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Tyler Cross #1
Tyler Cross, Vol. 1 Black Rock
Tyler Cross vient de braquer 17 kilos d'héroïne pure appartenant à la Mafia. Il a 20 dollars en poche, un fusil à pompe, un Colt à la ceinture, et il est à pied, seul, au fin fond du Texas. Direction Black Rock, un bled paumé sous la coupe d'un magnat du pétrole et de ses fils. Le moins qu'on puisse dire, c'est que les péquenauds de Black Rock se souviendront longtemps du passage du gangster dans leur ville !
92 pages, Hardcover
First published August 23, 2013
4 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
Fabien Nury
116 books112 followersBorn in 1976, Fabien Nury began his career by co-writing with Xavier Dorison the script of W.E.S.T (Dargaud), a hit series illustrated by Christian Rossi (six volumes between 2003 and 2011). Nury independently wrote Je suis Légion (2004-2007, Humanoids Associés), a trilogy illustrated by the American John Cassaday. Translated into eight languages, the series continues with several other illustrators under the title Les chroniques de Légion (Glénat). In 2007 he also started working on Le maître de Benson Gate (Dargaud) with Renaud Garreta. From 2007 to 2012, Nury wrote the script for the six volumes of Il était une fois en France (Glénat). The historical series, illustrated by Sylvain Vallée, received wide critical and public acclaim (850,000 copies sold). Amongst other achievements, in 2011 he received an award for best international series at the Angoulême Comics Festival. Since then Fabien Nury has been gaining success in various genres: Mort de Staline (The Death of Stalin, Dargaud/Europe Comics, forthcoming), in historical narrative; Steve Rowland, volume 5 of the XIII Mystery series (Dargaud, art by Richard Guérineau) in thriller; Corey Silas ( Glénat, art by Pierre Alary) in detective series; and Atar Gull (Dargaud, art by Brüno) in literary adaptation, based on the novel by Eugène Sue. In 2013, he created Tyler Cross with Brüno, (Tyler Cross, Dargaud/Europe Comics, 2015) a noir graphic novel. The album was praised by both critics and readers (over 50,000 copies sold) with volume two in August 2015. In 2014, Fabien Nury published the fourth and final volume of L'or et le sang (Glénat), the script by Maurin Defrance and art by Merwan and Fabien Bedouel. With Tierry Robin he created the two-part series Mort au Tsar (Death to the Tsar, Dargaud/Europe Comics, 2015). In 2014, with Eric Henninot he also published Fils du soleil (Dargaud), an adventure album adapted from two novels by Jack London. As for audiovisual, Fabien Nury co-wrote with Dorison the scripts to a feature film Les brigades du Tigre (directed by Jérôme Cornuau, 2006) and a TV movie Pour toi, j'ai tué (directed by Laurent Heynemann, 2012).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
October 16, 2016
Tyler Cross is hired to rip-off 20 kilos of smack from rival gangsters. He becomes the sole survivor of the botched and bloody theft and makes it away with most of the heroin to Black Rock, a small mining town on the Texas/Mexico border. While he quietly tries to make contact with his employer, the corrupt town officials find out who he is and what he’s got – will he manage to survive with the drugs once again?
I’ve never heard of Tyler Cross before but I’m glad I gave it a shot as this first book isn’t bad. Writer Fabien Nury and artist Bruno craft a fast-moving, fairly interesting, and competent story in the hard-boiled crime style.
Tyler though is about as generic a lead as you can get. He’s every Man-With-No-Name, every resourceful and dangerous tough guy from every crime story - think Richard Stark’s Parker essentially. The rest of the characters are similarly archetypical with a storyline straight from the classic spaghetti westerns of the ‘60s – a town in thrall to bullies, the lone gunman who saves them, etc.
What always bothers me about hard-boiled crime fiction is the total absence of emotion in the stories. My reaction to just about everything that happened was as matter-of-fact and stoic as Tyler’s hard, monotone attitude (the exception is an unpleasant scene where the villain pisses on a woman after beating her up which felt unnecessarily graphic).
Bruno’s art feels a little too cartoonish for the dark tone. You have a violent and grim story filled with reprehensible scumbags yet the visuals look on par with Johnny Bravo – it’s not a comfortable fit.
If you enjoyed Darwyn Cooke’s Parker adaptations for IDW and are sad we won’t be getting anymore (RIP Darwyn), Tyler Cross will be right up your street. It’s not the kind of comic that’s for everyone though – crime fiction fans will enjoy this the most.
I’ve never heard of Tyler Cross before but I’m glad I gave it a shot as this first book isn’t bad. Writer Fabien Nury and artist Bruno craft a fast-moving, fairly interesting, and competent story in the hard-boiled crime style.
Tyler though is about as generic a lead as you can get. He’s every Man-With-No-Name, every resourceful and dangerous tough guy from every crime story - think Richard Stark’s Parker essentially. The rest of the characters are similarly archetypical with a storyline straight from the classic spaghetti westerns of the ‘60s – a town in thrall to bullies, the lone gunman who saves them, etc.
What always bothers me about hard-boiled crime fiction is the total absence of emotion in the stories. My reaction to just about everything that happened was as matter-of-fact and stoic as Tyler’s hard, monotone attitude (the exception is an unpleasant scene where the villain pisses on a woman after beating her up which felt unnecessarily graphic).
Bruno’s art feels a little too cartoonish for the dark tone. You have a violent and grim story filled with reprehensible scumbags yet the visuals look on par with Johnny Bravo – it’s not a comfortable fit.
If you enjoyed Darwyn Cooke’s Parker adaptations for IDW and are sad we won’t be getting anymore (RIP Darwyn), Tyler Cross will be right up your street. It’s not the kind of comic that’s for everyone though – crime fiction fans will enjoy this the most.
March 10, 2019
A French homage to Richard Stark's Parker novels. All the cliches are here: a job gone awry, rival gangs, a beautiful woman in a bad situation, and a corrupt small town unready for the big bad guy from the city.
The art is cartoonishly ugly, the narration is laughably ridiculous, and the story is just too derivative and unrelentingly misogynistic.
The art is cartoonishly ugly, the narration is laughably ridiculous, and the story is just too derivative and unrelentingly misogynistic.
April 4, 2019
Πριν από λίγο τελείωσα το "Tyler Cross: Black Rock" και δηλώνω κατενθουσιασμένος. Όντας λάτρης των νουάρ και παλπ μυθιστορημάτων με σκληροτράχηλους άντρες γεμάτους κυνισμό, με βρώμικες δουλειές του υποκόσμου και κάθε είδους εγκλήματα και προδοσίες, δεν μπορούσα παρά να διαβάσω το συγκεκριμένο κόμικ. Από τα τέλη Οκτωβρίου το είχα να πιάνει σκόνη, αλλά αποφάσισα ότι ήταν καιρός να το διαβάσω. Λοιπόν, το σενάριο είναι αρκετά σφιχτοδεμένο και καλογραμμένο, γεμάτο βία και ένταση, καταφέρνει να σε κρατάει στην τσίτα από την αρχή μέχρι το εκρηκτικό και αιματοβαμμένο φινάλε. Σίγουρα υπάρχουν κάποιες υπερβολές, αλλά όλα δίνονται με πειστικότητα και έντονο ρεαλισμό: Δεν υπάρχουν από μηχανής θεοί ή ασάφειες ως προς τα γεγονότα και τα κίνητρα των χαρακτήρων. Από κει και πέρα, το σχέδιο απογειώνει κατά τη γνώμη μου ακόμα περισσότερο την ιστορία, είναι ιδιαίτερο και χαρακτηριστικό, έχει τη δική του ταυτότητα, από τα τοπία και τα σκηνικά μέχρι τους χαρακτήρες και τα πρόσωπά τους, το σχέδιο ξεχωρίζει από χιλιόμετρα. Έχει στιλ, πώς να το κάνουμε. Και τα χρώματα πραγματικά πολύ όμορφα και απόλυτα ταιριαστά με το σχέδιο, έδωσαν από μόνα τους μια ιδιαίτερη ατμόσφαιρα στην όλη ιστορία. Περιττό να πω ότι ήδη παρήγγειλα το επόμενο της σειράς, με τον τίτλο "Angola". Πόνεσε πολύ η τσέπη μου, αλλά χαλάλι...
February 29, 2020
A pale imitation of Darwyn Cooke's Parker adaptations, but we'll never be getting more of those, so this isn't that bad of a substitute. It's got all the Parker tropes. Robbery gone wrong, double dealing and backstabbing, cold hearted bastards, gun molls. All of the men are brutal and unforgiving in this book. There's lots of violence and abuse towards women like a lot of old crime fiction, so be forewarned. The art is a stark contrast to the dark story. It's very cartoony with very exaggerated features, kind of like Dick Tracy.
January 25, 2020
If you aren't fazed by every content warning in existence, you might find something to like in Tyler Cross: Black Rock. There's a solidly told, black-as-hell crime thriller hiding beneath all the violence against women. Tyler Cross, the most anti of anti-heroes, hikes across Texas with a bag of ill-gotten heroin. In Black Rock, he finds a town run by the powerful and vicious Pragg family. Cross is quickly swept up in the Pragg's machinations as they attempt to marry off the favored son to a local girl.
If you're looking for a noir twist where said local girl becomes a strong femme fatale, look elsewhere. She's pretty much in Tyler Cross just to be abused and sexed up. I really enjoyed the dark crime fable portions of Tyler Cross and the spare, stellar artwork by Bruno - but it was really hard to stomach the brutal story arc for the main female character. Definitely a buyer beware situation.
If you're looking for a noir twist where said local girl becomes a strong femme fatale, look elsewhere. She's pretty much in Tyler Cross just to be abused and sexed up. I really enjoyed the dark crime fable portions of Tyler Cross and the spare, stellar artwork by Bruno - but it was really hard to stomach the brutal story arc for the main female character. Definitely a buyer beware situation.
July 22, 2022
Interesante mezcla de novela negra y western. Entretenido, sobre todo el segundo número, pero no deja poso.
October 2, 2023
1950, small town on the Texas/Mexico border, and one man for whom job went really south. Pretty decent crime story with few nice twists and villains so rotten that compared to them, even mafia enforcer looks like choir boy. Simplistic cartoonish art goes really well with overall tone. I really liked this one and will look for more from series.
May 12, 2019
The thing about a graphic novel is this: it is ideally a meshing of the verbal and the visual. When one of those elements is lacking, dissatisfaction results. Tyler Cross is a good example. The story is not the worst thing I've read by any means, but the art was truly abominable, which really detracted from my enjoyment. Two stars.
October 5, 2021
A fast-paced, mean, and gory crime story. The heavily stylized artwork might be polarizing, but I liked the almost expressionistic touch.
August 3, 2020
Tyler Cross n’a aucun sentiment. Il a le sang froid comme un serpent. Enfin peut-être en a-t-il, mais il les cache bien en tout cas. On ne peut pas mieux le définir qu’en citant ce qui est inscrit sur la couverture du livre :
> Un jour, Tyler Cross paiera pour ses crimes. En attendant, il en commet d’autres.
Je n’avais jamais lu un tel hybride entre polar et western. Ici le scénario va faire s’entrechoquer ces deux mondes et leurs codes respectifs. Ce n’est certainement pas un hasard si l’histoire se déroule dans ces années 50 qui sonnent la fin de l’époque western et le début de l’âge d’or du polar. On assiste à un passage de témoin explosif en forme d’hommage entre ces deux genres majeurs. Le gangster venu de la grande citée va se retrouver au milieu de nulle part, dans ce qui ressemble à s’y méprendre à la petite ville typique du Far West. Sa rue principal avec sa banque, son saloon et son shérif.
C’est un énorme terrain de jeu concocté par Fabien Nury qui laisse assez de place à Brüno pour exprimer tout son art. Il faut dire qu’il connaît les sujets puisqu’il s’est essayé, avec succès, à ces deux genres avec Inner City Blues pour le polar et Junk pour le western.
Brüno est l’un de mes dessinateurs préférés – et je me dois de parler de son dessin même si je ne dispose pas du bon vocabulaire. Il a réussi à imposer son style qui est reconnaissable immédiatement. Il est à la fois épuré et très expressif et je ne connais pas d’équivalent. Il réserve une place importante à la couleur qui est appliquée de façon très sobre (des aplats) même si la palette est variée et toujours très travaillée et bien choisie.
Si vous aimez les polars et/ou les westerns – ou même si vous n’aimez aucun des deux – lisez ce livre.
Également publié sur mon blog.
> Un jour, Tyler Cross paiera pour ses crimes. En attendant, il en commet d’autres.
Je n’avais jamais lu un tel hybride entre polar et western. Ici le scénario va faire s’entrechoquer ces deux mondes et leurs codes respectifs. Ce n’est certainement pas un hasard si l’histoire se déroule dans ces années 50 qui sonnent la fin de l’époque western et le début de l’âge d’or du polar. On assiste à un passage de témoin explosif en forme d’hommage entre ces deux genres majeurs. Le gangster venu de la grande citée va se retrouver au milieu de nulle part, dans ce qui ressemble à s’y méprendre à la petite ville typique du Far West. Sa rue principal avec sa banque, son saloon et son shérif.
C’est un énorme terrain de jeu concocté par Fabien Nury qui laisse assez de place à Brüno pour exprimer tout son art. Il faut dire qu’il connaît les sujets puisqu’il s’est essayé, avec succès, à ces deux genres avec Inner City Blues pour le polar et Junk pour le western.
Brüno est l’un de mes dessinateurs préférés – et je me dois de parler de son dessin même si je ne dispose pas du bon vocabulaire. Il a réussi à imposer son style qui est reconnaissable immédiatement. Il est à la fois épuré et très expressif et je ne connais pas d’équivalent. Il réserve une place importante à la couleur qui est appliquée de façon très sobre (des aplats) même si la palette est variée et toujours très travaillée et bien choisie.
Si vous aimez les polars et/ou les westerns – ou même si vous n’aimez aucun des deux – lisez ce livre.
Également publié sur mon blog.
July 31, 2014
Tyler Cross is a cold-blooded gangster, accumulating misfortunes, just wandering through the desert with a bag full of drugs. His path takes you to the Texas town of Black Rock where the Pragg family reigns. He gets stuck and unwillingly involved in the plot. The confrontation between the lone gunman and the clan is about to explode.
Tyler Cross is an ode to pulp culture, western movies or hard boiled novels. The tribute to the cinema is omnipresent: Tarantino, Sergio Leone, Peckinpah or the Coen brothers come to mind. The authors have managed to use the classic and traditional codes of genre paintings modernizing them to create an album of fast-paced, shot and suspense. Fully recommended read.
Tyler Cross is an ode to pulp culture, western movies or hard boiled novels. The tribute to the cinema is omnipresent: Tarantino, Sergio Leone, Peckinpah or the Coen brothers come to mind. The authors have managed to use the classic and traditional codes of genre paintings modernizing them to create an album of fast-paced, shot and suspense. Fully recommended read.
August 17, 2014
Vond ik nog beter dan 'Atar Gull', de vorige samenwerking tussen Nury en Brüno : evenwichtiger, consistente klasse van begin tot eind. Zeer sfeervol en de spanning druipt van de pagina's. Behoort tot DE strip-toppers van 2014.
December 22, 2018
Very fun to read a throwback to old crime/gangster type stories. Fun animation that keeps the story moving.
The only thing I disliked about this was the treatment of women. I understand that "back then women weren't respected" but you can show disrespect in a story without going too far.
The only thing I disliked about this was the treatment of women. I understand that "back then women weren't respected" but you can show disrespect in a story without going too far.
June 29, 2020
More please !
May 29, 2024
"Tyler Cross: Black Rock” is a graphic novel set in 1950 and focusing on Tyler Cross, a criminal taster with stealing heroin from the mafia while hiding out in the Texas town of Black Rock.
The graphic novel consists of three chapters and an epilogue.
In chapter one “Heist,” the graphic novel begins with main character robber Tyler Cross crossing the Rio Bravo under the cover of darkness to attend a meeting. The next panel transports the reader to six days prior and shows Tyler in a car driven by woman to meet with older drug dealer Giuseppe Di Pietro. After a bit of small talk, Di Pietro asks Tyler to steal 20 kilos (or 44 pounds) of heroin although Tyler is a professional robber, not a drug dealer. In addition to stealing the heroin, Di Pietro asks Tyler to and kill his godson Tony due to a lack of respect for the older man and withholding information from him. Through working with his associates C.J. and Ike, Tyler is successful in getting Di Pietro’s godson to talk but during the drug handoff, the deal goes south leaving Tyler on the run with 17 kilos of heroin (37 pounds) as well as Ike and C.J. dead.
After Tyler ditches his car, her walks to the nearest town which is Black Rock, Texas. Upon arriving at the town, he meets Joe Bidwell, gas station owner and his daughter Stella who is getting married to the town’s mayor.
When Tyler contacts his handler regarding the drugs, he’s shocked to learn the Di Pietro has recently died which leaves him in a dire situation. As Tyler waits to receive money from his handler, he sees injustice occurring at Black Rock including having illegal Mexicans working in the nearby mines and the Pragg family ruling the small town by intimidation. Despite planning to leave Black Rock as soon as possible, Tyler finds himself stuck in the town over the weekend and the chapter ends with him ambushed by the sheriff who is member of the Pragg family.
In chapter two, “Wedding,” background is given on the Pragg family consisting of father Spencer Pragg and his sons William, Black Rock’s mayor, Lionel, Black Rock’s bank owner, and Randy, the sheriff. Once Randy has gotten intel on Tyler, he makes plans to contact the Texas Rangers and the FBI to see if Tyler is a wanted man and receive a cash reward. While Tyler is being detained in jail, Stella is having second thoughts about marrying William which leads to her being physically assaulted by Spencer. The next day, Stella marries William under duress while Tyler is able to escape from jail while the wedding in taking place. Background is also revealed as to what caused the longstanding hatred of the Pragg family by Joe and the chapter ends with Tyler and Joe working together to liberate Stella from her marriage.
In chapter three, “Honeymoon,” Joe sacrifices himself for Stella and Tyler works to help her escape from Black Rock. After they leave Black Rock, Tyler and Stella have a fight over the heroin and soon they are both on the run from the Praggs and the father of Di Pietro’s godson and the chapter ends with a shootout between Tyler and others on a train.
The graphic novel ends with an epilogue in which Tyler parts company with Stella before crosses into Mexico via the Rio Bravo.
As I finished the graphic novel, I found it was an entertaining read but is definitely a graphic novel for an adult audience considering it contains brief nudity, profanity, and graphic violence.
The graphic novel consists of three chapters and an epilogue.
In chapter one “Heist,” the graphic novel begins with main character robber Tyler Cross crossing the Rio Bravo under the cover of darkness to attend a meeting. The next panel transports the reader to six days prior and shows Tyler in a car driven by woman to meet with older drug dealer Giuseppe Di Pietro. After a bit of small talk, Di Pietro asks Tyler to steal 20 kilos (or 44 pounds) of heroin although Tyler is a professional robber, not a drug dealer. In addition to stealing the heroin, Di Pietro asks Tyler to and kill his godson Tony due to a lack of respect for the older man and withholding information from him. Through working with his associates C.J. and Ike, Tyler is successful in getting Di Pietro’s godson to talk but during the drug handoff, the deal goes south leaving Tyler on the run with 17 kilos of heroin (37 pounds) as well as Ike and C.J. dead.
After Tyler ditches his car, her walks to the nearest town which is Black Rock, Texas. Upon arriving at the town, he meets Joe Bidwell, gas station owner and his daughter Stella who is getting married to the town’s mayor.
When Tyler contacts his handler regarding the drugs, he’s shocked to learn the Di Pietro has recently died which leaves him in a dire situation. As Tyler waits to receive money from his handler, he sees injustice occurring at Black Rock including having illegal Mexicans working in the nearby mines and the Pragg family ruling the small town by intimidation. Despite planning to leave Black Rock as soon as possible, Tyler finds himself stuck in the town over the weekend and the chapter ends with him ambushed by the sheriff who is member of the Pragg family.
In chapter two, “Wedding,” background is given on the Pragg family consisting of father Spencer Pragg and his sons William, Black Rock’s mayor, Lionel, Black Rock’s bank owner, and Randy, the sheriff. Once Randy has gotten intel on Tyler, he makes plans to contact the Texas Rangers and the FBI to see if Tyler is a wanted man and receive a cash reward. While Tyler is being detained in jail, Stella is having second thoughts about marrying William which leads to her being physically assaulted by Spencer. The next day, Stella marries William under duress while Tyler is able to escape from jail while the wedding in taking place. Background is also revealed as to what caused the longstanding hatred of the Pragg family by Joe and the chapter ends with Tyler and Joe working together to liberate Stella from her marriage.
In chapter three, “Honeymoon,” Joe sacrifices himself for Stella and Tyler works to help her escape from Black Rock. After they leave Black Rock, Tyler and Stella have a fight over the heroin and soon they are both on the run from the Praggs and the father of Di Pietro’s godson and the chapter ends with a shootout between Tyler and others on a train.
The graphic novel ends with an epilogue in which Tyler parts company with Stella before crosses into Mexico via the Rio Bravo.
As I finished the graphic novel, I found it was an entertaining read but is definitely a graphic novel for an adult audience considering it contains brief nudity, profanity, and graphic violence.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2020
Set in Texas, in maybe the late 1940s (to judge by the cars and suits), this takes American crime pulp and runs it through the blender of French imagination. The titular Tyler Cross is some kind of hoodlum, and when we meet him at the start of the story, he's working with his curvy partner to ambush a shipment of Mexican heroin coming over the border. Various mishaps and ten bodies later, he's hiking through the desert with 17 pounds of heroin and $6 in his pocket.
Unfortunately for him, the first town he comes to is a fiefdom run by the ruthless Pratt family. The patriarch is a cruel brute who owns just about every business in town, and his three sons are the mayor, sheriff, and banker. While trying to get out of town and set up a deal with his underworld contacts, Cross arouses the interest of the Pratt family, and soon enough he finds himself in jail. Eventually he hooks up with the busty bombshell who is bullied into marrying the mayor. Mayhem ensues in town, and then again as Cross's mobster connections come into the mix. Lots of people are killed.
All in all, the story never felt like more than the sum of its parts -- hints of A Touch of Evil, hints of that Oliver Stone neo-noir U-Turn, plus various other odds and ends. Things get rather problematic when it comes to the main female character -- in one scene, she is beaten and then urinated on. Later, she is basically forced to join up with Cross, doesn't like him at all, but suddenly comes on to him and takes him to bed, which makes zero sense. Cross himself is a total cipher -- he's given no backstory and no personality other than greed and readiness for violence. All in all, probably only of interest to fans of graphic storytelling who are interested in the pulpiest of pulp fiction.
Unfortunately for him, the first town he comes to is a fiefdom run by the ruthless Pratt family. The patriarch is a cruel brute who owns just about every business in town, and his three sons are the mayor, sheriff, and banker. While trying to get out of town and set up a deal with his underworld contacts, Cross arouses the interest of the Pratt family, and soon enough he finds himself in jail. Eventually he hooks up with the busty bombshell who is bullied into marrying the mayor. Mayhem ensues in town, and then again as Cross's mobster connections come into the mix. Lots of people are killed.
All in all, the story never felt like more than the sum of its parts -- hints of A Touch of Evil, hints of that Oliver Stone neo-noir U-Turn, plus various other odds and ends. Things get rather problematic when it comes to the main female character -- in one scene, she is beaten and then urinated on. Later, she is basically forced to join up with Cross, doesn't like him at all, but suddenly comes on to him and takes him to bed, which makes zero sense. Cross himself is a total cipher -- he's given no backstory and no personality other than greed and readiness for violence. All in all, probably only of interest to fans of graphic storytelling who are interested in the pulpiest of pulp fiction.
November 20, 2018
Tyler Cross is a thief without a conscience in 1950's Texas. He successfully steals 17 kilos of heroin from a group of Mexican federales, but the deal goes bad and his partner is killed. Tyler hikes to a small border town nearby, looking to buy a car and get back home, but then he arouses the suspicion of small town sheriff Randy Pragg.
Soon, Tyler finds himself in an all-out war with the Pragg family, which owns the whole town -- the oil rigs, the mines, the bank, even the local brothel. Aided by a disgruntled WW1 vet and his beautiful blonde daughter, who was forced into a bad marriage to one of the Pragg boys, Tyler will make sure he is the last one standing when the smoke clears.
Fabien Nury is a popular comic writer in France, and his Tyler Cross series, now up to 3 volumes, has won multiple awards in that country. These stories are all set in America with a heavy emphasis on action, minimal dialogue, and a slightly exaggerated narrator voice that explains and comments on the plot as we go along.
The artwork is a striking retro Dick Tracy style that imbues a certain sense of nostalgia and fun.
While Tyler himself is barely a character-- no friends, no past, no motivation beyond survival and profit-- I do have to give the writer props for giving the minor characters interesting backstories and a sense of grand theater. From a pure plot standpoint, this is fun if not particularly imaginative; this story sort of scratches that noir itch you may get from time to time, but nothing more than that.
This is the 9th graphic novel from Hard Case Crime. Their full list is below:
1. The Assignment
2. Walter Hill's Triggerman
3. Peepland
4. Millennium (4 volumes)
5. Normandy Gold
6. Babylon Berlin
7. Quarry's War
8. Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini
9. Tyler Cross (2 volumes)
10. Mike Hammer: The Night I Died
11. The Prague Coup (forthcoming Dec 2018)
12. Breakneck (forthcoming April 2019)
Soon, Tyler finds himself in an all-out war with the Pragg family, which owns the whole town -- the oil rigs, the mines, the bank, even the local brothel. Aided by a disgruntled WW1 vet and his beautiful blonde daughter, who was forced into a bad marriage to one of the Pragg boys, Tyler will make sure he is the last one standing when the smoke clears.
Fabien Nury is a popular comic writer in France, and his Tyler Cross series, now up to 3 volumes, has won multiple awards in that country. These stories are all set in America with a heavy emphasis on action, minimal dialogue, and a slightly exaggerated narrator voice that explains and comments on the plot as we go along.
The artwork is a striking retro Dick Tracy style that imbues a certain sense of nostalgia and fun.
While Tyler himself is barely a character-- no friends, no past, no motivation beyond survival and profit-- I do have to give the writer props for giving the minor characters interesting backstories and a sense of grand theater. From a pure plot standpoint, this is fun if not particularly imaginative; this story sort of scratches that noir itch you may get from time to time, but nothing more than that.
This is the 9th graphic novel from Hard Case Crime. Their full list is below:
1. The Assignment
2. Walter Hill's Triggerman
3. Peepland
4. Millennium (4 volumes)
5. Normandy Gold
6. Babylon Berlin
7. Quarry's War
8. Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini
9. Tyler Cross (2 volumes)
10. Mike Hammer: The Night I Died
11. The Prague Coup (forthcoming Dec 2018)
12. Breakneck (forthcoming April 2019)
June 14, 2022
It turns out that I read the two volumes of this series out of order. This does not really matter as they are separate stories, however the ending of Black Rock does not appear to correspond with the Angola story. Nitpicking aside, both volumes do stand on their own quite well. Fabien Nury and Bruno combine to create a gritty 1950s world, full of violence and nasty characters, that draw you in for a compelling journey.
You have seen or read this story before. Most likely in the garb of a Western. The hard ex-soldier, usually a Colonel, owns the land and the populace, has sons who are bullies, one of whom is terrorizing the local school marm, until a stranger rides into town and sets things to rights. However, the author puts a spin on things by making the stranger a nasty piece of work himself and introduces outside elements, in the nature of the mob, while having lots of killing going on. Small wonder it is set in the West and is named, Black Rock!
This is a tight script with the artwork often enough to tell the story and it is compelling. I read this one in a single sitting as the pages just turned themselves. Until Angola I had never heard of Mr. Nury, but his story telling has impressed me so much I just ordered two more of his books. There is nothing like discovering someone new and when you are treated to writing and artwork like this, it can become a real treat indeed!
You have seen or read this story before. Most likely in the garb of a Western. The hard ex-soldier, usually a Colonel, owns the land and the populace, has sons who are bullies, one of whom is terrorizing the local school marm, until a stranger rides into town and sets things to rights. However, the author puts a spin on things by making the stranger a nasty piece of work himself and introduces outside elements, in the nature of the mob, while having lots of killing going on. Small wonder it is set in the West and is named, Black Rock!
This is a tight script with the artwork often enough to tell the story and it is compelling. I read this one in a single sitting as the pages just turned themselves. Until Angola I had never heard of Mr. Nury, but his story telling has impressed me so much I just ordered two more of his books. There is nothing like discovering someone new and when you are treated to writing and artwork like this, it can become a real treat indeed!
April 15, 2019
Co robi prawdziwy złoczyńca, kiedy mu nie pójdzie zlecona kradzież narkotyków i zostaje bez auta na środku pustyni? Idzie przed siebie. Taki jest też Tyler. Może nie zawsze wszystko załatwi, może wysługuje się innymi, ale dąży do tego, by mimo wszystko zadanie wykonane było do końca. Z torbą na ramieniu trafia na jakieś odludzie, do miasteczka Black Rock znajdującego się blisko meksykańskiej granicy; miasteczka, w którym rządzi klan Praggów. Chce tylko wypłacić pieniądze, wynająć samochód i zniknąć, ale jakoś nie jest mu to do końca dane. Jak w westernie obcy w mieście zaraz generują zainteresowanie lokalnego stróża prawa. Obcy to problemy. Obcy stroniący od rozmów i z dziwnym pakunkiem to pewne problemy. Obcy, którzy wtrącają się w nie swoje sprawy to już przesada i trzeba ukrócić ich samowolkę. Tyler zostaje zatrzymany w areszcie. Czy są jednak kraty, które potrafią go zatrzymać?
Więcej na https://www.monime.pl/tyler-cross-bla...
Więcej na https://www.monime.pl/tyler-cross-bla...
July 15, 2018
La scrittura di Fabien Nury è riuscitissima sotto tutti i punti di vista.
Un noir dai ritmi serrati e dalle atmosfere coinvolgenti, a metà tra i western di Sergio Leone, l'hard boiled di Ellroy e le gangster stories più classiche; il tutto condito da una vena di humor nero e di gusto per il grottesco perfettamente amalgamati con la narrazione.
Brüno ai disegni è semplicemente perfetto: coniugando uno stile realistico e allo stesso tempo un po' caricaturale, la linea chiara franco-belga all'immediateza della scuola argentina di un José Muñoz o un Eduardo Risso.
La colorazione di Laurence Croix è mirabile: tinte piatte, e alternanza di tavolozze calde e fredde, essenziali e di pochi colori, a ricreare le atmosfere notturne o le luci abbacinanti dei paesaggi desertici.
Un noir dai ritmi serrati e dalle atmosfere coinvolgenti, a metà tra i western di Sergio Leone, l'hard boiled di Ellroy e le gangster stories più classiche; il tutto condito da una vena di humor nero e di gusto per il grottesco perfettamente amalgamati con la narrazione.
Brüno ai disegni è semplicemente perfetto: coniugando uno stile realistico e allo stesso tempo un po' caricaturale, la linea chiara franco-belga all'immediateza della scuola argentina di un José Muñoz o un Eduardo Risso.
La colorazione di Laurence Croix è mirabile: tinte piatte, e alternanza di tavolozze calde e fredde, essenziali e di pochi colori, a ricreare le atmosfere notturne o le luci abbacinanti dei paesaggi desertici.
December 4, 2019
As a fan of Fabien Nury's work with The Death of Stalin I was curious to see what he would do with this series and with Bruno's and Laurence Croix colors put together a down and dirty old school noir that is full of bad and even worse people.
Characters who live on the edge and enjoy it that way and villains forged with pure id and heartless desires. It is the closest thing to the Darywn Cooke Parker books I have read in recent memory. Love the structure as the use of flashbacks gives nearly every character a story
This is not changing the game for crime stories just reliving the playbook in a well executed manner that will appeal to any fan of the genre.
Characters who live on the edge and enjoy it that way and villains forged with pure id and heartless desires. It is the closest thing to the Darywn Cooke Parker books I have read in recent memory. Love the structure as the use of flashbacks gives nearly every character a story
This is not changing the game for crime stories just reliving the playbook in a well executed manner that will appeal to any fan of the genre.
January 21, 2023
Three or four stars, who cares? It's not really all that brilliant, but it's very well done for what it is. And what it is is what French comic book writers really seem to like: serving up a hodgepodge of hard-boiled American film noir clichés. As usual, the women get pretty short shrift in this story. But it's not intended as an exercise in realism, it's just a lot of over the top hard-boiled action. And that's handled pretty well, and the art work is very attractive. A nice little revenge thriller to while away an hour with.
December 2, 2024
Dark crime noir focused on Cross, who's a bit of a Parker stand-in. When he rips off some dope from the mob in a heist gone bad, he's got to lay low in the town of Black Rock, controlled by a corrupt family, the Praggs. Lots of double-dealing and double-crosses. The art is kind of at odds with the story--very cartoony (especially the idiot sheriff and his exaggerated cowboy hat). It's not terrible.
September 29, 2019
Trochę głupio to pisać, bo wiem jaka jest kolejność rzeczy i miejsce w szeregu, ale "Tylera Crossa" czytało mi się lepiej niż "Parkera" w adaptacji Darwyna Cooke'a. To jest kapitalnie narysowany i świetnie pokolorowany noir, w którym przemyślana w każdym aspekcie fabuła nie da ci chwili wytchnienia. Koniecznie.
July 15, 2020
This is an ode to the old noir stories of the 1950s. Lots of misogyny and the familiar noir/crime novel tropes. Tyler Cross - the anti-hero you'll love to hate - is our protagonist and boy you know it going from bad to worse in the first few pages. Not for everyone, I found it fascinating and a lot of fun.
August 18, 2025
On me l'a vendue comme une des meilleures BD du genre. La déception est grande avec ce premier tome.
Ça ne me gêne pas s'il n'y a pas de perso féminin important mais là il y a deux femmes, une est tuée au début et l'autre se fait humilier par sa belle famille, frapper par le héros puis couche avec lui ?! Mieux valait ne pas écrire de perso féminin du tout.
Ça ne me gêne pas s'il n'y a pas de perso féminin important mais là il y a deux femmes, une est tuée au début et l'autre se fait humilier par sa belle famille, frapper par le héros puis couche avec lui ?! Mieux valait ne pas écrire de perso féminin du tout.
October 28, 2018
Torpedo susretne Tarantina i Johna Wooa na putu za film noir. Crtež jednostavnih plohi sa malo boja bez problema priča priču i stvara atmosferu tipičnu za hard boiled krimiće. Toplo preporučam svim ljubiteljima žanra.
February 25, 2019
This was rad as hell, grime-y crime where everyone gets shot, and it really reminded me of the Parker series. Art has great style, giving each character and original look and feel. Full of violence and sex.
January 3, 2024
Si vous cherchez une BD à la frontière entre le polar et le néo-western & que vous aimez la grammaire des films noirs (notamment le traitement des femmes), le style cinématographique, les héros cyniques et le dessin brutal et carré de Brüno, ceci est pour vous.
October 7, 2018
I rarely hand out top marks for anything as improvements that could be made are usually apparent, but this one is close. Love to art, and great story too!
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