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Bat Lash #2
Bat Lash: Guns and Roses
"Texas, 1975. The birthplace of the most unusual western hero of them all: Bat Lash, self-professed pacifist, ladies' man and gambler whose hands were never far from his blazing six-guns"--Cover, P. [4].
144 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2008
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27 people want to read
About the author
Sergio Aragonés
578 books97 followersSergio Aragonés Domenech is a cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to Mad Magazine and creator of the comic book Groo the Wanderer.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 19, 2024
Good art, but just an okay story. Decent Western comic but nothing that really stands out.
January 21, 2015
First appearing in the late '60s as a wandering, Candide-like pacifist and lover (but also
a crack shot, of course), Bat Lash was DC's attempt to update the western comic for the
counter culture audience. Created by Carmine Infantino and Sergio Aragones, the short-lived
series was better than it could have been and created a small but loyal following.
Forty years later (perhaps in order to use and retain the trademark), DC published a new
Bat Lash miniseries, Guns and Roses, with plot by Aragones, script by western novelist
Peter Brandvold and art by veteran John Severin, nearly ninety; it was one of his last
published works.
The series, collected in trade paperback, is fun and suspenseful, with old-fashioned
narrow escapes, delicious villains and plot twists and turns. It's a prequel; the origin of
Bat Lash. The characterization doesn't really jibe with the later Bat Lash we know, but
the story works anyway. I was a bit disappointed that Peter Brandvold seemed to be writing
down to the medium a bit; an author who makes a living writing novels should invest into
the comic medium the same sense of depth and characterization a good novel contains.
Where Guns and Roses excels, though, is in John Severin's mind-blowingly detailed and
researched art. Every panel is wrought with hand-crafted care. It's some of the best work
of his career, an achievement more beautifully accomplished than that of cartoonists a
fourth of his age. For that reason alone, I recommend Guns and Roses.
a crack shot, of course), Bat Lash was DC's attempt to update the western comic for the
counter culture audience. Created by Carmine Infantino and Sergio Aragones, the short-lived
series was better than it could have been and created a small but loyal following.
Forty years later (perhaps in order to use and retain the trademark), DC published a new
Bat Lash miniseries, Guns and Roses, with plot by Aragones, script by western novelist
Peter Brandvold and art by veteran John Severin, nearly ninety; it was one of his last
published works.
The series, collected in trade paperback, is fun and suspenseful, with old-fashioned
narrow escapes, delicious villains and plot twists and turns. It's a prequel; the origin of
Bat Lash. The characterization doesn't really jibe with the later Bat Lash we know, but
the story works anyway. I was a bit disappointed that Peter Brandvold seemed to be writing
down to the medium a bit; an author who makes a living writing novels should invest into
the comic medium the same sense of depth and characterization a good novel contains.
Where Guns and Roses excels, though, is in John Severin's mind-blowingly detailed and
researched art. Every panel is wrought with hand-crafted care. It's some of the best work
of his career, an achievement more beautifully accomplished than that of cartoonists a
fourth of his age. For that reason alone, I recommend Guns and Roses.
January 31, 2016
This exceeded my expectations. Bat Lash to me had always been a more light hearted character, but I will admit I'm not that familiar with him. However, this was quite the dark tale. Not quite Jonah Hex dark, but a lot darker than I expected. This is basically an origin story of Bat Lash. Without giving too much away, I'll say he has some tragedy in his background. This was very much a classic western revenge tale, and could easily be adapted into a standard western film.
The art was by John Severin, who'd been around since the EC days before he sadly passed away in 2012. His art was very distinctive and I always enjoy it.
If you like classic western stories, this one is definitely for you. You don't really have to be familiar with the character in order to enjoy this one either.
The art was by John Severin, who'd been around since the EC days before he sadly passed away in 2012. His art was very distinctive and I always enjoy it.
If you like classic western stories, this one is definitely for you. You don't really have to be familiar with the character in order to enjoy this one either.
May 31, 2020
Really, really disappointed in this one. The only thing keeping it from 1 star is Severin's art, which does its best to cover one of the most pedestrian western scripts I've read in a comic. Given Aragones was involved, I expected far more than run of the mill, evil sheriff, evil land owner father stuff.
But man-oh-man can John Severin draw.
But man-oh-man can John Severin draw.
October 26, 2023
Three words: John Severin art!
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
June 15, 2025
Only 4 stars for the wonderful John Severin art, the mostly pedestrian script lacks the charm of the 1960s Bat Lash comics. Lash is also the last character who needs a prequel or a tragic secret origin.
Also, & this is deep nerd ridiculous that people should jeer me for, but the 1870s setting makes me a little annoyed because it doesn't square w/ Lash's Civil War adventures in the 1970s Scalphunter series & maybe doesn't even square with his adventures w/ Jonah Hex & El Diablo in the 2000s Hex series. &, I just don't see Lash as a Texan. Like him as a Keatsian tho.
Also, & this is deep nerd ridiculous that people should jeer me for, but the 1870s setting makes me a little annoyed because it doesn't square w/ Lash's Civil War adventures in the 1970s Scalphunter series & maybe doesn't even square with his adventures w/ Jonah Hex & El Diablo in the 2000s Hex series. &, I just don't see Lash as a Texan. Like him as a Keatsian tho.
December 23, 2025
I picked up the six issues that comprise this comic book trade paperback at one of my local comic shops around the time of release. I grew up on MAD magazine, so Sergio Aragones was a known quantity to me. I like comic book westerns a lot. I was unfamiliar with the other writer here but enjoyed the read quite a bit. The art is the main attraction for most it appears. Count me in. I found the comic book covers fairly off putting but John Severin's art is fantastic IMO. If you like comic book westerns, I'd wager you'll be pleased to have this TPB in your library.
June 9, 2019
Re-envisioned origin of Bat Lash. I liked it. But they sort of took away all the defining characteristics of the character. It’s your standard western “avenge the death of your family” story. It could have been anyone.
November 16, 2019
This is a pretty good, straightforward, western comic. The John Severin artwork is great. (I've been a fan of him since I was a kid.)
December 1, 2008
Back in the Seventies, Bat Lash was one of the regular features in the comic WEIRD WESTERN TALES, along with Jonah Hex and El Diablo. The stories featuring him were probably the most traditional in that group, but they still managed to be off-beat in a MAVERICK sort of way. Bartholomew “Bat” Lash was a drifting gambler who read poetry, wore a flower in his hat, romanced every good-looking woman he encountered, and tried to avoid violence. Of course, he was never very successful at that, so it was lucky he was fast on the draw and good with his fists.
The character has attracted a number of devoted fans over the years and continues to make occasional appearances, usually as a guest star. A recent mini-series brought him back as the lead, however, and it’s now been collected into a very nice trade paperback. BAT LASH: GUNS AND ROSES finally gives us an origin story for the character and finds him as a young man in Texas, the son of a former outlaw who’s trying to go straight and run a horse ranch. Bat’s romance with the beautiful daughter of the local cattle baron leads to all sorts of trouble, including a clash with the corrupt local sheriff who wants the young woman for himself.
Authors Sergio Aragones and Peter Brandvold take this standard set-up and throw in some nice changes on it. The story definitely doesn’t play out the way I thought it would. Every time things seem to be leading up to a cliché, Aragones and Brandvold find a way to put a new spin on the plot. And the art, by comics veteran John Severin, is just wonderful. I enjoyed Severin’s art for years back in the Sixties and Seventies, especially on SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS (and what a great comic that was, by the way, silly title or not). Severin hasn’t lost any of his skill, and looking at his panels in these stories was great fun for me.
As some of you know, Pete Brandvold is a good friend of mine, and I know that this mini-series was a real labor of love for him. He’s a fine writer, and in tandem with comics legends Aragones and Severin, he’s produced an excellent Western mini-series. Highly recommended.
The character has attracted a number of devoted fans over the years and continues to make occasional appearances, usually as a guest star. A recent mini-series brought him back as the lead, however, and it’s now been collected into a very nice trade paperback. BAT LASH: GUNS AND ROSES finally gives us an origin story for the character and finds him as a young man in Texas, the son of a former outlaw who’s trying to go straight and run a horse ranch. Bat’s romance with the beautiful daughter of the local cattle baron leads to all sorts of trouble, including a clash with the corrupt local sheriff who wants the young woman for himself.
Authors Sergio Aragones and Peter Brandvold take this standard set-up and throw in some nice changes on it. The story definitely doesn’t play out the way I thought it would. Every time things seem to be leading up to a cliché, Aragones and Brandvold find a way to put a new spin on the plot. And the art, by comics veteran John Severin, is just wonderful. I enjoyed Severin’s art for years back in the Sixties and Seventies, especially on SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS (and what a great comic that was, by the way, silly title or not). Severin hasn’t lost any of his skill, and looking at his panels in these stories was great fun for me.
As some of you know, Pete Brandvold is a good friend of mine, and I know that this mini-series was a real labor of love for him. He’s a fine writer, and in tandem with comics legends Aragones and Severin, he’s produced an excellent Western mini-series. Highly recommended.
May 26, 2012
I recall fondly the original Bat Lash stories by Aragones and Nick Cardy, so that's probably why I've ranked this low, because I absolutely love John Severin's artwork in the western comics genre. And even though Sergio Aragones lends a hand with this story, Peter Brandvold -- who normally is a solid storyteller in the prose narrative form -- doesn't quite seem to have the best handle on the Bat Lash character or the expected tone for his stories. One might argue that this story takes place before the original series, so there's a reason the tone is different. But there are only a few spots where the original series' insousiance really raises its profile to lift the narrative above a run-of-the-mill vengeance-and-stereotypical-bad-sheriff tale. I'd hoped for more.
One of those moments that captures the feel of the original occurs as Bat is being hanged (for the second time in the story): His Comanche pal, Two Moons, is trying to shoot the hangman's rope from afar with a rifle (as he did earlier, saving Bat from a lymching). His first shot misses. When Bat's father complains, Two Moon essentially shrugs, and says it's a lot to expect someone to do that trick twice in one week. Bat's expression, with his tongue sticking out and his eyes bugging (in a picture perfectly situated for Severin's work for Cracked magazine), also adds to the moment.
As much as I love Severin's western art, it's too bad Nick Cardy wasn't able to contribute to this graphic novel. His deft brushwork leant a great deal to the light-hearted feel of the original series. This more recent story could have used more light touches.
One of those moments that captures the feel of the original occurs as Bat is being hanged (for the second time in the story): His Comanche pal, Two Moons, is trying to shoot the hangman's rope from afar with a rifle (as he did earlier, saving Bat from a lymching). His first shot misses. When Bat's father complains, Two Moon essentially shrugs, and says it's a lot to expect someone to do that trick twice in one week. Bat's expression, with his tongue sticking out and his eyes bugging (in a picture perfectly situated for Severin's work for Cracked magazine), also adds to the moment.
As much as I love Severin's western art, it's too bad Nick Cardy wasn't able to contribute to this graphic novel. His deft brushwork leant a great deal to the light-hearted feel of the original series. This more recent story could have used more light touches.
November 28, 2008
Sergio Aragones, who co-created the Bat Lash character for DC back in the late '60s, plots a new origin story with Western writer Peter Brandvold that details the family tragedy that turned the young romantic into a wandering outlaw. With the restrictions of the Comics Code dropped, the story gets a lot grittier, the moral corruption much more explicit. Sometimes the pace moves so quickly, and the story relies so heavily on dialogue to keep things moving, that things get pushed past the intentional level of humor into absurdity, but John Severin's artwork is a real treat--it retains the humorous qualities of his work on The Rawhide Kid a few years back but dials things back a bit for a slightly more realistic approach.
December 26, 2014
Mõnus vanakooli vestern kurjade karjaparunite, nende imeilusate tütarde, vaeste kuid õilsate mustangeride, lurjuslike šeriffide, sõbralike indiaanlaste ja muu asja juurde kuuluva pudi-padiga. Nagu viiekümnendate John Wayne'i film. Laipu muidugi on rohkem kui sellises filmis, vägivald on kohati võimsalt esil. Üldiselt - lännenduse friikidele vägagi sobilik materjal, teisi võib ehk külmaks jätta. Pliiatsijoongi oli selline nagu tänapäeva koomiksis eriti ei esine, selline 70ndate oma, detailne ja värviline.
March 9, 2013
This is a good little Batlash origin. Story is nothing new but still good. Art is great, has as classic feel to it. The only problem i had was the dialogue, there is alot of western slang, which is fine usually in a western but in this they over used it a bit imo and it just sounded a little corny and hokey at times. But still a great book, i'm inclined to pick up the Showcase Presents Batlash now to see where the character goes now after all the tragedy.
August 25, 2013
Really nice western feeling on the art, but sadly, the story..... No matter how much it was co-written by Sergio Aragones, but..... maybe he should stick with the funny stuff.
Both stars of mine go to the art.
Both stars of mine go to the art.
February 15, 2010
This one's a candidate for 3.5 stars. It started out strong, but the ending was a bit weak for my taste. Overall a good read, though.
April 29, 2012
It was fun to see Bat Lash back in action, but it wasn't as great as I had hoped it would be.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews