East of West #8 is near perfect, as it left me in awe while earning this score. Highly recommended. Read Full Review

Frank Martin is also utterly excellent here, combining his trinity of colors technique with the scenes featuring Death to much simpler contrasts in some other pages. The cold blue colorization with the president, when faced with the orange and red warmth of the raging crowd is something that is utterly simple, yet striking nonetheless, pushing forth the ideology of the characters very aptly on the pages and panels. The heavy use of black, white and orange in some scenes is also very well placed, with a certain unity of vision for the colors that put the trinity technique to some very good use in some scenes with a good deal of diversity. Frank Martin is also doing some great work here, to the series credit. There might be a scene that doesn't amount to much and some minor elements strangely used, yet the strengths of the themes, of the artistic direction and the world and character-building still manage to make this issue really enjoyable and fully worth the time of readers. Read Full Review

Dragotta does great work illustrating her elite status, her final actions in the issue especially, but he really gets to flex his artistic muscles with the B-story concerning Death and his comrades. Read Full Review

So yeah, Ive said it before and Ill say it again, you should be reading this series as it is going to be something big. Just open up to the first page and if that artwork doesnt get you, then put it back, but also know that if you arent intrigued by the art, you may want to get your eyes checked. Read Full Review

"East of West" #8 is another strong installment in a series that deserves even more attention than it's already received. Hickman as a writer is someone who loves to create huge, intricate backstories to his plots. In some company-owned titles, it ends up being slightly at odds with what everyone else has already added to the shared world setting. In "East of West," Hickman and Dragotta are free to create whatever they can think up, and the end result is riveting. Read Full Review

After eight issues, theres still really no telling where this story will go. Despite the consistently enigmatic nature of East of West, the ride has been terrific so far. Each issue offers something interesting and different. Its great to see the overall focus of the story shift back to the central players, and the artists involved again provide some high quality visuals to accompany this awesome story. Its been a good year for Jonathan Hickman, and this series must be at the top of his accomplishments for 2013! If youre not yet reading this bizarrely intriguing tale of futuristic, supernatural revenge and mystery, then catch up on the good reads with the rest of us; this is fresh storytelling at its finest. Read Full Review

Hickman and Dragotta are master craftsmen, building a world that gets more and more robust and wonderful with every passing issue. Learning about the history and politics of their grand dystopia is a pleasure every month; Dragotta's pages are striking and beautiful, and Hickman's narrative increases in both scope and detail as the series progresses. It's a book worth re-reading, just to find every nuance, every carefully crafted piece of the environment. There might not be an appropriate string of genres to apply to EAST OF WEST (I think the best I can come up with is "pre-apocalyptic Biblical-infused alt-history with sci-fi and fantasy notes and a Western motif"), but the series is interesting and well-crafted, and deserving of a spot on many readers' pull lists. Read Full Review

Overall, East of West is a fantastic series well worth picking up; however, not every issue is a five star book. Hickman does have a large amount of books that he is currently writing and he may be struggling to distribute attention and the sheer fact that he has been able to keep all his books consistently good is astounding. This issue is one of the worse issues of “East of West” but by no means should stop you from picking up this title. The plot is steadily (though slowly) moving along and is well worth it's place on your pull list. East of West is a fantastic title that does have certain hiccups; this issue being one of them. Read Full Review

However, the book continues to impress. The creation of the world alone is something to marvel at. Dragottas artwork is meant to be with Hickmans words. There is something prophetic about this book that you wont find much anywhere else. So again I find myself recommending it, but only if you have the patience of a saint. Read Full Review

East of West, with its combination of excellent script and wonderful visuals, would be an unstoppable force if readers were afforded one protagonist to get behind. Read Full Review

Now I feel that Hickman is over-stretching the plot.