Image Comics has been doing what it has done over this past decade, and that’s publishing a variety of books for each and every niche they can think of. However, they’re not all gold, and perhaps this title that I’m going to talk about here sadly belongs to that particular category. I am talking about the relatively new series they released, Coyotes. Created by writer Sean Lewis and artist Caitlin Yarsky, Coyotes revolves around, well… I don’t really f*cking know what it’s about.
On one hand, you have this group of women who are, what, witch doctors and super assassins? On the other, you have mostly Caucasian assholes, and then there are talking wolves. So, right. Yes, that’s what I’m dealing with here.
Now, this series ticks off every rabid keyboard warrior from PC land’s checklist, that much I’m sure. Exclusively female protagonists? Check! Most of the protagonists are non-Caucasian? Check! The villains are either white males or MALE WOLVES? Hell to the freaking check! Because when it comes to this series, subtlety can go ride an Image “I”-sized dildo and flip off. However, that’s not my main issue with the series. If anything, I even find this in your face approach to become socially relevant pretty hilarious, amusing even. And that’s one of the reasons that I still read the series. Well, that and Yarsky’s art that’s sort of reminiscent of Tradd Moore. Whatever happened to that guy, anyway? Last I heard, he got into a fight with Marvel or something.
No, my main issue with Coyotes is just how nearly indecipherable it is when it started, and not in a good way. During the first two issues, I absolutely had no idea what the hell was going on with these characters. By the time the third and fourth issue dropped, its indecipherability was replaced by something more concerning: disparate story elements. Sure, you can say that comics is a great medium when it comes to melding genres and tropes, but there’s just something about Coyotes that doesn’t seem to gel.
Looking at it one way, Coyotes seems to hold a lot back to keep readers’ interest piqued for the next issue, which ultimately falls flat due to how confusing the story becomes. Looking at it in another way, though, you’d think that the series is trying just a little too hard in trying to make itself look like a seamless blend of action, fantasy, myth, and science fiction. Of course, this is all just me. If you like the series, then that’s good for you.
But, regardless of how unappealing the series’ story has gotten over its initial run, I would still say that I’d read this over the 350,000,000th issue of Batman or some capes and tights crap. That’s why I’m still willing to let Coyotes stay in my pull list. I do just hope it gets better in the succeeding months.
So, would I recommend this series? Nah. But, I do commend the efforts of its creators. Like I said, Image Comics makes comics for niches, and maybe this is just not the one for me.
