Love Everlasting #11: Joan Fled Across the Frontier, and the Cowboy Followed

Love Everlasting #11 – written by Tom King with art from Elsa Charretier, colors by Matt Hollingsworth, and letters from Clayton Cowles – returns from a break to reveal more information about the ongoing mystery of the endless cycle of love and death that Joan finds herself. Rather than focusing purely on Joan this time, however, the issue morphs from her story into an origin for the cowboy in black. The issue opens in the old west as Joan meets the town sheriff due to her drunken father’s antics, quickly becoming an excuse for her to fall in love with the lawman who’s always accompanied by her father. The romance blooms between Joan and the Sheriff, with the brother always accompanying as per polite society. 

One night, as the town has a dance, Joan’s father is killed by a set of brothers after a drunken spew. The Sheriff challenges the killer to a duel at high noon in deference to the laws of society. Before the duel can occur, the Sheriff is shot through the head, leaving Joan alone and setting the brother on the path of revenge. He hunts down the clan of killers across the frontier, taking them out one by one until only one remains. He then returns to the town and Joan, confessing his love for her the night before his duel. After winning the duel but filled with injury, Joan and the man kindle a brand new romance. As they go to kiss, Joan fades away and sets the man on his path to become the cowboy seen throughout the series, swearing to find his love. 

This issue offers a new flavor of romance, linking it hand in hand with tragedy as Joan falls in love with one man, but grows into love with another. The love with the cowboy is built on a mutual feeling of longing to be free from obligation and comes after a shared realization of freedom. King infuses this new twist to the notion of love, presenting a form of love that feels more real than the overly dramatic, story-esque versions of romance. Joan starts with that pulp novel form of love with the sheriff and it appears that it’s going to be the essence of this issue. 

However, like the best issues of this series, the pivot comes quickly and presents a new and original take on the central conceit. Revealing the cowboy to be a former love of Joan also makes for an interesting element to the ongoing mystery. It grounds the character and provides a motivation that seems to be in greater conflict with his actions thus far. King uses that tension as a fulcrum to ensure the story’s engine doesn’t give out as the book moves into its next stretch. Trying to maintain a mystery for this long of a run can be difficult, but making these narrative pivots strengthens the longevity of the book. 

Charretier’s art does an excellent job of conveying the sparse, archetypal romance that comes from the Western setting. The simple, cartoony linework makes for an excellent pairing to the tone of this issue. Instead of delivering an epic, sweeping look at the West, the idealized pencils work to undercut that idea and instead linger in the harshness of the era. There are no sweeping shots of frontiers or majestic views of the countryside. Instead, drunken townsfolk puking and violent deaths are the scenes illustrated by a deft hand. 

If Charretier’s artwork does little to sell the romantic view of the West, Hollingsworth’s coloring works in contrast to the notion. The palettes do utilize splashes of ugly reds and yellow flashes for the gunshots and blood but these are often masked by the beauty of pink-purple backgrounds created by the sunsets. A bit of that romanticized West comes through the hues of the issue, working not in opposition to the art and writing, but functioning as a contrast to highlight what is lacking in these parts of the comic. Beyond those beautiful colors, there are plenty of harsh yellows that align with the look of a washed-out western trapped in the desert, which conflicts with the beautiful country right outside of town.