For reference, the first fifteen issues comprises the first two trade paperbacks ("Name of the Game" and "Get Some"), as well as the first issue of the third ("Good for the Soul").
I did not like this book much at all. The art's fine. The line-to-line dialogue is fine. But everything in this book seems to be cannibalized from other, better Garth Ennis books. Oh hey, remember how Hitman had a character whose entire thing was that he was French and a crazy person? We got that. Remember Martin Soap, who was ostensibly an authority figure yet Frank Castle had under his thumb for the entire run? We got a similar character here. You know how Hitman and Kev and Red Team had the whole "killers having drinks" thing? We got that here. Remember how Punisher Max had that "Mother Russia' arc that was ostensibly about Russia yet had seemingly nothing to say about modern Russia? Well now we get that again but this time it has a midget who likes giant dildos.
I think the core of it stems from the main characters not being compelling. Starlight is a fine character (and heck, the fact that Ennis isn't writing yet another Kathryn O'Brien/Trudy/Shaw/whate'er the lady from Crossed was named clone is impressive enough), but Billy Butcher isn't interesting to me, because he's just a manipulative sociopath. To me that's an absence of character, and while that can be strong as an antagonist, as a main character that just leaves a vacuum. And Hughie, while likable, just doesn't make sense to me. Kev and Tommy, other Ennis protags, joined the military and became killers, and the way they're centered in a world of violence and murder makes sense, but Hughie seems not to have a very good reason to be here. A cape accidentally kills his girlfriend and despite his personality he's just signing up for a CIA black ops thing? Um... I don't think it works. He's too meek for the premise, and even early on he recognizes that Billy is manipulating him.
And anything that isn't cannibalized from other, better Garth Ennis books is probably simply plagiarized from Pat Mills and his Marshal Law series. You never noticed how Stan Lee bolded too much dialogue? Well this series might seem insightful.
"Get Some" is okay-sh I guess. It has a few good jokes.
I dunno, it just doesn't work for me, despite my fondness for Ennis's other work.
Also Amazon cancelled "Mozart in the Jungle" in favor of an adaptation of this. Laaaaaaame.
ComicBook A Drunk Review of the First Fifteen Issues
For reference, the first fifteen issues comprises the first two trade paperbacks ("Name of the Game" and "Get Some"), as well as the first issue of the third ("Good for the Soul").
I did not like this book much at all. The art's fine. The line-to-line dialogue is fine. But everything in this book seems to be cannibalized from other, better Garth Ennis books. Oh hey, remember how Hitman had a character whose entire thing was that he was French and a crazy person? We got that. Remember Martin Soap, who was ostensibly an authority figure yet Frank Castle had under his thumb for the entire run? We got a similar character here. You know how Hitman and Kev and Red Team had the whole "killers having drinks" thing? We got that here. Remember how Punisher Max had that "Mother Russia' arc that was ostensibly about Russia yet had seemingly nothing to say about modern Russia? Well now we get that again but this time it has a midget who likes giant dildos.
I think the core of it stems from the main characters not being compelling. Starlight is a fine character (and heck, the fact that Ennis isn't writing yet another Kathryn O'Brien/Trudy/Shaw/whate'er the lady from Crossed was named clone is impressive enough), but Billy Butcher isn't interesting to me, because he's just a manipulative sociopath. To me that's an absence of character, and while that can be strong as an antagonist, as a main character that just leaves a vacuum. And Hughie, while likable, just doesn't make sense to me. Kev and Tommy, other Ennis protags, joined the military and became killers, and the way they're centered in a world of violence and murder makes sense, but Hughie seems not to have a very good reason to be here. A cape accidentally kills his girlfriend and despite his personality he's just signing up for a CIA black ops thing? Um... I don't think it works. He's too meek for the premise, and even early on he recognizes that Billy is manipulating him.
And anything that isn't cannibalized from other, better Garth Ennis books is probably simply plagiarized from Pat Mills and his Marshal Law series. You never noticed how Stan Lee bolded too much dialogue? Well this series might seem insightful.
"Get Some" is okay-sh I guess. It has a few good jokes.
I dunno, it just doesn't work for me, despite my fondness for Ennis's other work.
Also Amazon cancelled "Mozart in the Jungle" in favor of an adaptation of this. Laaaaaaame.