By 
Steve Englehart's Coyote series, one of the first independent, creator-owned titles to make a big splash in the 80s, is getting collected by Image Comics. I remember this series quite well. It was first published in Eclipse magazine, and for the time, it was very daring material. Marshall Rogers did an excellent job with very detailed artwork, and Steve's script tred that line between New Age hero and action scenes that kept the story moving. I also remember Marshall drawing a naked woman that Coyote had a relationship with (who had been trying to kill him a few pages earlier)--like I said, for those times, very graphic.
After this initial origin tale was finished, Archie Goodwin had the good sense to bring Coyote to EPIC Comics as a launch title. I remember buying this and DREADSTAR and being very excited about both. Steve Leialoha, one of the most talented and unsung artists of this period, drew the first two issues of Coyote and did a superb job. I was disappointed when I heard that the artist was leaving and went to WonderCon. I asked him why and Leialoha replied in his usual terse manner, "That's showbiz." We got a treat with issue #3 as Butch Guice made a splash drawing this story, but he too left for greener pastures. Then Englehart was paired with a young artist named Chas Troug, which for me, killed the series. It was either Troug's style or his inexperience--it just didn't mesh with the stories that Englehart was writing. (Troug would blossom into a very capable artist later on, as evidenced by his ANIMAL MAN tenure with Grant Morrison.)
For now, I'll be glad to get this collection and also get the SCORPIO ROSE mini-series (also by Rogers) that it ties into. BTW, I found another interesting Englehart interview over here that you may want to read. Nuff said.
Leave a comment