Next Town Over

Gears, Glyphs, Guns and Ghosts....^[1]

That's John Henry Hunter, ain't it?...The $15,000 fella? But I'm thinking you're not really after the $15,000.

—Flint

Next Town Over is a weekly Gaslamp Fantasy western webcomic by Erin Mehlos.

John Henry Hunter is a notorious and dangerous outlaw with pyrokinetic abilities; so infamous is he across the territories that he has a reward of $10,000 and counting on his head. He is seen in the town of Lookback taking a valuable necklace of personal significance to him from a French maid while torching the saloon they are in.

Trailing after him is the equally dangerous and mysterious Bounty Hunter Vane Black. Vane, a stone-faced woman with an eerie pallor, is an old acquaintance of Hunter's who is hunting him down for having wronged her in the past.

As they battle across the frontier, they take advantage of every object, person, or animal which might help them to achieve their goals. And neither of them seems to care much about the collateral damage they cause during their confrontations. This is not a good thing for the other inhabitants of The Wild West.

Why is she chasing him? And what, exactly, is he after?

The webcomic updates every Saturday. The first page is here, and the latest is here.

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Tropes used in Next Town Over include:

• Badass Cape: Vane's is pretty sweet.
• Badass Longcoat: Hunter.
• The Blacksmith
• Cattle Punk: A combination between this and Weird West.
• City Slicker: Hunter is taken for one.
• Cool Horse: Diamonds.
  • Hellish Horse: Hunter's steed, Outlaw.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The flashback panels.
• Determinator: Vane doesn't seem to quit easily.
• Expy: Hunter's beard, pointy hair, and streaks of gray bring to mind Ra's al Ghul.
• Gaslamp Fantasy
• Kill It with Fire: Hunter's main mode of attack.
• Made of Iron: Vane certainly qualifies.
• Man in White: Hunter. Vane is easily able to locate him simply from hearing descriptions of his fancy dress.
• Nice Hat: They're part of Erin Mehlos' Signature Style, so it's natural that she would choose to tell a story in the Wild West, where nice hats abound.
• Odd-Shaped Panel: Panels are occasionally shaped to fit the contours of various Steampunk-style gears.
• Playing with Fire: Hunter again.
• Professional Gambler
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: As the page image demonstrates well, Hunter and Black. The main difference is that Hunter, the Red Oni, is the cultured one, a break from most instances of the trope.
• Title Drop: Page 18, where it is used to refer to the main theme and conflict.
• Victorian Novel Disease: At least one character suspects Vane's got one of these.
• Weird West: The two main characters are an outlaw pyromancer and a deathly pale woman gunslinger who does things no normal person should be able to do. Also has definite elements of Cattle Punk.
• Wicked Cultured: Hunter fits this trope quite well.
• The Wild West

1. ↑ From Erin Mehlos' deviantArt account.