The Serpent and the Coyote, published by cARTEm Cómics, is a spectacular story of redemption, betrayal and love, where not everything is as it seems, involving FBI agents, organized crime and the most diverse characters of the United States of the 1990s 70
Against The snake and the coyotethe duo Matz Yes Xavier They expand their work on Tango. If some scenes take place in the city of New Yorkwith its urbanity and cosmopolitan style, the title of the volume highlights and emphasizes the great American spacesfrom Nevada until everything Midwest of the country.
With this scenario, the reader will be able to observe the immense quality of the work of Philip Xavier to the pencils on the immense desert expanses of the American West, immersing him together with Matz’s screenplay in a story on the threshold of the world westernA street film and the thriller.
The story focuses on an event that actually happened: the witness protection program created in 1970 by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)to be able to take advantage of the repentance of criminals and act more precisely against organized crime, despite the resentment and resistance of various agents and the police institution itself.
Him hero From The snake and the coyote, Joeis partially inspired by Giuseppe Michele Valachipseudonym Joe Cagoeven if it was initially Joe Carico; Born in Harlem, New York, the son of Neapolitan immigrants. While in prison for serious crimes in Atlanta Prisonhe decided to offer his testimony to the FBI in exchange for protection and in 1963 he testified before the FBI McClellan Commission of the United States Senate Ten years later, on April 3, 1971, he died of a heart attack La Tuna federal prisona Texas.
“You’re the worst thing I’ve ever seen in prison.”
In Italy we would also see a similar case in the Seventies, exactly in 1973, when Leonardo Vitale he went to the commissioner’s office Flying Squad by the Italian police to blame himself for several serious crimes, because he was going through a religious crisis and wanted to start a new life. In the process, 27 members of the Borgate Mafialeaving room for new repentants. Vitali was shot dead by his former colleagues on 2 December 1981.
Readers who are also followers of American culture from the 60s to the 80swill be rewarded by the work of Matz and Xavier, as they take advantage of the story to unleash numerous nods to cinema. Him Ford Mustang green bottle Steve McQueen and Bullitta film with a now legendary soundtrack and which, moreover, also dealt with the protection of a witness, but on the streets of San Francisco; as well as the frame reproduced on some plates Once upon a time in America or the themes of Those good guysreflections appear.
The plot
1970, a man speeds along the highway, in the middle of the Arizona desert, aboard a camper that seems to never stop… It is in Utah that the man stops to get a table, a chair, a beer and a rifle. As he slowly quenches his thirst, a noise catches his attention. He gets suspicious, puts down the can and takes the gun. He proceeds cautiously, only to discover a young animal in distress.
Joe takes the animal, which he mistakes for a dog, and takes it to the trailer. There he wants to take care of his paw and try to give it a name, something he will try to achieve throughout the journey, with the most different names. He feels that something unites them, they have no family or friends, they are alone in the world.
Joe, although not his real name, is a man in his fifties who is part of a new witness protection program in the United States. He is a former mafia boss, a protected witness, who can testify against his former allies. So, when the first witness is murdered, the FBI has no choice but to cling to him like a hot nail, but his former mafia friends want to eliminate him.
The authors
Matz He spent his childhood in Martinique and then Paris, being a prolific author with nearly sixty comics published, including The Assassin; as well as world-famous video games such as Chipped cell, Assassin’s Creed, Far cry, Rainbow you are, Ghost reconnaissance; and even a novel under his real name, They don’t want Alexis: The night of the vigil. Furthermore, together with Philippe Xavier, he published the first volume of Tango (available in castellan).
Matz is a good screenwriter but tends to be superficial in their characters and here the reader lacks that depth of the characters, who remain pigeonholed archetypes of American stories. So we have a tough, older, handsome guy, along with a sexy, attractive woman; while on the side of the law there are repellent FBI agents, a questionable Texan agent, nefarious politicians and textbook gangsters.
“So you’re a coyote huh?…wow”
This gallery of heroes and villains that Matz has is the usual one of the genre, but he does not take advantage of it, but simply puts them on the board, like natural elements in those places in the USA, creating a great story and very funnybut by combining them with greater skill he could have created a great story, bringing The Serpent and the Coyote into the realm of superlative adjectives.
The work It’s essentially a thriller.perfectly basted, with a ensemble cast of characters who meet or interact in different scenes, move calmly but continuously towards the resultwhich will not be immediate, but will arrive in the last section of the over one hundred pages of the story. This is rich, captivating, exciting, with action, suspense and shooting.
Philippe Xavier does a great jobwhich can be seen in fantastic pages double where the drawing is the only thing present, without dialogue or text boxes. The artist uses the style of the classical school with mastery and precision, with a realistic tone and closer to the cinematic world with wide shots and zoom in on details, in a tribute to the great American plains.
Him the design is very well structuredknowing how to play with chiaroscuro, where the shadows are as important as the brightness of the spaces bathed in sunlight. Furthermore, the the colors are very well chosen and allows the reader to immerse themselves in a particularly attentive atmosphere.
The edition
The snake and the coyote it’s a one shotinside the BD Collection by the publisher cARTem comicsby the authors Matz Yes Xavier Philiptranslated into Spanish by Inés Sanchez Mesoneropublished in axiswith measurements of 24.1 x 31.8 cm and an extension of 152 pagesincluding several pages of additional content with sketches and explanations of the story.
This work is, ultimately, a calm and dynamic thriller orchestrated by Matz, where the reader will be able to enjoy every page with the detailed drawings by Xavier which presents a mature, strange, dangerous, murderous man, who nevertheless shows a very humanistic, captivating, interesting discourse, where solitude and encounters contrast, making the dichotomy between being and being as fluid as the current of a river
United States, 1970. Joe travels in a camper through the Wild West. There is, for starters, a small coyote, but also more or less well-intentioned people: local criminals, FBI agents, an American sheriff, more or less friendly old friends… But who is Joe really? Those who cross his path often see their life expectancy dangerously shortened…
The Mystery of Joe
The real enigma of the story is Joe himself. The encounters he has with characters throughout the plot always end in death or disappearance. Who is this man who seems to bring death wherever he goes? His identity is shrouded in a veil of secrets that slowly reveal themselves, keeping the reader in constant suspense.
A journey into the heart of the Wild West
The Wild West desert is not just the backdrop, but another character in the story. The arid landscapes, dusty cities and deserted streets reinforce the dark tone of the story, where every corner hides a new danger. The harshness of the environment reflects Joe’s character and the hopeless world in which he operates.
Violence and redemption
Joe’s journey across the West becomes a quest not only for survival, but also for redemption. Through their encounters, it becomes clear that he is fleeing a violent past, which continues to haunt him and define his present. The coyote, which accompanies him throughout the journey, seems to be a representation of his own soul: wild, solitary and always on the move.
Art that tells a story
The visual style is dark and atmospheric, capturing the vastness of the landscape and Joe’s loneliness. The expressions of the characters, the muted tones and the composition of the scenes create a sense of desperation, perfect for the dark tone of the plot.