Never one to shy away from pissing off the general comics readership and losing lots of friends, I am once again going to... well, review something.

West is a comic for old men, or at least for those that love to wistfully mourn the era of the western. The sweeping panoramic shots of Sergio Leone, the chiselled jaw of Clint Eastward (pre-Million Dollar Baby, when he was cool), the sparse, haunting musical themes of Ennio Moricone, and the general lack of ANYTHING happening for hours on end, before a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shoot-out climax.

And who better to write a comic for old men than fusty old codger writer Andy Cheverton and the withered and grumbling artist Tim Keable? Apparently they aren't THAT old, but to young pretenders like me; anyone over 35 is just a luke-warm corpse to step over on the way to comics stardom...

It's amazing how these two lovers appear to have monopolised the Western Genre in comics, and what's more amazing is how they haven't used that as an excuse to provide cheap-looking, sloppy comics, and have, in fact produced some enjoyable pieces of Pulp.

In true western tradition Andy's stories are vague and sometimes tough to follow, but give a feeling of greater depth beyond what is seen on screen. Jerusalem West acts as a cypher to bring to the fore the conflicts of the particular issue's characters. My one critscism would be the occasional foray into the realms of fantasy, which i personally feel unnecessary considering the strengths of both Andy's characterisations and Tim's frankly nerdy attention to period detail.

Tim's art has improved substantially since the series began as he settles into a fitting style, peaking at issue three; 'High Moon', while being slightly messier in the latest issue. His work is always atmospheric (though occasionally flat on some of the wider shots). And always complements the story rather than hindering it.

Texas Drama is not quite the best in the series (an honour reserved for High Moon), having a tad too much action for a Leone homage, and so suffers slghtly in the depth of story, but is still far superior to most small-press comics out there. The production values are high, with frequent special edition covers and stylish multipacks, and the first four issues of West make a very entertaining afternoon's read.

West is usually priced between one and two pounds and available online at www.angrycandy.co.uk