BooksOfTheMoon

Following the disappointing Strange Inheritance, this newer set of Wynonna Earp comics ties into the TV show. Wynonna now looks like Melanie Scrofano and both Agent Dolls and Doc Holliday appear for the first time.

To be honest, the stories in this volume are nothing to get too excited about. There are a number of supernatural events around the country that mean Wynonna has to run around shooting things, and getting shouted at by Dolls when the good guys die. These lead up to her being called back to Tombstone for another showdown at the OK Corral. This also results in her finally getting hold of Peacemaker, the magic gun she wields in the TV series.

The art is decent, but workmanlike, rather than special. It’s an enjoyable read for fans of the TV series, but it doesn’t tie particularly closely into it (no WayHaught, for a start). Hopefully that will change with later volumes.

I suspect like many people, I came to this via the TV show from the mid 2010s, and in that context, it’s a bit of a shock to the system. The 90s and early 00s were not great for women in comics, as the awful representation of Wynonna here show. In the first two thirds of the book, she’s pure cheesecake: scantily clad, with physics-defying breasts and big guns. The final third, which was written in 2011 fares better. The art now depicts Wynonna with a more believable body shape and sensible dress. The big guns are still around though. It also really leans into that 90s/00s ultra-violence thing as well.

In terms of storytelling, it’s also very different to the TV show. Rather than an unwilling member of the Black Badge Division, Wynonna is recruited and is an enthusiastic member of the Division, travelling the country, shooting paranormal things until they stop arguing. Whereas the TV show restricts the action to a single town and its surrounding areas, the comic goes all over the US, from the mid-west to New York to Alaska. I do wonder what made some TV execs look at this comic and decide that they wanted to buy the rights to it. Especially given how differently the TV show turned out from the source material.

It’s maybe interesting from an historical perspective, but it’s not that great, to be honest, and maybe only one for a completist. I’m just glad that I read it through Kindle Unlimited and didn’t pay any money for it.