Review by Ian Keogh

Joe has it good in Mexico. He’s married to the voluptuous Dolores, and if her three brothers are brutal and wild, he’s nothing to fear as long as he stays loyal. The fears start when he’s abducted by a previous wife, Mary, who leaves Dolores trussed up like a slab of meat, and claims she’s taking in Joe for the bounty on his head. Of course, if he were to settle on a divorce and disclose where he’s hidden the loot from their big robbery she may view matters differently. As the pair head back North writers Alain Clément and Olivier Vatine gradually reveal the circumstances of their parting, and what’s happened in the intervening years.

There’s some confusion over the art. This English edition twice credits Fabrice Lamy alongside Vatine, an accomplished artist, and once solely credits Lamy, which is the common attribution in France. Lamy has the same looseness about his cartoon style that Vatine has elsewhere, but is far more inclined to pages pack with smaller panels. A constant sense of motion identifies the art also. The cast are never stiff or posed, and in the rare moments people are still, their hair will blowing in the wind. It’s very effective and never lacking for detail,

Anyone wanting read something into the two lead characters being named Joseph and Mary will really strain for any other allegory unless the stolen gold is intended to represent their child. That’s unlikely, as there’s little depth to this meandering story, which is fun while it lasts and looks great, but it nothing you’ll ever come back to.