Some true cowboy stories about black hats and white hats and the beautiful women whose property and reputation hang in the balance. Not a retread of the short story but a new perspective that is interesting, fresh, full of dimension, but still paying homage to the original. This is a new way to enjoy L'Amour's work. Surprisingly so considering this came from an audio version. The panels are clean and the artist/authors were judicious in avoiding making the story too wordy. This is one of the most beautifully illustrated black and white graphic novels I've read in a long time. To say the artwork is breathtaking would be an understatement. As a result, the short story is fleshed out and a bit of L'amour's life is interjected as well since the posse chase was based upon a memoir by L'Amour when he traveled the area as a younger man. More back story was given to the characters and quite a few ironies were born subsequently. The story changed from the original novel by being more of a study on how no one is wholly good or bad. Marone's on the run, Lopez is leading the chase to find him, and the New Mexico countryside is their battleground. Forrester's cattlemen, Shad Marone and Jesus Lopez, find themselves on opposite sides of a posse. What starts as a simple act of revenge against the neighbor spirals into two murders. But the son of that neighbor (whose father was Forrester's good friend before he died) feels there's not enough grass for his cattle as well. Cattle Rancher Tom Forrester was allowing his cattle to graze on a neighbor's land next to their river - a rare grassy area. A pervasive drought in an already dry area means there is very little grassland left for cattle. The story is set in 1887, New Mexico territory. This is the first graphic novelization of a L'Amour novel and the attention to detail really shows. Law of the Desert Born is a beautifully illustrated retelling of one of L'Amour's short stories - based more upon an audio version by L'amour's son Beau and Katherine Nolan. This is one western that I highly and most definitely recommend checking out. Without a doubt, I know I need to keep an eye out for this at the bookstore because I want to add Law of the Desert Born to my collection. I won’t say much else about them because I don’t want to (possibly) spoil anything for those who haven’t read this yet. Just like the previous Louis L’Amour books I read, the characters come across as being real and human. In regards to the actual story, it has become one of my favorites. As for the cast, all of them did a spectacular job with their deliveries. When I first listened to it, I remember how the music gave me goosebumps. (I definitely needed a pick me up after I finished a very disappointing non-western audiobook.) I loved the music, the sound effects, and the cast. In fact, I checked it out and listened to it a second time because of how entertaining it was. I had not expected this to be a dramatization when I borrowed the audiobook from the library, but it was a very welcome and pleasant surprise. Thank you for letting me review this fine graphic novel. I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Random House and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. There is also biographical information about Louis L'Amour. It includes the history of the story and the iterations it's had. Included with the graphic novel is a great essay about the story behind the story. The art by Thomas Yeates is black and white and reminds me of old western films from when I was a kid. The graphic novel adaptation is by Charles Santino from a script by Beau L'Amour and Katherine Nolan and is based on the famous short story by Louis L'Amour. The story narrows the posse down until it's only a couple people fighting it out in a harsh desert environment. Marone seems to always be one step ahead, but Lopez is a good tracker and has history with Marone, which is told in flashbacks. The town sheriff gets a posse together, including a jailed man named Lopez, to track him down. The story opens with Marone riding into town and shooting a man in what appears to be cold blood. A murder in a western town brings out a posse, but there may be more to the story than there appears. Law of the Desert Born is a graphic novel adaptation of the story by Louis L'Amour.
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