ADAM AND THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE

The third installment in the Elite Team, an inspirational series from the eponymous professional wrestling stable, comes from Adam “Hangman” Page, a rising All Elite Wrestling star with a cowboy gimmick. In the book, although child Adam loves his guitar, he’s nervous about an upcoming talent show where he’ll compete among friends, recognizable as fellow stable members. After a few botches, Adam wants to quit, but his sentient boots offer a way out: a lucky golden horseshoe hidden in Aaron’s Creek, the adult Page persona’s kayfabe hometown. Page and series illustrator Coburn seem inspired by cinematic Westerns, as Adam vanquishes foes and conquers obstacles including a train robber (by losing his balance), a raging river (by holding on tight to a log), and a massive tornado (by lassoing it!). Dusty, full-color images in partial- and full-page panels consist of midaction freeze frames concentrated on characters’ expressions; all the critters Adam encounters resemble fellow wrestlers. Adam secures the Golden Horseshoe and, back home, triumphs at the talent show but realizes self-confidence is all he needed to win. Both story and moral are fairly predictable, and the wrestling-world references will exclude readers encountering them here for the first time. Though some of the wrestlers featured—including Page—have brownish skin, their real-life corollaries are all white males. People of color—and women—eventually appear, but only in backgrounds.

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