Synopsis: USA, 1970. Joe is driving his camper in the wide open spaces of the Wild West. He makes several acquaintances along the way: a small coyote, to start with, but also local thugs, F.B.I. agents, a U.S. Marshal, old friends who seem to be more or less trustworthy… But who is this good ol’ Joe? Those who cross his path tend to see their life expectancy dangerously decrease…

Review: The Coyote and the Snake by Matz and Xavier was first published in French in 2022 and was translated into English soon after (Europe Comics). We already covered Matz’s series The Killer as part of the introduction to European comics series and some of their differences compared to American and Japanese comics series.

The Coyote and the Snake is comprised of short chapters with titles like “Ride Lonesome”, Midnight Run”, “Hard Times”. It’s always clear to the reader where and when the story is taking place for that chapter. The story opens in Arizona in 1970. A man in a camper driving through the desert. In the next chapter he’s in Utah. Clearly he’s just driving the back desert roads of the Southwestern states. He picks up a pup in the desert and now he has someone to talk to! The monologuing of The Killer will feel familiar here.

Separate from the man in the camper, we start to jump over to other places and characters as another story begins to emerge. Killers on the beach, g-men, a high profile case that went south. In typical old-school early 70’s tough guy fashion our protag gets into a deadly scrap with some dubious long hairs.

About a third of the way into the story the treads start to come together. What’s at play here is that a man in his 50s or 60s in 1970 would have been 20s or 30s in 1940. A man that age in that time might just be a bootlegger or a gangster in one of the big cities. Suddenly our man has a past and a curious mix of story emerges. The final piece of the story puzzle to emerge comes from the knowledge that US Federal Witness Protection Program started in 1970, the present year of the story.

The Coyote and the Snake mixes some different crime story and crime character types together to give the reader a story that is original but has familiar flourishes too. There’s action, and fights, and double crosses. With old alliances rekindled the story will criss-cross across the country. This is some good crime shit through and through. I mean c’mon, how does a 70’s desert noir mixed with a gangster story sound.

Rating: Look at that cover! Positive/highly recommended

Availability: This one is only going to be available digitally. Kindle|Hoopla