Reading Again: Shadow Roads--The Crossroads

Here are my thoughts about this arc, the first in the new(ish) series. 

-Nate 

The Crossroads 1-5

This story arc, which kicked off the new series titled Shadow Roads, ran for five issues, published from June to November of 2018. Here are my impressions:

• Issue #1 snuck by me at first. I'd first spotted Issue #1 of The Sixth Gun as a Free Comic Book Day offering back in 2010, grabbed it, read it and loved it. I didn't make it to FCBD in 2018, in part because I had no idea that Issue #1 of Shadow Roads would be there.

• The series (re)opens a whole new world. It is the same world of The Sixth Gun, but without the sixth. As is described in this series, the elements of magic have been scattered throughout the world, and there are unnatural things that threaten life. That's a great setup for an RPG campaign setting!

• A new series brings new characters. Whereas in The Sixth Gun they were introduced slowly over a number of arcs, here we meet a whole bunch of them in the first few issues. I like Barry as a comical contrast to the series Henry, and Isabella as a sassy counterpart for Ghost Eyes. One character is even a werebear!

• There are still a few old, familiar faces, too. The reader knows, I think, what happened to Gord/Kalfu, and it's nice to see Buzzard Wife again. Just how Abigail Redmayne is still here remains a mystery.

• There are lots of new places, too! This time around we have action taking place in England and Mexico, along with the American southwest. The end fight also gives glimpses of the Louisiana bayou, the Himalaya Mountains and the Forbidden City in China. It's fun to imagine the possibilities of where this series could go.

• How could a GM create stats for the Hunter? One idea I had is that the character gains an Advance each time he hunts down a foe who has a Trait that is higher than his own, or an Edge or special ability that he lacks. In that way, he grows in power because of his hunting.