Artist Jordi Armengol Tells Tripwire All About Creating Gunslingers With Mike Richardson For Dark Horse Comics. …And Shares an Eight Page Preview

Aim To Please

Tripwire’s contributing writer Paul N Neal recently had the opportunity to speak to artist Jordi Armengol about illustrating Mike Richardson’s Gunslingers for Dark Horse Comics…

TRIPWIRE: Gunslingers is a wonderful comic. Before diving into details can I ask simply, are you a fan of the Western genre? What is the appeal of the era?

JORDI ARMENGOL: Thank you for your kind words! The truth is, I’ve been a fan of the genre since my childhood. My father adored Sergio Leone’s films, and my mother loved Zane Grey’s novels. I grew up listening to the vinyl soundtrack of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Here in Europe, we’ve had a tradition of good Westerns in comics: Blueberry and Tex are the most notable examples. The combination of all these different factors ultimately led me to work on Gunslingers.

TW: There have been many, many movies and television series set during this time period. As an artist, can you perhaps name a film or two that may have helped inform or inspire your work on Gunslingers?

JA: My favourite Western movies are Unforgiven, High Noon and Rio Bravo, but also any western movie from Sergio Leone. Probably the last one has influenced me more on the process of creating colour palettes for Gunslingers.

TW: The Dark Horse website describes Gunslingers as a story of a young girl who is accused of murder for shooting her parents’ killers, and then her gunslinger grandfather must come out of retirement to rescue her from a hanging. Is the young girl Josie the main character?

JA: My favourite character in the book is possibly Josie. I would say that I find her evolution in the story very interesting. For me it is a wild and bloody entry into her maturity.

TW: As it stands, is Gunslingers a totally standalone story? Or can fans look forward to a sequel or more adventures from you both?

JA: I think Mike conceived Gunslingers as a unique story. And I think that’s a great thing to do. I think it is a very powerful book. We worked hard to make it that way.

TW: It is always important to ask? How did your collaborative partnership work? Was it simply as writer and artist, or was there an element of give and take and an exchange of ideas to create the finished product fans will enjoy?

JA: At first, I approached Mike with the desire to work on a Western. I’d been on summer vacation for a couple of weeks and had taken the opportunity to reread Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. It’s a book I love. So, I was thirsty for a Western. Mike told me he’d had a really good idea in mind for a while. He gave me the plot, and I thought it was great. So, when I finished the project, I was working on (Navigator), we started working on Gunslingers.

TW: The pages I have seen feel incredibly cinematic and fast moving. They are dynamic and eye-catching. If optioned for a movie, just for fun, could you suggest a director that might suit your storyline? Who might you cast as Josephine and Ethan Fuller? 

JA: I would love to see Taylor Sheridan working Gunslingers, but as he writes his own projects it might be difficult. Harrison Ford would do an amazing Ethan Fuller. Pyper Braun would make a perfect look for Josie.

TW: If you lived in the era depicted in Gunslingers, do you feel you would have fared well? Surely you’d admit it may have been a challenge compared to America in 2025.

JA: I don’t believe an artist would fare very well at all in the Wild West (lol).

TW: In perhaps two or three sentences could you say why comic fans should pick up a copy of Gunslingers?

JA: We have put a lot effort into making it solid, epic and entertaining. I would love if Gunslingers is remembered as one of the best Westerns ever.

TRIPWIRE NOTE: As promised here is the 8 Page Preview as promised.