My friend and a true spaghetti western connosieur Mike Hauss published the second volume of his new publication by the end of November 2019, and this time, it took me quite a long time to get it, I am ashamed to admit!!! I can’t remember the reason though, as I usually order my reading material straight after it’s released for the public…but then, the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 was quite turmulous, so…anyway, just the other day I’ve received my order from Amazon and among other publications (of which I’m gonna write later), there was this nice addition to my library.
For a long time now I can’t really say I prefer one genre or another. I simply like movies as such and usually watch them without any regards of genres or directors, although I’d say it depends on the mood, for example, currently I am in old school kung fu movies’ mood, so, there you go. But I would never miss the opportunity to learn about movies as such, and I am definitely spaghetti-positive, therefore, it’s simply a no-brainer I am buying publications about this genre also.
I’ve already covered the initial Spaghetti Westerns volume 1, so…what the second one brings? Well, for one, I like the fact you can see Mike’s getting better in doing the DTP work. I still admire his courage to do this project in MS Word (although for his new stuff he’s switched to Adobe InDesign and the difference is evident), because if you ever did more than the simple formatting in MS Word, you know that the “pain in the ass” description is spot on. So, I am not gonna dwell on formatting at all, although there are some cases of formatting errors, but as I’ve said – sometimes you can’t correct those, so let it be.
But I am buying mags and books because of their content. And there is quite a lot to enjoy here, and I tell you straight away, I was little surprised to see Mike’s opening the publication with – according to his opinion – an atrocious Adios, Cjamango. Why would you open with this, I thought. Of course, this is Mike’s publication and he can write as he pleases, but for some strange reason I was uneasy with it… but then, the truth is, as with any other genre, there are exceptional, good, bad and atrocious flicks in spaghetti westerns too. So I’ve said to myself – why are you overthinking stuff? Shut it and enjoy the reading! And so I did (therefore, it’s not a negative comment, just in case you wonder).
I’ve heard about a few of movies reviewed here, but never seen them, so if you are like me, you will learn a lot here. From reviews of movies like (aforementioned) Adios Cjamango, Adios Hombre (a.k.a. Sette pistole per un massacre), Bounty Hunter in Trinity, Tails, You Lose, Ruthless Colt of the Gringo, Blood Calls To Blood and quite a few more we’ll get to the interview sections – and this volume boasts of the interview with John P. Dulaney, Glenn Saxon, Ernesto Gastaldi, Javier Ramos plus the first part of a fantastic piece about (and by) Robert Woods!!! Plus another 2 interesting articles, a suggested bibliography and not a few illustratios through the text and few extra at the end of the publication, this will last you some time – and I am sure you’ll gonna end up researching the availability of a few movies!!!
Mike is planning to re-do those first publications (probabl in one double-issue format), so you can either order them stand-alone or wait for the latter option. That’s totally up to you.
Summed up – it’s better than the first one and that’s good, but at the same time, they both belong together. I am definitely conent with it. Good work, Mike!
and if you want the more expensive color edition: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spaghetti-Westerns-Color-Michael-Hauss/dp/108308495X/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=spaghetti+westerns+volume+2&qid=1587831751&sr=8-4
P.S.: A fun fact – Did you notice a mention of yours truly in “Thanks” category? Tell you now…feels great! Thank you for thanking me, Mike!
