Zenescope Entertainment 2016
Written by Joe Brusha
Illustrated by Marc Rosete
Coloured by Walter Pereyra
Lettered by Fabio Amelia
Rick Murphy has returned. Now with the power of the Death Force, he has begun his mission of revenge on those who took everything away from him. Meanwhile, an unknown hacker is caught in the act prying into some shady business, which leads to an explosive and seemingly short-lived battle between Murphy and the Philadelphia police. Have Death Force’s plans ended before they’ve begun?
Things are starting to make a little more sense now. I wish it hadn’t taken three issues for that to happen but okay we’re getting there. Though the Lao woman in the opening she’s new and I wonder what her involvement is. Too many open ended questions without enough answers so far. Though by the end of this issue at least one is answered for us to along with how the chief and the mayor are as crooked as the day is long.
Rick’s time on Earth isn’t over yet that’d be too easy. Though after getting back up and letting the police force and a very curious onlooker know more about him the mysterious hacker decides to show up and whisk him out of there. Curiouser and curiouser. Well at least the strings are starting to come together and then there’s that mysterious onlooker and we get to learn a tad more about him as well. It seems revenge is a common theme in this book so far and the lengths people will go to to achieve it.
We see Rick grapple with the decision he’s made in the form of his angelic bride coming to see him, when he’s asleep. Vision, dream or nightmare that’s open to reader interpretation. He was a good man and that he was swayed to this path so easily while shocking to some is easily understandable, however now that he’s done that and with what he’s become well there’s still that good man inside him having to come to grips with this as well.
Well our hacker finally gets a name and the reasons behind why we’ve seen her so far. Though striking a deal with the devil doesn’t seem to be her normal route thus far I guess revenge changes you. There’s that revenge theme again. Right now there are three characters driven by revenge unless you count the chief who killed that officer and Rick in an attempt to cover his ass and wants revenge on Rick for witnessing the event. So much anger and hatred running rampant things are bound to get a little messy.
If there’s a bright spot in all this it’s Marc and Walter’s work. They make a nice team bringing the story to life. It’s got all that classic comic book action and scenery that makes for an interesting adventure story. The flow through the pages and panels is nicely done as are the use of angles, perspective and backgrounds. Missy’s attire could be more practical, if she’s wearing a hat and scarf why is midriff showing?
This isn’t the usual fare and it isn’t what i’ve come to expect from the direction Zenescope has been heading. This feels more disjointed and less flow story wise but it’s finding it’s footing. I’m already invested and interested to see how all the players roles will collide into something bigger and hopefully that'll start happening before the climax.