Here’s some pulpy goodness: A graphic novel rendering of the adventures of John Benteen’s gun-for-hire Neal Fargo. A crowd-funding campaign for an independent production will launch soon; I’ll keep you posted.
A 96-page prestige format, action packed, hardcover graphic novel starring soldier of fortune Neal Fargo, based on the legendary ‘Fargo’ paperback series by John Benteen! Imagine if Conan was an American in the early 20th century. He still wouldn’t be as hard as Neal Fargo! Written and illustrated by the inimitable HOWARD CHAYKIN! Exclusive Cover by DAVE JOHNSON.
Contributing artists also include Gary Frank, Butch Guice, Jordi Bernet, Enrico Marini, Robert Tanenbaum, Ron Garney, and more!
Benteen‘s Fargo was self-consciously modeled off of Lee Marvin’s Henry Fardan in the 1966 MexRev Western The Professionals.
Who is Neal Fargo?Fargo has been described as “a combination of Robert E. Howard’s Conan mixed with Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch.”
He was a big man, with wide shoulders, narrow hips the long legs of a born and bred horseman. His hair was close-cropped and snow white, though he was only in his thirties. He had grown up hard and never looked back. He’d punched cattle, rough-necked in the oil fields—even fought in the prize rings.
He joined up with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders and found his true calling—combat. His face was so battered, scarred, weathered and remarkably ugly that it was almost handsome. He drew helplessly admiring looks from the women and cautious, wary looks from the men. He was a soldier of fortune, for sale to the highest bidder—he was Fargo.
What’s the story?Fargo is hired to protect a small railroad on the verge of going out of business from being sabotaged by a larger ruthless and corrupt competitor. Fargo always enjoyed a challenge, and payback was fair play in his book.Fist fights, gunfights, women and whisky, ‘Hell on Wheels’ is a prime example of what makes Neal Fargo a timeless character in the world of adventure graphic novels. Combine that with the unique creative sensibility of Howard Chaykin, no stranger to tough, smart protagonists (with an eye for the ladies) and ‘Fargo: Hell on Wheels’ will be one of the most exciting independent graphic novels of the year!
Matthew says
I really enjoyed the two Fargo books I’ve read. The second one was set in a oil boom town like REH lived in.
Chaykin is something of a legend among comic book fans. I’ve always had mixed feelings about him (like I do a lot of people in the comic industry.) That said he has a pulp sensibility that probably serve the series well.
Aaron says
Found my first one last week for sale at library. Cost me .50 cents. First couple pages are promising.
Paul McNamee says
The FARGO books (quite a few, anyway) have been available as ebooks for awhile. The wording on this made it sound like the rights to the paperbacks – as well as the graphic novel – had been secured. I wonder if we’ll see reprints and/or if the ebooks will change.
I can’t imagine reissuing the physical novels in this day and age, but maybe the first five or ten or a set of “classic stories” could work. Or a print omnibus.
Geoff Miller says
As Paul says, the novels are available as e-books, and are all available through the scribd.com library — along with a whole lot of similar books, so if you feel like you want to binge on them (I did) that’s the place to go.
David Wrolson says
I learned of the Casca series of pulp 1970’s-1980’s novels here and while I read the first couple and stayed away for awhile-I am hitting them pretty hard now.
Just the Ebook version.
Aaron says
Raz0rFist has an original graphic novel western coming out in a year “Ghost Of The Badlands”
Bob Deis says
The creator of this Fargo project is Michael Stradford, who is (among other things) the world’s foremost expert on the great male illustration model Steve Holland. His books about Holland and other topics are all excellent. I expect this one will be be, too. You can read more about Michael’s previous books here -> https://stevehollandbook.com/
JimC says
Outstanding. Appreciate the insight and the vote of confidence.
michael stradford says
Thanks as always for your support Bob and for turning me onto frontierpartisans.com!
michael stradford says
Thanks so much for the kind words about my fledgling crowdfunding effort. I introduced Howard Chaykin to Fargo and as I hoped he would, he fell in love with the character. I was pleased that the estate of John Benteen (real name Ben Haas) was open to exploring the graphic novel possibilities of this incredible character. If it’s appropriate for your readers, they can sign up for further info on the graphic novel at zoop.gg/c/fargo. If not, please delete and thanks again for your interest!
JimC says
Honored to have you here!