We often know their most famous works of authors of international level, those that brought them to the Olympus of the greats of culture. But sometimes you discover that, especially at the beginning of your career, they created works that remained unknown to most, later discovering that they are titles of a certain interest both on a graphic and narrative level.
This is the case of Leiji Matsumoto, creator of cults such as Captain Harlock, Yamato, The Queen of 1000 Years, Danguard… among the works that have remained hidden and brought to the attention of the general public, thanks to the wise work of the Leiji Matsumoto Italia Cultural Association , there is “The Five of Vendetta”, a sorceress made in 1967, whose Maestro took inspiration from an Italian West film, in the classic “Spaghetti West” style: “The Five of Vendetta” by Aldo Florio from 1966.
A genre that the Mangaka really liked, so much so that it later gave rise to “Gun Frontier” and also the desert atmospheres, ridden by shady individuals, duels and frontier cities, we also find them in works such as Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999 , Queen Emeralds.
In the manga in question, the western concept or rather the narrative is very linked to the films released in the 60s of Italian production, the good guy who finds himself involved in a feud, the bad guy who wants to dominate the territory, the sense of revenge and honor, the mission accomplished after suffering and sacrifices and the happy ending, in which peace is re-established and the hero leaves behind him with a strong sense of melancholy, people and places.
“The Five of Vengeance” follows these rules, the return, after the American Civil War, of Jim, a man who owns a farm but over whose lands, in his absence, the Gonzales family has begun to dominate.
His figure is a hindrance to the Gonzales who hire a gunslinger and his gang: Matanza, the latter with a dirty trick, kills Jim and kidnaps his son.
The intervention of five trusted, trigger-happy friends: John, Alan, Ramon, Jesus and Dan, will avenge Jim’s death, save his son and mother and among desolate lands, in a shaded backdrop they will move away from the town in search of new adventures.
Reading this comic, with a very rough and dirty line, you almost have the sensation of seeing films of those epic films with Clint Eastwood such as “A Fistful of Dollars” or with Giuliano Gemma “Ringo Returns” or Franco Nero with “Django”, titles that need no introduction and which are always enjoyed again. The same goes for this book, rereading it is always a pleasure and in your mind, leafing through the pages and enjoying the tables, the classic music of the genre resonates, among all those of Ennio Morricone.
Matsumoto was able to pay great homage to a genre that has made history which then does not stray too far from the screenplay of the Samurai “sword and cloak” feature films (The Seven Samurai), especially starring the great Toshiro Mifune, so much so that he also participated in a film west as “Red Sun” together with Charles Bronson.
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