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El Cazador
Meet Lady a Spanish Donessa who searches the seven seas on a quest for vengeance. It's 1687, and pirate captain Blackjack Tom sets siege on a Spanish galleon. All the brave Spaniards are killed - save for the beautiful, aristocratic Donessa, who vows to take revenge. She seizes control of one of Blackjack Tom's ships; is rechristened “Lady Sin,” the most bloodthirsty - and comeliest - lady pirate on the high seas; and sets sail to find her kidnapped mother and brother.
This graphic novel, exquisitely drawn and colored by Steve Epting and Frank D'Aramta, brings the violent and swashbuckling era to vivid life. Chuck Dixon's dark and action-paced story has a moral depth that may take novice graphic-novel readers by surprise. As Comic Book News "Forget those peg-leg walk-the-plank melodramas--Dixon and Epting are going for reality here with a pirate saga that captures the gritty truth of nautical adventures.”
This graphic novel, exquisitely drawn and colored by Steve Epting and Frank D'Aramta, brings the violent and swashbuckling era to vivid life. Chuck Dixon's dark and action-paced story has a moral depth that may take novice graphic-novel readers by surprise. As Comic Book News "Forget those peg-leg walk-the-plank melodramas--Dixon and Epting are going for reality here with a pirate saga that captures the gritty truth of nautical adventures.”
144 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
About the author
Chuck Dixon
3,500 books1,105 followersCharles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, perhaps best-known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.
His earliest comics work was writing Evangeline first for Comico Comics in 1984 (then later for First Comics, who published the on-going series), on which he worked with his then-wife, the artist Judith Hunt. His big break came one year later, when editor Larry Hama hired him to write back-up stories for Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan.
In 1986, he began working for Eclipse Comics, writing Airboy with artist Tim Truman. Continuing to write for both Marvel and (mainly) Eclipse on these titles, as well as launching Strike! with artist Tom Lyle in August 1987 and Valkyrie with artist Paul Gulacy in October 1987, he began work on Carl Potts' Alien Legion series for Marvel's Epic Comics imprint, under editor Archie Goodwin. He also produced a three-issue adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit for Eclipse with artist David Wenzel between 1989 and 1990, and began writing Marc Spector: Moon Knight in June 1989.
His Punisher OGN Kingdom Gone (August, 1990) led to him working on the monthly The Punisher War Journal (and later, more monthly and occasional Punisher titles), and also brought him to the attention of DC Comics editor Denny O'Neil, who asked him to produce a Robin mini-series. The mini proved popular enough to spawn two sequels - The Joker's Wild (1991) and Cry of the Huntress (1992) - which led to both an ongoing monthly series (which Dixon wrote for 100 issues before leaving to work with CrossGen Comics), and to Dixon working on Detective Comics from #644-738 through the major Batman stories KnightFall & KnightsEnd (for which he helped create the key character of Bane), DC One Million , Contagion , Legacy , Cataclysm and No Man's Land . Much of his run was illustrated by Graham Nolan.
He was DC's most prolific Batman-writer in the mid-1990s (rivalled perhaps in history by Bill Finger and Dennis O'Neil) - in addition to writing Detective Comics he pioneered the individual series for Robin , Nightwing (which he wrote for 70 issues, and returned to briefly with 2005's #101) and Batgirl , as well as creating the team and book Birds of Prey .
While writing multiple Punisher and Batman comics (and October 1994's Punisher/Batman crossover), he also found time to launch Team 7 for Jim Lee's WildStorm/Image and Prophet for Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios. He also wrote many issues of Catwoman and Green Arrow , regularly having about seven titles out each and every month between the years 1993 and 1998.
In March, 2002, Dixon turned his attention to CrossGen's output, salthough he co-wrote with Scott Beatty the origin of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl in 2003's Batgirl: Year One. For CrossGen he took over some of the comics of the out-going Mark Waid, taking over Sigil from #21, and Crux with #13. He launched Way of the Rat in June 2002, Brath (March '03), The Silken Ghost (June '03) and the pirate comic El Cazador (Oct '03), as well as editing Robert Rodi's non-Sigilverse The Crossovers. He also wrote the Ruse spin-off Archard's Agents one-shots in January and November '03 and April '04, the last released shortly before CrossGen's complete collapse forced the cancellation of all of its comics, before which Dixon wrote a single issue of Sojourn (May '04). Dixon's Way of the Rat #24, Brath #14 and El Cazador #6 were among the last comics released from the then-bankrupt publisher.
On June 10, 2008, Dixon announced on his forum that he was no longer "employed by DC Comics in any capacity."
His earliest comics work was writing Evangeline first for Comico Comics in 1984 (then later for First Comics, who published the on-going series), on which he worked with his then-wife, the artist Judith Hunt. His big break came one year later, when editor Larry Hama hired him to write back-up stories for Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan.
In 1986, he began working for Eclipse Comics, writing Airboy with artist Tim Truman. Continuing to write for both Marvel and (mainly) Eclipse on these titles, as well as launching Strike! with artist Tom Lyle in August 1987 and Valkyrie with artist Paul Gulacy in October 1987, he began work on Carl Potts' Alien Legion series for Marvel's Epic Comics imprint, under editor Archie Goodwin. He also produced a three-issue adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit for Eclipse with artist David Wenzel between 1989 and 1990, and began writing Marc Spector: Moon Knight in June 1989.
His Punisher OGN Kingdom Gone (August, 1990) led to him working on the monthly The Punisher War Journal (and later, more monthly and occasional Punisher titles), and also brought him to the attention of DC Comics editor Denny O'Neil, who asked him to produce a Robin mini-series. The mini proved popular enough to spawn two sequels - The Joker's Wild (1991) and Cry of the Huntress (1992) - which led to both an ongoing monthly series (which Dixon wrote for 100 issues before leaving to work with CrossGen Comics), and to Dixon working on Detective Comics from #644-738 through the major Batman stories KnightFall & KnightsEnd (for which he helped create the key character of Bane), DC One Million , Contagion , Legacy , Cataclysm and No Man's Land . Much of his run was illustrated by Graham Nolan.
He was DC's most prolific Batman-writer in the mid-1990s (rivalled perhaps in history by Bill Finger and Dennis O'Neil) - in addition to writing Detective Comics he pioneered the individual series for Robin , Nightwing (which he wrote for 70 issues, and returned to briefly with 2005's #101) and Batgirl , as well as creating the team and book Birds of Prey .
While writing multiple Punisher and Batman comics (and October 1994's Punisher/Batman crossover), he also found time to launch Team 7 for Jim Lee's WildStorm/Image and Prophet for Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios. He also wrote many issues of Catwoman and Green Arrow , regularly having about seven titles out each and every month between the years 1993 and 1998.
In March, 2002, Dixon turned his attention to CrossGen's output, salthough he co-wrote with Scott Beatty the origin of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl in 2003's Batgirl: Year One. For CrossGen he took over some of the comics of the out-going Mark Waid, taking over Sigil from #21, and Crux with #13. He launched Way of the Rat in June 2002, Brath (March '03), The Silken Ghost (June '03) and the pirate comic El Cazador (Oct '03), as well as editing Robert Rodi's non-Sigilverse The Crossovers. He also wrote the Ruse spin-off Archard's Agents one-shots in January and November '03 and April '04, the last released shortly before CrossGen's complete collapse forced the cancellation of all of its comics, before which Dixon wrote a single issue of Sojourn (May '04). Dixon's Way of the Rat #24, Brath #14 and El Cazador #6 were among the last comics released from the then-bankrupt publisher.
On June 10, 2008, Dixon announced on his forum that he was no longer "employed by DC Comics in any capacity."
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
September 7, 2015
This series had a ton of potential, but unfortunately was canceled when Crossgen ceased publishing. Too bad, because this could have been a great series.
You have a great pirate tale here that was no doubt inspired by the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, as it was released the same year as the first movie. As far as the artwork goes, it's gorgeous. The artwork is five stars, no doubt. Actually, most of Crossgen's titles had gorgeous art, another reason it's sad the company didn't last longer.
So this tale has some cutthroat pirates, gorgeous women, and even a gorgeous cutthroat pirate woman! It's about what you'd expect, pirates looking for revenge and booty. Pirates sure do love booty. Seems like they always are wanting some booty. Anyway, it's a really good series, but the story stops "in the middle" because the series was unfinished.
If you like pirate stories and want to see some gorgeous art, this one is still worth reading.
You have a great pirate tale here that was no doubt inspired by the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, as it was released the same year as the first movie. As far as the artwork goes, it's gorgeous. The artwork is five stars, no doubt. Actually, most of Crossgen's titles had gorgeous art, another reason it's sad the company didn't last longer.
So this tale has some cutthroat pirates, gorgeous women, and even a gorgeous cutthroat pirate woman! It's about what you'd expect, pirates looking for revenge and booty. Pirates sure do love booty. Seems like they always are wanting some booty. Anyway, it's a really good series, but the story stops "in the middle" because the series was unfinished.
If you like pirate stories and want to see some gorgeous art, this one is still worth reading.
March 20, 2020
Bitter-sweetly incomplete through no fault of the authors.
May 13, 2017
Really interesting series with a rare woman lead. Shame it only had 6 issues.
October 5, 2008
Although I’m not a huge fan of the much-tired Pirates of the Caribbean films – sorry to burst anyone’s bubble, but the third got bogged down in (to me) uninteresting plotlines and character development – I am, however, a big fan of the sea-faring novels of Patrick O-Brien (the Aubrey/Maturin novels), Julian Stockwin (the Thomas Kydd series), and the grand-daddy of them all, C.S. Forester (the Horatio Hornblower books). And, by extension, I do love me a good pirate tale or two.
Luckily for Dixon and Epting, they created a believably original character in Lady Sin – nee Elena Maria Esperanza Diego-Luis Hidalgo – who, after being taken hostage by the cutthroat Blackjack Tom, escapes, takes control of the vessel Misericordia -- rechristened El Cazador (Spanish for The Hunter) – and sets in motion her revenge. Along the way, Lady Sin is tested first by a mutiny of long-disgruntled crewmen – who fail to oust her – and then comes face-to-face with an enemy-turned-possible ally (if not love interest) in the person of English pirate Redhand Harry.
Unluckily for me, CrossGen comics folded as a result of bankruptcy after the release of issue 6. And, as a result, this canceled series ends in the middle of a nail-biting plotline and cliffhanger that makes you want to scream “Finish this, Dixon and Epting!” But as both have moved onto bigger and more lucrative projects – like series artist Epting with Ed Brubaker on Captain America most recently – and as I’m pretty sure the legal status of El Cazador is in limbo as a result of CrossGen’s financial and legal collapse, I don’t think my wish will be realized anytime soon. Drat.
Luckily for Dixon and Epting, they created a believably original character in Lady Sin – nee Elena Maria Esperanza Diego-Luis Hidalgo – who, after being taken hostage by the cutthroat Blackjack Tom, escapes, takes control of the vessel Misericordia -- rechristened El Cazador (Spanish for The Hunter) – and sets in motion her revenge. Along the way, Lady Sin is tested first by a mutiny of long-disgruntled crewmen – who fail to oust her – and then comes face-to-face with an enemy-turned-possible ally (if not love interest) in the person of English pirate Redhand Harry.
Unluckily for me, CrossGen comics folded as a result of bankruptcy after the release of issue 6. And, as a result, this canceled series ends in the middle of a nail-biting plotline and cliffhanger that makes you want to scream “Finish this, Dixon and Epting!” But as both have moved onto bigger and more lucrative projects – like series artist Epting with Ed Brubaker on Captain America most recently – and as I’m pretty sure the legal status of El Cazador is in limbo as a result of CrossGen’s financial and legal collapse, I don’t think my wish will be realized anytime soon. Drat.
October 28, 2010
A great graphic novel set in the golden age of piracy. It follows Lady Sin as she rises to captain to go after the pirate that ruined her life. What I like about the novel is that the pirates are not romantizied or portrayed in the Hollywood manner. They are pirates, more or less. The entire novel is painstakingly crafted to be historically accurate which adds to the story, making it feel real. Then we have the main character, Lady Sin, who has forsaken a privileged past to become a pirate. She isn't a damsel in distress and is an incredibly deep character who has issues and problems along with being a strong willed woman who follows her own agenda. "El Cazador" is filled with great dialogue and plot and is one of the best graphic novels or novels period. Unfortunately, it is not ended and is left on a cliffhanger. That's a problem and the issue with the graphic novel format but "El Cazador" is a good enough graphic novel to stand on its own, enough to leave anyone wanting for more.
December 29, 2023
Intense High Seas Adventure!
This one right here truly got me into comics, whereas I only had a passing interest before. Historical setting on the sea is brought to life in the swashbuckling tale of piracy. Our heroine is a likeable character, dispensing justice Old Testament style while the stakes are driven higher by each passing moment. Artwork is highly detailed, drawing the viewer into the world. Writing tells a solid story that is both easy to follow and intriguing. Series ended after only a few issues, would've wanted to see another twenty at least.
This one right here truly got me into comics, whereas I only had a passing interest before. Historical setting on the sea is brought to life in the swashbuckling tale of piracy. Our heroine is a likeable character, dispensing justice Old Testament style while the stakes are driven higher by each passing moment. Artwork is highly detailed, drawing the viewer into the world. Writing tells a solid story that is both easy to follow and intriguing. Series ended after only a few issues, would've wanted to see another twenty at least.
January 20, 2019
Note: This is spoiler free, however it’s also long, ranty and I kinda descend into madness.
Me before reading: A graphic novel about a pirate queen and VENGEANCE? What’s not to like!
Me after reading: "Welcome to the sea of disappointment."
So what went wrong? Well, I’ve separated my complaints into two categories, “legit problems” and “I’m feeling petty today.”
Legit problems:
1)The use of many words in different languages with no translations (including some French, Spanish, and Dutch). Some of these are simple words that a lot of people would know like: “oui”, however most of them aren’t. Sometimes there will be entire short sentences in French, and really, who wants to use a translator and interrupt their reading?
2)Freed slaves were common among pirates, and later in the book some ex-slaves join the crew. Nothing wrong with that, until one of the white crew members (who is blind) calls them “Heathen savages”. And I’m just like: “Don’t you just love when one marginalized group makes fun of another marginalized group?” Then the lady captain just continues the conversation like nothing happened, she doesn’t tell him that’s rude or not to say that... she just ignores it. Obviously people were SUPER racist back in 1687, but one would hope that these two people from marginalized groups of the time (a blind man and a woman) would not be assholes to other minorities.
3)The characters are very one dimensional and I can’t name consistent traits for any of them.
4)The plot is very by the numbers and predictable.
5)A male captain seems surprised at the idea of a lady pirate, which makes no sense as they were actually decently common.
I’m Feeling Petty Today:
1)Remember the racist blind man? That’s not actually established until about a ⅓ of the way through the book, and even then it’s in a throwaway bit of dialogue that’s real easy to miss. From a writing perspective, it should have been established WAAYYYY earlier, say when they introduced the character. His opening line shouldn’t be “yo I’m blind BTW” but it still needs to be introduced.
2)Some of the characters have a strange tendency to speak in rhyme of occasion-and it reminded me of something…
2.5)This one dude when dying says, “She’s killed me lads!” and I was reminded of how in Shakespeare plays people talk in rhyme and say “Oh dear, I’m dead now.” when killed. Then I got pissed at all my english teachers for making me read Shakespeare, and at this book for reminding me of that dark place.
3)So thanks to the little monologue bit at the start we know this story starts on December 10th 1687. That wouldn’t annoy me if the little expository spiel at the beginning didn’t say: “these are the final days of the Golden age of Piracy.” If by “final days” you mean the next 15, 351 days (or 42 years + the last 21 days of December) since the Golden age of Piracy actually ended in the 1730’s.
4)There’s a sentence during that exposition that goes like this: “Villainous craft (being the pirate ships) crewed by traitors, deserters, thieves, freed slaves, and worse…” I know it’s probably not the intention, but by putting freed slaves as the last on that list, it seems like they’re trying to make them look worse than the others. “Freed slaves! Ah yes, truly the worst humanity has to offer.”
5)AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST. Since this comic series was cancelled before it had a chance to finish it’s story we’re left with several cliffhangers, will Lady Sin get her revenge? Will (oh wait, that’s a spoiler)? And will (maybe I should stop)? BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, the last line of the book is: “Do you by chance, speak Latin?” AND WE WILL NEVER GET TO KNOW IF HARRY SPEAKS LATIN. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING AND I NEED TO KNOW. #DoesCapnHarrySpeakLatin?
(This is where is gets vaguely not really spoilery, and I’ve given up and am just shouting into the void)
1)Just replace Batman with Lady Sin, “WHY DOESN’T BATMAN JUST KILL THE CRIMINALS HE CATCHES? THEY JUST SWEAR VENGEANCE AND BREAK OUT AND KILL MORE PEOPLE.”
2)A genuine reaction from me, “Wait, why does the governor hold his finger under his nose like he’s drawn a mustache on it? If it smells bad in the prison that’s not going to help...maybe he just needs to sneeze…”
3)A quote from Lady Sin: “We must needs go ashore.” AH YES I CAN PROPER ENGLISH
To conclude, this is kind of fun bad if you’re making jokes with it, if it had kept running I would have given it a second chance even with this rocky start, MOSTLY BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW IF CAPTAIN HARRY SPEAKS LATIN. (Mostly joking there...mostly.)
Me before reading: A graphic novel about a pirate queen and VENGEANCE? What’s not to like!
Me after reading: "Welcome to the sea of disappointment."
So what went wrong? Well, I’ve separated my complaints into two categories, “legit problems” and “I’m feeling petty today.”
Legit problems:
1)The use of many words in different languages with no translations (including some French, Spanish, and Dutch). Some of these are simple words that a lot of people would know like: “oui”, however most of them aren’t. Sometimes there will be entire short sentences in French, and really, who wants to use a translator and interrupt their reading?
2)Freed slaves were common among pirates, and later in the book some ex-slaves join the crew. Nothing wrong with that, until one of the white crew members (who is blind) calls them “Heathen savages”. And I’m just like: “Don’t you just love when one marginalized group makes fun of another marginalized group?” Then the lady captain just continues the conversation like nothing happened, she doesn’t tell him that’s rude or not to say that... she just ignores it. Obviously people were SUPER racist back in 1687, but one would hope that these two people from marginalized groups of the time (a blind man and a woman) would not be assholes to other minorities.
3)The characters are very one dimensional and I can’t name consistent traits for any of them.
4)The plot is very by the numbers and predictable.
5)A male captain seems surprised at the idea of a lady pirate, which makes no sense as they were actually decently common.
I’m Feeling Petty Today:
1)Remember the racist blind man? That’s not actually established until about a ⅓ of the way through the book, and even then it’s in a throwaway bit of dialogue that’s real easy to miss. From a writing perspective, it should have been established WAAYYYY earlier, say when they introduced the character. His opening line shouldn’t be “yo I’m blind BTW” but it still needs to be introduced.
2)Some of the characters have a strange tendency to speak in rhyme of occasion-and it reminded me of something…
2.5)This one dude when dying says, “She’s killed me lads!” and I was reminded of how in Shakespeare plays people talk in rhyme and say “Oh dear, I’m dead now.” when killed. Then I got pissed at all my english teachers for making me read Shakespeare, and at this book for reminding me of that dark place.
3)So thanks to the little monologue bit at the start we know this story starts on December 10th 1687. That wouldn’t annoy me if the little expository spiel at the beginning didn’t say: “these are the final days of the Golden age of Piracy.” If by “final days” you mean the next 15, 351 days (or 42 years + the last 21 days of December) since the Golden age of Piracy actually ended in the 1730’s.
4)There’s a sentence during that exposition that goes like this: “Villainous craft (being the pirate ships) crewed by traitors, deserters, thieves, freed slaves, and worse…” I know it’s probably not the intention, but by putting freed slaves as the last on that list, it seems like they’re trying to make them look worse than the others. “Freed slaves! Ah yes, truly the worst humanity has to offer.”
5)AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST. Since this comic series was cancelled before it had a chance to finish it’s story we’re left with several cliffhangers, will Lady Sin get her revenge? Will (oh wait, that’s a spoiler)? And will (maybe I should stop)? BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, the last line of the book is: “Do you by chance, speak Latin?” AND WE WILL NEVER GET TO KNOW IF HARRY SPEAKS LATIN. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING AND I NEED TO KNOW. #DoesCapnHarrySpeakLatin?
(This is where is gets vaguely not really spoilery, and I’ve given up and am just shouting into the void)
1)Just replace Batman with Lady Sin, “WHY DOESN’T BATMAN JUST KILL THE CRIMINALS HE CATCHES? THEY JUST SWEAR VENGEANCE AND BREAK OUT AND KILL MORE PEOPLE.”
2)A genuine reaction from me, “Wait, why does the governor hold his finger under his nose like he’s drawn a mustache on it? If it smells bad in the prison that’s not going to help...maybe he just needs to sneeze…”
3)A quote from Lady Sin: “We must needs go ashore.” AH YES I CAN PROPER ENGLISH
To conclude, this is kind of fun bad if you’re making jokes with it, if it had kept running I would have given it a second chance even with this rocky start, MOSTLY BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW IF CAPTAIN HARRY SPEAKS LATIN. (Mostly joking there...mostly.)
December 28, 2024
Absolutely solid Pirate Tale, Dixon knows how to tell a rollicking tale, and while the art is a little darker than I’d like I still really enjoy it. A shame that the series got cancelled with the bankruptcy of Crossgen, The Pirate genre is great for this medium and it’s a real shame that this tale never got completed.
July 3, 2017
Celkom fajn pirátska vec, aj keď som sa občas strácal v obrázkoch. Škoda že to nepokračuje, 6 častí je zúfalo málo na rozvinutie príbehu o ženskej paničke, ktorá sa stala pirátskou kapitánkou pri honbe za pomstou a záchranou rodiny.
April 2, 2019
A fine, rip-roaring yarn, obviously of the "pirates are cool!" school rather than the realistic "OMG pirates were dirty awful people" school, which is fine. It's a great tale, a real shame that the company who published it went under before completing the story arc. Still absolutely worth a read!
January 14, 2017
Another one I’d never heard of but discovered on the library shelf. The art caught my eye, along with what appeared to be the story of a female pirate. Yes, please!
Well, she’s actually a Spanish noblewoman whose ship is taken by pirates and her mother and little brother kidnapped. She takes control of the pirate ship after defending herself against the lecherous first mate and promises the crew a rich reward if they accompany her on her rescue/revenge mission. Donessa Cinzia Elena Maria Esperanza Diego-Luis Hidalgo is nicknamed Lady Sin by her crew, and she can handle a sword as well as a gun. She is super cool. She’s also a redhead, which adds to the bad luck of having a woman aboard, according to certain superstitious sailors. She deals with attempted mutiny and other defiance expertly.
Also part of the story is privateer Harold “Redhand Harry” Newcomb. He’s haunted by flashbacks of a duel, some guilty event from his past that sent him toward life on the sea. He gets the obligatory (but fun nevertheless) rescue-from-hanging-by-his-loyal-crew sequence and ends up crossing paths with our daring Spanish lady. By the end of the storyline, Lady Sin has bested Redhand Harry and is offering him an alliance.
…But, alas, CrossGen comics went out of business, and the story will never continue. It’s a shame. What’s here is a rollicking good time, the quite romanticised version of piracy that I find appealing. There are nasty characters capable of nasty deeds, of course; but good seems to prevail for the most part. The historical detail is strong, many of the characters interesting, and the battle sequences rousing. The art is fabulous.
Well, she’s actually a Spanish noblewoman whose ship is taken by pirates and her mother and little brother kidnapped. She takes control of the pirate ship after defending herself against the lecherous first mate and promises the crew a rich reward if they accompany her on her rescue/revenge mission. Donessa Cinzia Elena Maria Esperanza Diego-Luis Hidalgo is nicknamed Lady Sin by her crew, and she can handle a sword as well as a gun. She is super cool. She’s also a redhead, which adds to the bad luck of having a woman aboard, according to certain superstitious sailors. She deals with attempted mutiny and other defiance expertly.
Also part of the story is privateer Harold “Redhand Harry” Newcomb. He’s haunted by flashbacks of a duel, some guilty event from his past that sent him toward life on the sea. He gets the obligatory (but fun nevertheless) rescue-from-hanging-by-his-loyal-crew sequence and ends up crossing paths with our daring Spanish lady. By the end of the storyline, Lady Sin has bested Redhand Harry and is offering him an alliance.
…But, alas, CrossGen comics went out of business, and the story will never continue. It’s a shame. What’s here is a rollicking good time, the quite romanticised version of piracy that I find appealing. There are nasty characters capable of nasty deeds, of course; but good seems to prevail for the most part. The historical detail is strong, many of the characters interesting, and the battle sequences rousing. The art is fabulous.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2009
First of all, let me say that the illustrations are really, really good, and this graphic novel is worth checking out from your local library just to see them. The reason I only give this book only ***, however, is because there isn't an ending to the story (it ends with "to be continued...") and sometimes the dialog seems choppy, especially because they toss in bits of Spanish and French in addition to English. I enjoyed the pirate theme of this graphic novel (hurray for something other than superheroes), and it was refreshing to have a female play the lead. Sadly, the company that published the graphic novel in comics form went under several years ago. I guess I'll just have to make up my own ending.
April 19, 2010
I was already a fan of Steve Epting's art in Captain America even before reading this, and his work here continues to justify my fandom. The story was interesting enough but sadly was left hanging at a crucial cliffhanger because of the publisher's (CrossGen Comics) bankruptcy. A shame, really, this comic could have been pretty good. Oh well, maybe now that Disney owns both Marvel and CrossGen perhaps something will develop... but I'm not holding my breath.
March 27, 2014
El Cazador is an incomplete gem, but a gem nonetheless. Dixon is at his best when writing adventure embracing and challenging tropes. Epting's art soars off the page and demonstrates the growth his later Captain America and Velvet artwork would embrace.
I wish Hyperion/Disney/Marvel commissioned more of these stories after CrossGen's bankruptcy.
Unfortunately, this collection doesn't include Epting's lush covers for the individual issues.
I wish Hyperion/Disney/Marvel commissioned more of these stories after CrossGen's bankruptcy.
Unfortunately, this collection doesn't include Epting's lush covers for the individual issues.
November 27, 2009
Nice pirate adventure suffers from setting up two seperate crews of pirates that we are supposed to root for, as well as an evil pirate and just as the story gets going, the publisher went out of business and so the story ends on a cliffhanger.
Still, everyone loves a good pirate story and the art is beautiful to look at.
Still, everyone loves a good pirate story and the art is beautiful to look at.
July 30, 2014
El Cazador is one of the rare pirate themed graphic novels that I have had the luck of getting my hands on. It is also one of the best depictions of the golden era of piracy that I've had the honour of reading. It's only downside? The story was never finished.
Read the rest of the review here:
http://susimetsa.blogspot.fi/2014/07/...
Read the rest of the review here:
http://susimetsa.blogspot.fi/2014/07/...
July 25, 2008
Couldn't get into it. May not be the fault of the book as it looks like it's a gorgeous piece of work and I've been a fan of Dixon's writing in the past... but the first chapter didn't wow me and I just ended up paging through without much interest after that.
September 11, 2008
This was like watching a PG13 movie with no ending (the comic got canceled when the magazine that published it when under). It moved fast and I loved the artwork, though it was violent. If an ending were printed somewhere, I'd dive for it, but with no ending I can't recommend it!
January 22, 2016
This was great. I loved the art and was really drawn in by the story. I'm disappointed there won't be any more, but on the other hand, nice to read a graphic novel that's a one-off where I'm not committed for the next 114 volumes.
November 17, 2016
Muy buen intento de Dixon de traer de vuelta el cómic de piratas, con gran arte de Epstein. Lamentablemente este libro salió cuando la editorial Crossgen ya estaba muriendo. Ojalá alguien lo continuara.
March 2, 2008
El Cazador is a beautifully illustrated pirate comic finally available in TPB! I hope we see more Hyperion releases of former CrossGen Comics properties.
January 24, 2011
This was a really great story - too bad the production company folded before the story arc was finished. :(
July 26, 2012
good story and art, very evocative. a shame the comic is no more! i'd love to see more adventures and the rest of the story.
November 19, 2008
Amazing artwork, but alas, no ending.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews