Review by Ian Keogh

In terms of both distance and time it’s been a long journey for Lonesome’s formerly nameless protagonist. The man now known as Elijah Dawson learned in The Ties of Blood that he’s the son of a corrupt Senator, and in each volume to date he’s tracked someone down only to learn they work for a person of even greater influence. The trail has led to a remote estate in Maine where a devil worshipping rancher controls the town and surrounding area.

Yves Swolfs introduced a slight supernatural element very early in the series, but has admirably underplayed it ever since. It’s present in the chief villain, but use has been sparing, a plot device Swolfs can turn to if necessary, such as the Senator’s prodigious powers of persuasion. It leaves Lonesome very much the traditional Western in every other respect. Elijah ticks the box for the sure-shot loner with a razor sharp sense of what’s right and what’s wrong, and he’s also a man of action and very few words.

From the beginning Swolfs has been a phenomenal artist who loves bringing the landscape to life. It’s very difficult to imagine anyone here without bringing their surroundings to mind, and the forests of Maine and the river running through them provide the natural beauty for sordid events. The people are easily distinguished, and the thought applied to the scenery is also applied to what they wear and how it hangs on them.

For all that, though, there’s a very antiseptic quality to Lonesome. Everyone looks too clean and although there are moments of unpredictability, there are no great shocks. Plans are discussed and then largely play out as per those discussions, so there’s little tension either, while there’s not enough sympathy for anyone who may meet their maker as we care too little about them. It all means The Sorcerer’s Domain never transcends being an artful homage. It draws the first cycle to a close, but without the major event it really needs.