Abigail, Kathleen, Chumani, Daisy and Cassie: five first names and as many different stories. Nothing predisposed a young black slave on the run, a young English widow from a good family, an Amerindian survivor of the massacre of her tribe, an Irish schoolteacher of a certain age and a prostitute who left with the fund to meet. And yet. Their tragic story threw them on the roads where they crossed paths never to leave each other again. To face the violence of men and the harsh society of the Far West, unity is strength.
“
These five women met and chose unacceptable paths for the society in which they evolve,
explains the designer Anlor.
They have decided to take a form of independence and not to follow the paths that were laid out for them. They found themselves understanding that they would be stronger together
”.
Massacres, backfiring action scenes, women with a strong character, all steeped in violence and sprinkled with touches of humor,
Ladies with Guns
immediately takes the reader on a frantic story. Relayed by the lively line of Anlor and pop colors, this feminine comic strip offers a side of western adventures little mentioned in the genre: the place of women in the history of the Far West. No feminist claim is apparent, however. Sisterhood and tolerance for others are more of the common threads.
“
The idea was to represent the conquest of the West via heroines coming from all walks of life and fighting for their right to be different and to trace their own path without being judged for it.
By going beyond their cultural preconceptions, they learn from each other and are much stronger
,” confides the designer.
Few women have tackled the western in comics.
The codes of the genre are tenacious and the pressure enormous.
To the delight of the reader, Olivier Bocquet and Anlor have decided to free themselves from it and take jubilant cross paths.
To chart their own path.
The BD box: decryption of Anlor
"This backfiring sequence is both a scene of action and dialogue" Anlor / Dargaud
“This plate illustrates the pivotal moment when the heroines consider arming themselves and fighting back.
They are attacked by men who want to recover the little slave Abigail.
Entrenched in Daisy's farm, they understand that they are ready to kill them to achieve their objective.
They are looking for weapons to defend themselves but have none.
So Daisy, in the fifth square, launches the negotiations and tries to calm the attackers to find a more peaceful exit.
This backfiring sequence is both a scene of action and dialogue.
Intense and nocturnal, I opted for a black background.
I removed the margins around the drawings so that the reader is completely immersed in the sequence and feels empathy for the characters.
convey emotion
For the staging, I open the plate with a large box on lost edges with these women who are crushed by the gunshots. I continue with tight shots on the faces in order to support this moment of tension. I go through these expressions sometimes a little pushed or even towards a graphic design that is close to the cartoon to convey the emotion, which I seek to transmit in each strong sequence. The general bird's-eye view of the exterior that follows highlights that these women have no possibility of escape. The only solution is confrontation. Horses and men invest the edge of the page to evoke their great number. At the bottom of the page, we place ourselves from the point of view of the men who came to recover the slave. The one who negotiates, the Mexican is the leader of the attack. It plays on two tables:he holds a reassuring speech and at the same time he turns his gaze towards the box of explosives which clearly shows his intentions. We then understand that his word is a lie. On the contrary, the sheriff of the last box, sincere and without ulterior motives, is crushed by the whole situation. The horizontality of the strip amplifies the oppression of this guy who, although guarantor of authority, will not be able to manage this band of individuals more seasoned in violence.oppression of this guy who, although guarantor of authority, will not be able to manage this band of individuals more seasoned in violence.oppression of this guy who, although guarantor of authority, will not be able to manage this band of individuals more seasoned in violence.
“The pop and bright colors contrast with the shades of beige of the traditional western.
And reflect the ambition of this album: to awaken the reader's retina and modernize the genre.
Anlor, designer
This plate reveals some of my graphic and narrative tricks used to challenge the reader and renew the codes of the western. In particular the graphic treatment and the attention paid to onomatopoeia are important in this album. I sculpt them, I develop their proportion with each noise that I represent according to their importance. Here the shots are transcribed by white "Paw Paw" to accentuate their visibility. They almost puncture the page and are overwhelming. The first onomatopoeia is legible, while the other two are intertwined. They become a kind of graphic movement representing the confused situation and the deafening dimension of the scene. The cinematographic framing also contributes to the staging of the dramatic tension:the many boxes oscillate between action and dialogue, all of this fuses like a fast cut in the cinema. The pop and bright colors contrast with the shades of beige of the traditional western. And reflect the ambition of this album: to awaken the reader's retina and modernize the genre.