From the blurb: "... by master illustrator Sergio Toppi. The second volume, North America, contains eleven tales set in historical periods within the early United States, Canada, and Alaska..."

The Collected Toppi Vol. 2 features eleven original stories that read like folklore. Hard men and tough women live hard, tough lives in an unforgiving land. Most seem to be set in isolated parts of Alaska or Canada. Stories populated by miners, trappers, native tribes, bushwackers, and greedy traders. Enigmatic evils, unexpected kindness, and mysticism abound.

I had never heard of Sergio Toppi before reading this collection of his work. The cover and blurb appealed to me so I thought 'Why not give it a try?' I'm glad I did. The art is fantastic, most of the stories rich and nuanced. It's grown-up stuff, full of heartbreak, simple triumphs, and harsh life lessons.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Spare lines, black and white illustrations all add to the short tales that Sergio Toppi provides of murders, thieves, American Indian encounters, and tall tales that invest this volume. It is an interesting take on tales of the American West and Northwest.

I appreciate Netgalley providimg me the opportunity to read this volume.

The 2nd book in a series of seven collecting the work of Italian artist Sergio Toppi. This collects his stories taking place in North America, most in the old west. The stories were great, often a little wry. I wasn't familiar with Toppi before, but I look forward to checking out the rest of the volumes in this series.

Leggere Sergio Toppi è entrare in un altro mondo: un mondo in cui matita e inchiostro riescono a farti sentire odori e suoni, trasportandoti al di là della pagina.

Ogni vignetta è un capolavoro, ogni tavola un'unione di capolavori; e, per una volta, il testo risulta all'altezza dello splendore grafico.

Questo volume raccoglie le storie di Toppi ambientate in Nord America, un compendio di una grossa tranche del suo lavoro.

La scoperta di un continente, il fascino remoto della frontiera, una popolazione mutevole e composita vengono riassunti e presentati, in tutta la loro gloriosa complessità, da un maestro.

Unable to review, as the download does not work. Sorry, I know I am doing this wrong, but I can‘t find the option anymore to say that I will not be reviewing this. I tried to download twice and just get a letter salad in any reader I open it with. This does not download as a pdf-file.

A resounding success, this book showed me a wonderful graphic novelist I'd never heard of, and really whetted the appetite for the rest of his output. This, the second in seven books to collect the lot, covers stories set in N America, and whether it's a bloke trading with the Indians and ripping them off before getting his comeuppance, or an old timer getting revenge on a naive young crook, they really show their class. The draughtsmanship skills are top, but you also get perfect little short stories – stories of justice being met, at that. The third tale here might not be completely straight when it comes to justice, depending on your point of view, but certainly the moral in the fourth is strong in that regard – and again, what artwork, giving unique patterning to the rock formations and tribal tattoos in the story that reads like a long-told and oft-revised legend. Elsewhere, a man struggles and struggles to survival alone, and you really see how the creator got the sense of the landscape and the times – although written for disposable Italian weeklies in the early 1980s, these are timeless little successes, from every curlicue in birch bark up. He takes no sides, covering US history from British soldiers reluctantly seeking vengeance, or the 'Indians' and their outlook on things. So it's surprising, then, how a more modern piece is full of negroid lips and stereotypes, both visually and narratively. What's worse, the finale has a talking postbox and petrol pump, of all things – but it still manages to bring the circle to a fulfilment with, yep, you guessed – justice. Meaning that even with some late misfires, you can only call this an often outstanding find.