Dynamite Entertainment 2016
Written by Jim Butcher & Mark Powers
Illustrated by Carlos Gomez & Sean Izaakse
Coloured by Mohan
Lettered by Bill Tortolini
Marcone once again aided Harry and his apprentice, Molly Carpenter, this time helping them take down a mad wizard bent on making Chicago his personal playground. However, the gangster remains a dangerous criminal who, whatever his motivations, is wholly focused on cultivating his own power. The White Court, led by Lara Raith, is the dominant supernatural faction and sees the city’s citizens as nothing more than a source of sustenance and pleasure. Things are calm now, but tension between these rivals boils beneath the surface…
Ya know what I really enjoyed about this issue is the way the narration went to start things off. As Harry recaps basically what’s happening in the city of Chicago and the boys visually bring that to life it’s a nice way to really let the reader know the current state of things. Also that he’s not out there in thick of it.
Which leads us to where he currently is at the hospital waiting to see Murphy after she’s been injured. Love seeing him and Moyse there with Butters. It’s great not only because it’s a reminder of how Harry feels about Murphy but because of the spotlight on Butters. Yes he’s the morgue guy and has his own pull but with Murphy out of it an unable to tell them what happened it’s his skills in checking a body to tell the story of what’s happened that really steals the spotlight. It’s also a reason we’ve enjoyed seeing him over the years and that his role constantly expands throughout the run of the novels.
Of course there’s never more of a highlight for me as when Marcone and Harry have their sparring of words. Even though the two have their own war of words and Marcone makes a threat against Murphy the fact remains that she’s the most respected mortal in the city, though too many are loathe to admit it aloud. Even with that threat though I doubt he’d follow through on it but he only did that to get to Harry and information he wanted and as usual their little tete a tete was brilliantly crafted.
The comic book style interiors really work for this series. The basis for the White Court Vampires as these beautiful creatures, the imposing nature of Marcone and Harry well he’s just Harry and is rendered so well (and so very handsome). The way the this book flows through the pages and panels with the use of angles and perspective just aid in how easy it is to get caught up in the story. The use of backgrounds and the representation of action are a joy to see here. Then there’s Harry’s bug and yeah it’s a rainbow mess but so nice to see.
The big thrill was the end of this issue which will lead into the next one. I cannot wait to see how this plays out and what our villain let slip from his lips is realized. I’ve already got my theory about that and considering my fandom of the Dresden series it wouldn’t surprise me to be right but the reasoning behind it is what i’m looking forward to.
These little stories that you can insert in between the novels so it could be at any given point in time in Harry’s history are the truest pleasure fans can get. Plus if you aren’t a big fan or haven’t read them all they still stand alone as some incredibly stories. Either way Dynamite gets a gold medal for their continuing commitment to the Dresden world.