Matrix concept artist Geof Darrow returns with a new Shaolin Cowboy comic

Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to be Kin #2 cover
Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to be Kin #2 cover (Image credit: Geof Darrow (Dark Horse Comics))

Writer/artist Geof Darrow is working on a new Shaolin Cowboy series to debut later this year from Dark Horse Comics - and according to Darrow, he's already completed all seven issues.

"I have finished my next comic book series. It will be announced soon. A seven-issue series beginning in April," Darrow tweets. "My end is finished. It is up to Dark Horse now. Shaolin C in 'Cruel to be Kin.' 205 pages of not world-changing stuff."

Darrow says that this will be more "action-packed" than the previous Shaolin Cowboy series, and Dave Stewart is currently coloring it. 

Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to be Kin #2 cover (Image credit: Geof Darrow (Dark Horse Comics))

Darrow's creator-owned Shaolin Cowboy series follows a former Shaolin monk who makes a quixotic journey across a psychedelic version of Earth populated with giant mutant sharks, robots, ninja, and more. The unnamed monk isn't much of a talker though, but is prone to fighting, and not just with his hands - with guns, knives, and swords in his arsenal as well.

The interest in Shaolin Cowboy, however, is just as much for the character as it is the highly-detailed artwork of Geof Darrow. Darrow, who drew concept art for all four Matrix films, became a popular comics artists with works such as Hard Boiled and Big Guy and Rusty the Robot.

In 2021, Dark Horse republished all three Shaolin Cowboy series to date - Shemp Buffett, Who'll Stop The Reign?, and Start Trek - and are still available through your local comic shop or bookstore.

Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to be Kin #1 (of 7) is anticipated in April.

This is coming later in 2022, but while you wait make sure you've read the best comics of 2021. 

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)