Writers: Shawn Macbee and Maciej “MJ” Jankowski
Artists: Nicolás Nieto and Matías De Vincenzo
Fandom Limb, June 2025
A new, independent title called Westron features a curious division within the text, manifesting as a flashback. In the first section, we meet the title character Jan Westron, a private investigator. The story is dedicated to the creepy murder of a teen girl, apparently by her younger sister, after they were frightened in the woods by large, red eyed creature. Westron is summoned by the desperate local police to help them solve the mystery.
The second half of this first issue takes us to a small Polish village, and to Westron’s childhood. One of Westron’s best friends is killed, apparently by her boyfriend. The art for the flashback is delivered in manga style, with a much lighter colour palette than the brooding first half. For all that the murder takes place in rural Poland, the story could be a shonen manga title set in some inakajimita town. The difference between the two artistic styles is stark:
Young Westron vies with adult Westron for attention from the audience. It is a duology with parallel storylines, featuring the same main character at different points in his life. Perhaps we are fortunate to be given two stories, twinned mysteries to resolve within one issue. (A preview of pages from the second issue indicates the same structure will be pursued throughout the series.) The obvious problem is one of execution: a single issue of 32 pages does not give both of stories much opportunity to unfold. We think suspense titles need room to breathe, and one of the duology must pay the price. We see this in the first story, where the creative team stretch out the tension in the dark forest. But the flashback is jammed into the remaining pages. Young Westron loses out to adult Westron, at least in this first issue.
The two stories are barely linked by a passing memory, which is designed to give the reader insight into what makes Westron tick. Westron is a curious man who clearly wants to stand out, eccentric enough to wear a black shirt and trousers with a white tie and white braces. Westron is cast in the same forge as Sherlock Holmes. When in “mode”, Westron enters a flow state of hyperacuity and deductive reasoning. These insights are represented in-story within monologue boxes which look like scraps of lined paper. Westron sets up his credentials when, on a train, he foils a professional pickpocket trying to distract him with her cleavage. In a very enjoyable vignette, we are told in clever detail why the woman wanting help with her luggage is a petty thief. Obvious in hindsight, but all classical detective work is. We could have read and been thoroughly entertained by an issue of Westron doing almost nothing but sitting on that train, running the tells on, say, a runaway gangster, a serial adulterer, the owner of the lost cow outside on the tracks.
Here is the promotional copy:
The comic is Westron #1, a dark detective thriller in the tradition of Nordic Noir, with an underpinning in Slavic supernatural lore.
When the corpse of a young woman is discovered in the woods, the police turn to private investigator JAN WESTRON to help them find her little sister, who has been missing since the pair left their home together three days prior. Westron’s investigation turns up troubling evidence that points to a deeper mystery and a terrifying culprit. The case brings up memories of his youth more than a decade prior: the horrific loss of a friend that would change the course of his life forever.
There is a supernatural horror element to the story which is not obvious from the first issue, but which is fleshed out in the preview of the second. It is a fine line to walk: how can a character whose raison d‘être is rational deduction interact with antagonists whose motives and abilities are inhuman and fantastical? Somehow, we think, the clever and patient Westron and his creators will find a way.
The comic is live on Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/propsmith/westron-1