Critical Hit #2
Written by: Matt Miner
Art by: Jonathan Brandon Sawyer
This is the second Black Mask franchise that I'm reviewing this week and it seems to have the opposite problem of the last one (Last Born) I took a look at. I'm starting to see a trend in powerful female, dead beat father, sadistic male antagonist in these franchises. There's nothing wrong with that and Last Born does a good job with the story, but this story is all over the place. It randomly cuts between timelines like a Tarantino flick. While I was confused throughout the issue, I got the overall scheme of what was going on towards the middle of the issue and I wasn't exactly enthralled by it. The general premise (what I could pick up): Two sisters are extreme animal activists. One is in an abusive relationship that she can't get out of and the other is extremely passive. They get caught and things are quickly coming to a head....I think.
The obvious confusion is due to the writing overall. Miner does an alright job in the dialogue department, except during the capture scenes where everything gets really "edgy", where I feel like he's trying to emulate Garth Ennis' Crossed series. The storyline however shoots in every which way it can and paints a very sporadic picture. It's abstract and it's also less about any aspect that it's trying touch on. I just don't feel anything for the characters yet, but with 2 issues left...I hope that changes somewhat.
Now for the GOOD part of this comic, the art. Sawyer is an amazing artist and a lot of what he drew reminded me of Genius in its beauty. There were quite a few times when I was lost in the story aspect only to be brought back to it with the art that Sawyer drew. I think the writer from Last Born and Sawyer should team up and finish out their respective series without their collaborators.
Art was masterful, story....not so much...
Art by: Jonathan Brandon Sawyer
This is the second Black Mask franchise that I'm reviewing this week and it seems to have the opposite problem of the last one (Last Born) I took a look at. I'm starting to see a trend in powerful female, dead beat father, sadistic male antagonist in these franchises. There's nothing wrong with that and Last Born does a good job with the story, but this story is all over the place. It randomly cuts between timelines like a Tarantino flick. While I was confused throughout the issue, I got the overall scheme of what was going on towards the middle of the issue and I wasn't exactly enthralled by it. The general premise (what I could pick up): Two sisters are extreme animal activists. One is in an abusive relationship that she can't get out of and the other is extremely passive. They get caught and things are quickly coming to a head....I think.
The obvious confusion is due to the writing overall. Miner does an alright job in the dialogue department, except during the capture scenes where everything gets really "edgy", where I feel like he's trying to emulate Garth Ennis' Crossed series. The storyline however shoots in every which way it can and paints a very sporadic picture. It's abstract and it's also less about any aspect that it's trying touch on. I just don't feel anything for the characters yet, but with 2 issues left...I hope that changes somewhat.
Now for the GOOD part of this comic, the art. Sawyer is an amazing artist and a lot of what he drew reminded me of Genius in its beauty. There were quite a few times when I was lost in the story aspect only to be brought back to it with the art that Sawyer drew. I think the writer from Last Born and Sawyer should team up and finish out their respective series without their collaborators.
Art was masterful, story....not so much...
A Look Inside
