LOVELESS (2005) #1

The series opens in the brutal aftermath of the Civil War. Wes Cutter, a Confederate soldier who spent the final stretch of the war in a Union prison camp, returns home to Blackwater expecting to reclaim his life. Instead, he finds the town occupied, his land taken, and his reputation twisted into something dangerous.

Wes is angry, unpredictable, and carrying scars the war didn’t leave on the surface. His wife, Ruth, has survived in her own way — harder, sharper, and far more capable than anyone realizes.

The Union forces running Blackwater see Wes as a threat the moment he steps off the road. Tension escalates fast: intimidation, humiliation, and violence follow him everywhere. But Wes refuses to bend, and that defiance sets him on a collision course with the men now controlling the town.

The issue ends with a grim promise: Wes Cutter isn’t done fighting, and the war inside Blackwater may be bloodier than the one he just survived.

Azzarello and Frusin build it like a Western noir — harsh, dusty, and simmering with revenge.