The Specialists

Since we started working on The Specialists, I’ve been reading as many webcomics as I could find. I was surprised to discover that there were a lot more of them out there than I’d ever imagined, and a whole community devoted to them. From time to time, I’ll highlight some of my favorites. Here’s the first:

The Guns of Shadow Valley is written by David Wachter and James Andrew Clark, illustrated by David Wachter, and lettered by Thomas Mauer. It’s a western, but with an eerie supernatural twist. I certainly don’t mean to pigeonhole it, but if I was forced to describe it as succinctly as possible, I’d call it an Old West take on superheroes. That may sound silly, but it works quite well. These aren’t superheroes in the classic caped crime-fighter sense, but the story does bring together a team of people who each have a different superhuman ability.

The art is gorgeous, and the landscape format makes it easy to read on the screen. The story is engaging, and has implied a coming conflict that promises to be pretty epic.

There are about 85 pages in the archive, so there’s enough to sink your teeth into, but not so much that it’s hard to catch up. Give yourself an hour to read through it and I bet you’ll be hooked.

Shawn