The True Death of Billy the Kid

Geary's examination of this legendary figure of the Old West starts with a brief summary of Billy the Kid's early life. After providing a glimpse into his personality via a handful of details and anecdotes of Billy as a young man, the author/illustrator chronicles the escape from jail that garnered the outlaw his fame, his run from the law, and the tense encounter that resulted in his death. Unfortunately, the first few pages are comprised of loosely related still images and won't pull in readers who aren't already interested in the era. However, once Geary begins to recount the Kid's biggest exploits, the tale becomes far more compelling—this is both a story of a violent man meeting his inevitably violent end and a look at the late 19th-century American West. Fittingly, the cartoonish art has a hint of the grotesque. Clean linework and exaggerated perspectives accentuate a narrative that is both mythic and grounded.