Ancient Joe

Ancient Joe is one of those stories that needs to be experienced firsthand; No amount of summation can convey the delightful quirkiness of ANY of Scott Morse's books, and Ancient Joe is no exception. Joe is a mystery man who fears his deceased wife's soul has been captured by his arch-enemy, El Diablo. Joe finds a pair of unlikely allies in his attempt to reach Hell in an old friend and his young Daughter, who is seemingly able to communicate with Hell and it' denizens. Morse is one of those rare creators who can give distinctive voices to all of his characters, and can flow effortlessly from gentle humor to chilling creepiness; The scenes between Joe and the young girl are especially effective in that respect. Morse takes a relatively static talking-head scene, and, through dialogue alone, makes it frightening. I also loved Joe's confrontation with El Diablo; Morse did a great job with El's dialogue; "Stay outta my Hell..." indeed! Any book by Morse is a cause to rejoice, and Ancient Joe cements his growing reputation as a master storyteller. I also recommend Morse's excellent gangster saga, Volcanic Revolver, and his super-heroic veggie, Magic Pickle.

Once upon a time, Ancient Joe, a mysterious, immortal character, tricked El Diablo out of his silver. Much time passes, and eventually Joe's wife dies. Worried that El Diablo has claimed his wife's soul in revenge, Joe seeks out a father and daughter who can help him find out if his wife is in Hell or not. But what is the young girl's own connection to Hell?Any new book by C. Scott Morse is cause for rejoicing, and Ancient Joe: El Bizarron is no exception. Ancient Joe is inspired by myth and folklore, and captures the clean, easy, straightforward feel of a tale told again and again around the campfire. Except for a couple of pages of introductory vignettes, the story is told exclusively through art and dialogue, keeping the writing lean, without veering off into the area of pretentious overwritten prose. His background in animation shows in the way he manages to draw the eye across the page, from one panel to the next, each illustration communicating its information without any need for explanatory captions or extra, unnecessary dialogue. His expressive, impressionistic character designs are full of emotion. Even masked Ancient Joe communicates his feelings through his non-human face.What makes Ancient Joe particularly special is the way Morse blends mythologies to create his own world. From the setting and designs, the story comes across as a South or Central American folktale. But when we hear the story of how Joe tricked El Diablo into giving away his silver, it's a story I recognized as an Appalachian Jack tale. I don't know if there's a similarly classic tale behind the father and daughter who can help Joe learn about Hell, or if they come fully from Morse's imagination, and that's a good thing. He has created a story that feels both new and classic at the same time, and presented it in a lush, gorgeous manner.