'Cowboy Bebop' Writer Dan Watters Shares His Favorite Episodes
Jan 25, 2022
by Dan Watters
When Titan Comics approached me with the idea of writing a comic for the new Cowboy Bebop series, the idea was a daunting one. I don’t say that lightly- I try to eschew any sense of reverence or legacy when writing a story in a world that already exists, since it shouldn’t really matter. Yet I think the original Cowboy Bebop anime is one of the best pieces of animation we’ve got. I didn’t want to broach its world unless I thought I had a story that felt profoundly Bebop and justified its place there.
And then, of course, a story about Spike, Jet and Faye snuck into my head like a venomous blob of fridge matter- a story I really wanted to tell. So here we are, with Cowboy Bebop #1 out this month, and Previewsworld have asked me to list some of my favourite episodes of the anime, and say what all the fuss is about…
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GANYMEDE ELEGY
There are tonnes of phenomenal episodes before this one, (Ballad of Fallen Angels and Sympathy for the Devil could so easily have made this list,) but I don’t see this one talked about enough. And I get it- it’s not the flashiest episode, the funniest, the darkest or the smartest. It’s the story of Jet returning to Ganymede, the place he once had a life, and finding out that the woman he loved has moved on. But the first time I watched Bebop, this was the episode that convinced me I was watching something really special.
It zigged when I expected it to zag and zigged in the directions that made it quiet and emotionally engaging. This was Bebop showing it didn’t need to do something smart or stylish- pastiche or love letter. It could just take a moment to talk about things that mattered to its characters. And I know that’s what I, at least, want from a story. - Dan Watters
PIERROT LE FOU
One of the simplest episodes, Spike finds himself the target of a bizarre and seemingly unstoppable assassin. Plus, the guy blows up like a crazy balloon and stuff. The dialogue is stripped back to the bare minimum, and the episode hones right in on the action… and on Spike’s fear. Which is something we’ve never seen much of before- this unflappably cool existential jeet kune do master scared witless by something he doesn’t understand at all. His usual tricks don’t work and, all of a sudden, he’s helpless as a child. The end of this episode- Spike watching the circus parade pass by in the dark as he bleeds, having barely survived- is one of the images that comes to mind the most for me when I think about Bebop.
Spike also rejects learning about Mad Pierrot when the chance arises- ostensibly because the threat has passed, but I’ve always felt there was more to it than that. He has just faced this walking death- a being who seemed so unknowable, so full or darkness and devoid of logic, that he wishes not to be tainted with it any further than he already has. If life and death are a dream, why chance infecting them with a nightmare?
Or maybe he really does just hate clowns and theme parks. Either or. - Dan Watters
THE REAL FOLK BLUES (PART 2)
The very end of the series, so I don’t want to talk about its plot too much in case people reading this haven’t seen it… but I’m going to talk about it a bit at least, because it’s one of my favourite endings to anything. It wraps up everything that came before it, but also recontextualizes it all. It’s so easy for the ends of stories- particularly longform stories where we’ve gotten to know and fall in love with the characters over time- to lose sight of what said story set out to explore in the first place. Instead, they become entirely about those characters, about giving them closure, and saying goodbye. And that’s OK. It’s the friends we made along the way, right?
But not so much with The Real Folk Blues. Yes, we get closure in all sorts of (often very final) ways. We get the big showdown between Spike and Vicious we’ve been hoping for. But really, this is all about realizing exactly what we’ve been watching all along. A twenty-six-episode long death scene, for a man who had already sealed his own fate. This has all been detour, but it has been beautiful and worthwhile and so very precious.
I… think I’m going to go watch it again. See you in the comic, space cowboy. - Dan Watters
Special thanks to Dan Watters.
Discover more about Titan Comics Cowboy Bebop below.
About COWBOY BEBOP (OCT211772): BASED ON THE NEW NETFLIX LIVE-ACTION ADAPTATION OF THE ORIGINAL ANIME! An original story set in the year 2171. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop chase an ex-gang member who holds a vest which gives the wearer unlimited luck.
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An original story set in the year 2171. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop chase an ex-gang member who holds a vest which gives the wearer unlimited luck.
New Netflix series starring John Cho (STAR TREK), Mustafa Shakir (LUKE CAGE) and Daniela Pinada (JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM).
An original story set in the year 2171. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop chase an ex-gang member who holds a vest which gives the wearer unlimited luck.
New Netflix series starring John Cho (STAR TREK), Mustafa Shakir (LUKE CAGE) and Daniela Pinada (JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM).
An original story set in the year 2171. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop chase an ex-gang member who holds a vest which gives the wearer unlimited luck.
New Netflix series starring John Cho (STAR TREK), Mustafa Shakir (LUKE CAGE) and Daniela Pinada (JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM).
An original story set in the year 2171. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop chase an ex-gang member who holds a vest which gives the wearer unlimited luck.
New Netflix series starring John Cho (STAR TREK), Mustafa Shakir (LUKE CAGE) and Daniela Pinada (JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM).
An original story set in the year 2171. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop chase an ex-gang member who holds a vest which gives the wearer unlimited luck.
Collects issues #1-4.
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Troy-Jeffrey Allen is the producer and co-host of PREVIEWSworld Weekly. He is also the Consumer Marketing Manager for Geppi Family Enterprises. Troy's comics work includes MF DOOM: All Caps, Public Enemy's Apocalpyse '91, the Glyph Award-nominated Fight of the Century, the Harvey Award-nominated District Comics, and the Ringo Award-nominated Magic Bullet.
