You've wandered across this rugged-looking coyote at the edge of town, where the ramshackle settlement seems to lose the will to push any deeper into the implacable desert. He gives every impression of knowing well how to handle that rifle, but he's got half a grin on his face as he introduces himself as J. Cole Hawkins. His apology as he lowers the weapon feels sincere, and he explains what you've already come to know all too well yourself; it's a rough world and you can never be too sure about strangers. He seems like a friendly enough fellow once he warms up to you, clearly someone who knows his way around life out here in the wastes, and something tells you he's got more than a few stories to tell should he decide to share them.

---

The observant among you may have noticed that I barely draw anymore, so when I finally caught the barest wisp of an interest in doing so today I pounced on it. Cole here has been sitting around in the back of my mind for probably several years now, in all likelihood coming into existence as an after-effect of my owning his hat. I have yet to figure out a proper backstory for him or anything, but he could probably exist equally well in a Wild West setting as some future wasteland post-apocalyptic setting. The fact that I've been re-watching Trigun lately and listening to Midwestern folk tunes is probably to blame for him finally getting put down on 'paper.' Hopefully at some point in the future additional inspiration will follow and he can get a short story or something.

I left the artwork deliberately on the sketchy side of things because I was more interested in actually producing something than fussing over getting it all clean and polished.