Sorry it's short this week. I honestly didn't know what to think of this book, but I gave it the ol' college try. Bonus drinking game: Take a shot everytime I say gritty.
This was an…interesting comic. First and foremost, I didn’t know a thing about this book before I read it. Didn’t read the solicits, didn’t know the writer, didn’t know the artist. All I knew was that it involved bullets and heads. And not necessarily in that order.
So, we have here a story of two assassins and the fallout that comes from their latest kill. A senator is dead and the police want to know why. It’s a simple story and a simple introduction all things considered and that’s not a bad thing. Matz does a great job of establishing the grittiness of his crime story by not lingering on any one scene. However, Matz’s writing has its flaws. Nothing stands out about his characters and too often do the speech bubbles clutter his scenes. While I enjoyed the grittiness, I found myself uncaptivated by the story itself.
Colin Wilson’s art compliments the story. His pencils are rough and unpolished, capturing the darkness of the plot. He also does a good job of making the crime itself seem…almost mundane. Many of his frames lack a focus point, giving the comic the feel of a Dirty Harry movie. However, for all of Wilson’s strengths as a penciller, he sucks as a letterer. Speech bubbles are in poor locations and are needlessly big and there’s the occasional typo.
This comic is like a diamond in the rough. There’s plenty to like about it, especially if you’re a fan of crime books. While it could benefit from better production quality, I feel like it would almost take away from the grittiness of the book. Good show.
Story:
6.5
Art:
7.5
Overall: 7