[Meeting…] Cuttlas

The Wild West is an inexhaustible source of ideas and there are many comic characters that have been based to a greater or lesser extent on that specific time and area of ​​American history. At first, characters like Jonah Hex or Luky Luke come to mind, two very different versions of the vigilante gunfighter on duty.

Precisely that is the profile of the character I will talk about today, who is commonly known as Good Cuttlas and was created by Calpurnio for a fanzine called The Jap in 1983.

The first thing that catches your attention about Cuttlas is his simple appearance, as he is practically a puppet with a cowboy hat, the rest of the characters that appear in his adventures have a similar style, which is also generally present in the rest of the elements of his vignettes. But don't be fooled because the visual simplicity of the character and his allies contrasts with the adventures and thoughts they show us in their stories.

Cuttlas, the atypical cowboy

Cuttlas is a vigilante cowboy who usually spends his life imposing order alone or with the help of his friend Jim (who looks like him but is black). Normally his peace is disturbed by the attack of his archenemy Jak the evil or some ambush by the Indians, who also have their own wars against General Carter and his army, which on more than one occasion will star in the vignettes of Cuttlas, leaving the protagonist aside.

In his moments of rest, Cuttlas usually spends the day with his girlfriend Mabel or visiting Juan, a Mexican who is always leaning against a wall where he spends his life singing, sleeping or thinking about deep things or concerns, which he will not hesitate to share with the protagonist.

On other occasions Cuttlas will receive a visit from his extraterrestrial friend called 37 or will spend the day checking the internet, listening to electronic music or trying out his latest technology device... How? That doesn't have to do with the Wild West? Well hey, it's true but who cares?

Cuttlas's adventures are short, humorous and imaginative, but they do not have much historical or any kind of coherence. In fact, their stories could be divided into several types: those about cowboys, those about new technologies, those that criticize society or current events, those that are simple jokes, artistic ones, and those about existential doubts.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Cuttlas is a positive, winning, kind character (although I am sure that Indians do not think the same), addicted to new technologies and critical of society and the media. His friends are very nice, and they can make us laugh at any time.

It is worth clarifying that the vignettes of this character undergo enormous changes in quality, some seem wonderful to me and others simply forgettable, this may be due to the variety of situations that his stories cover or simply because the artist wanted to do something out of the ordinary.

In any case, I think it is worth knowing Cuttlas, in fact it is very possible that many of you have already done so and do not even remember it, since his stories have appeared in the free newspaper 20 minutes for years.

Fortunately you can read his adventures in a more comfortable and easy-to-find format than a free newspaper, as many compilations of the character have been released: The good old Cuttlas, The good Cuttlas against the bad guys, Cuttlas, the man of the West, Cuttlas the sign of the times, Cuttlas the molecular gunman, We are just puppets, Cuttlas the samurai cowboy, This is not a comic, Cuttlas Intregral 1 and 2.

And if you don't feel like reading, you can search for the Cuttlas series (Cuttlas Microfilms) created in 1992 or its shorts The good old Cuttlas (1990) and With 100 cannons per band (1992).