| A Review of: Gonna Roll the Bones by Olga SteinGonna Roll the Bones, a story based on text from a Hugo Award-winning
novella by Fritz Leiber, has been superbly rendered here with pencil
on vellum by David Wiesner. The story, a fantastical western,
obviously leaves out some important original material, but the
reader is given enough to guess that Joe Slattermill, the central
character, has some special gift when it comes to rolling bones'
(or dice). Since he lives in an old, run down cabin with his wife
and mother, we can surmise that he doesn't normally gamble for
personal profit, but on this occasion, restless and curious about
The Boneyard, the new gambling establishment in Night Town, he
decides to take a few dollars and have a night out. Joe's dollar
bet quickly turns into a four thousand dollar stash, but instead
of leaving with his winnings, self-assured Joe is eager to test his
skills at the crap table against a mysterious Big Gambler'. The Big
Gambler soon displays an unnatural prowess with bones-which isn't
surprising considering what he looks like. I won't divulge the rest
of the story. Suffice it to say, it has a few things in common with
"The Devil and Daniel Webster". I like the layout of
pictures and text, and the yellowish tint of the pages with the
edges made to look like they've been singed by fire.
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