THE LONG HAUL
Antony Johnston and Eduardo Barreto
Oni Press
The first time anybody took a shot at me, it was on a train.
The first time I signed an autograph (because, as a writer for the internet�s premier pop-culture teeth-knacker, I get mobbed a lot), it was on a train.
The closest I ever came to Love At First Sight was on a train.
Trains are great magical worms � or is it wyrms? � transient mobile communities where anything � even a timely and punctual arrival � can seem possible.
The Long Haul is a Wild West crime comic that revolves around the theft of a disgracefully large sum of money from America�s first transcontinental railroad. Dapper ex-con Cody Plummer finds that straight life has become a little dull, so when he runs into the federal agent who sent him up the river � an agent who just happens to be shepherding the aforementioned booty � Plummer finds that he can�t resist the opportunity to both fund his retirement and tweak the puckered nose of Authority. To that end, he sets about recruiting the right men � and one woman � to help him pull off the world�s first Great Train Robbery.
It would be easy to be cynical about The Long Haul. After all, as the synopsis above suggests, the book is a caper in the grand Hollywood tradition. It�s Ocean�s Eleven meets Deadwood. It�s The Italian Job on rails. It adheres to a tried and tested formula that, while it does the job well, might also be more than a little predictable. Fortunately, the novel�s execution more than makes up for the familiar framework.
As is the norm in such stories, setting the caper up takes longer than pulling it off. The delayed gratification works, for the most part, thanks to the strength of the plotting. Each character has something to gain � aside from a share of the loot � from Plummer�s audacious plan, whether they share his need for revenge, his desire to retire from a hand-to-mouth existence, or his restlessness. Johnston�s script does a grand job of setting these, again, somewhat familiar archetypes in motion.
In fact, the script bounces along nicely, and includes a wonderfully-written game of poker (with a horse), a quite moving sequence where Plummer goes looking for an old friend among the Shoshone Indians, and a fantastic scene where Plummer and his nemesis outline their plans for protecting/procuring the money in parallel, back-and-forth beats. When the robbery gets underway, the pace kicks up a gear (or three), and for a while, there�s a sense of real danger � a sense that things might not go according to plan. Johnston�s dialogue strikes the right note between authentic Western and modern style (i.e.: no irritating Will Smithisms), making for a nice groan-free read.
Eduardo Barreto�s art is amazing. The world of The Long Haul takes in plains, saloons, forests and cramped, busy trains, and Barreto conveys them all with the same masculine elegance. His characters have a classic beauty to them � even the ugly ones � that�s reminiscent of both Sergio Leone and classic matin�e idols such as Clark Gable. This only serves to reinforce the comparisons between The Long Haul and caper films such as Ocean�s Eleven. Of course, being a comic, and not some piece of ensemble starfuckery, the cast of The Long Haul are nowhere near as smug as their popcorn predecessors.
The Long Haul is a superb hybrid comicbook, with a superb premise and a tight, intricate plot. It evokes the freedom and unpredictability of the Old West, while at the same time evoking a sense of breathless modernity. It�s a fine example of what can happen to you when you stop watching trains and start riding them. It�s certainly the sort of comic that you might want to have with you on any long journey you might have to take, this summer.Review text (C) Matthew Craig
Originally published in the pop culture magazine Robot Fist