Loose Ends #3 – Review

By: Jason LaTour (writer), Chris Brunner (art), Rico Renzi (colors)

The Story: The story of a hometown-crime-gone-bad heads to South Beach.

Five Things: 

1. Hooks you from the cover alone.  Man!  Do Brunner and Renzi know how to do a cover or what?  I hate to get into hyperbole, but this has to be one of the covers of the year (and I say that without “Best Covers” being something that I really track).  I just know that it’s rare to look at a cover and get this type of gut reaction.  You’ve got the sexy lady (with the juxtaposed brass knuckle necklace) dancing and she’s between the two guys in Baghdad and the concert in South Beach.  Not only does that fit the issue and kinda tell you what is inside, it’s visually exciting.  It makes you want to read the issue.  I saw a tweet from Dave Johnson (one of today’s BEST cover artists) that basically said that covers were all about DESIGN and this cover is a wonderful example of that.  It isn’t just about drawing a pretty image, it’s about creating a memorable visual that makes people want to read the book.

2. Electric colors from Renzi.  My knowledge of color theory is so lousy and colors are the area I feel least comfortable commenting about in reviews, but I DO know when I see something that is awesome.  Renzi is using an absolute riot of bright colors for this issue.  It’s complex and hip and perfectly puts you in the proper mood for the scene in question.  I wish I could say more, because this is clearly incredible coloring.  All colorists would like to have this effect, but very few can do it, they just surrender and color Wolverine’s costume blue and yellow like they’re doing a coloring book.  THIS is color as art.

3. Nuanced art.  You can kinda get lost in Renzi’s colors, but those same wonderful graphic design elements that are present on the cover are seen throughout the entire issue.  Most of the scenes are so electric that you almost miss the nuances in the art.  Like the fact that the central female character (Jes) looks sexy as hell until you get a close up on her when you can see how she’s a little haggard.  And that makes sense, she’s a small town honky tonk waitress, who drinks, uses drugs and has gotten beaten and raped in the last few days…  Brunner is able to perfectly capture the fact that she’s putting on a facade and when you peel that back, it isn’t that Jes is ugly but you can see the mileage.

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Uncanny X-Men #1 – One of the problems the X-books have faced over the last few years was that there were LOTS of books, but they all seemed kinda the same: similar characters on the teams, similar types of stories, etc.  Kieron Gillen has made two big things happen in this issue.  First, he has given his X-Men a purpose: to be heroes, but to also act as a deterrent to anyone in the world who would oppress mutants.  The other is that he’s given them a distinct team.  I want the X-Men to have TEAMS….not just random assemblages of whoever was loitering in the lobby when danger strikes.  I want to be able to appreciate the drama when someone quits or is kicked off the team OR the excitement when someone new joins and we have to wonder how poor little ______ will hack it next to Namor and Magneto.

Most Anticipated This Week: Loose Ends #3 – The first two issues (#1 and #2) of this modern, southern crime drama have been HOT.  Jason Latour is writing a story that has Scalped-level grittiness to it and the art team of Chris Brunner and Rico Renzi is just on fire.  This is one of my favorite series right now.  If you doubt me, google it… I’m hardly the only one who thinks it is hot stuff.  Even if your local shop doesn’t have a copy, you can order them off the 12 Gauge Comics website.

Other Picks: Batwoman #3, Unwritten #31, Avenging Spider-Man #1, Point One #1, Uncanny X-Force #17, Rachel Rising #3