Review by Ian Keogh

Beau Smith can’t be faulted for cheek in titling Bad Day at Black Rock after one of the greatest Westerns ever filmed, but the problem with that kind of chutzpah is setting yourself up to fail when your own story doesn’t live up to the cheek. At least with people who know of John Sturges’ masterpiece.

Wynonna Earp’s appearances in comics are now far outnumbered by TV episodes, but Smith hasn’t deserted the original medium entirely. Since Wynonna’s first appearance in 1996 she’s become less derivative, a stronger personality and not portrayed in such an exploitative manner, while Smith’s plotting has greatly improved. As with Season Zero Tim Rozon, Doc Holliday from the TV show, collaborates on the writing. However, Smith and whoever he partners with on the writing have never mastered natural sounding dialogue. Everything reads as if written to be smart rather than realistic, and it’s really distancing.

The sparkling point is a politician keen on normalising paranormals and integrating them into society. It’s a bad day because the Black Rock jail housing powered threats is busted wide open, and everyone we’ve seen dealt with to date is again loose. She might be an arse-kicker of the first order, but those odds don’t favour Wynonna and her allies.

Chris Evenhuis has been the artist of choice on recent Wynonna Earp, and there’s no denying his talent. This is clear art telling the story well and defining the characters, but he remains a good artist on the wrong project. The type of threats Wynonna faces require an artist with a grittier style. Everything about the cast and locations is too clean, down to the orange prison jumpsuits.

Does Bad Day at Black Rock match the film? Nowhere near. Allowing for the often staged dialogue, though, it is a competent thriller setting up the action and then delivering it. There’s a bigger plan as political corruption and manipulation leaves Wynonna and her crew out of favour, and the ramifications of that have never played out as there’s been no continuation. On reflection, the reappearance of many old menaces provides a valedictory feel, so perhaps that was always the intention.

This is also available as part of All In, gathering all of Wynonna’s later comic appearances.