid-speech, wordless, gives an effect like silent movie villains. These speechless miscreants, all eventually falling victim to the Shaolin Cowboy, are rendered even more buffoon-like without words. Their impotent rage becomes extra-impotent, particularly in the case of the Nazi brothers who transform into literal monsters.
Speaking of Nazis, I reckon Darrow doesn’t get enough credit for the political nature of his comics. Sure, it’s easy to get lost in the featherless mutated chickens and other bizarro eye candy, but this comic is Darrow’s version of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon showing Captain America punching Hitler in the face. It just features the Cowboy instead of Cap, and MAGA—and, by extension, Trump—instead of Hitler. Such scenes require no words, and many had none in the first place, so they work well in this edition.
But going wordless isn’t a total win. The banter between the father and son Komodo dragons in the opening issue is missed, as is some trash talk between the Cowboy and his antagonists, though those antagonists are so hateful and stupid that their pearls of wisdom aren’t missed much. If puns are your favorite thing, stick with the original, which seems to have a pun per panel. Some gems are lost, such as part of the Komodo dragons’ narration, which lists some of the amusingly named people the Cowboy has wronged (such as Ed Trauma and OMG Johnson) who were seeking revenge. Fortunately for completists, the Silent But Deadly edition includes the script at the end, so the reader can enjoy Darrow not only wordless, but artless. Spoiler: Artless is worse.
I’m not sure if this is a plus or a minus, but the removal of lettering removes a little bit of redundancy, such as a Komodo dragon offering these clarifying thoughts: “So you sayin’ it [the Cowboy] water-skied the desert tethered to a pterodactyl and it used a dinosaur skull to chop the head off of that flying lizard of German descent, allowing you to escape unharmed?” With or without such description, the Cowboy’s crazily choreographed moves are consistently inventive and visceral, like the bastard offspring of Moebius and Jackie Chan, with a side of Evil Dead 2.
Of course, there’s no difference in many of the action sequences that lacked words in the first place. Part of why Darrow’s work was a natural for the wordless treatment is he eschews words about half the time anyway. In one scene, after fighting off a huge flock of birds, the Cowboy faces a single pocket-knife-wielding bird, and the Cowboy completely defeathers that bird, who is soon mutated into a naked giant bird-monster, chasing the Cowboy around. Words don’t do these feathered frolics justice, and they aren’t needed by Darrow in any edition.
I reckon wordless Cruel to be Kin sits comfortably next to other classic silent comics, such as Moebius’ Arzach, Philippe Druillet’s Vuzz, Rick Veitch’s Otzi and The Spotted Stone, Andy Barron’s Om, Nick Thorburn’s Penguins, and Gustavo Duarte’s Monsters! and Other Stories. There’s a certain strangeness to some of these akin to Jim Woodring’s Frank comics, though the art styles couldn’t be more different. The Cowboy fighting giant monsters doesn’t feel that different from Frank dealing with his odd world. Both are examples of the highest level of cartooning and imagination, both are silly and surreal, and in both cases, the lack of words keeps the strangeness super-strange.
I asked Darrow about the origins of this book, and he gave a characteristically modest reply: “I wanted people see all the work [colorist] Dave Stewart and his team of flatters put into my nonsense.”
As to whether the result is more of an art book or a silent comic, Darrow said, “Art [book] only in the sense I wanted to highlight Dave's artistry. I think it makes as much sense silent as most comics these days.”
Darrow said he enjoys silent comics, even if he has to make his own: “I buy lots of comics in languages I can't read and like trying to decipher them. Just a game I play with myself.”
Let’s hope Darrow continues playing games with himself, and letting us in on the results. Lettering-free Shaolin Cowboy works so well that it makes you, or rather me, wish that Darrow might return to wordless storytelling in the future. He’s at work on the next Shaolin Cowboy story at the moment, so we’ll see.
English (US) · 