Assassin Nation #2
Skybound/Image Comics 2019
Created & Written by Kyle Starks
Created & Illustrated by Erica Henderson
Lettered by Deron Bennett
Someone’s trying to kill Boss Rankin! After the shoot-out in his loft, the remaining assassins have accepted his offer to be his private security force. There’s no way anyone tries to knock him off now, is there? There is?! Are more people going to die? Probably!
After the premiere issue there was a lot to live up to in this second issue. Thankfully with Kyle at the helm of this ship we have nothing to worry about. The literal explosive events that we saw time around have settled and it’s time to start getting to know those who are left. I do have to say that Bishop while not my favourite character does make a wonderful number one to Rankin’s El Capitan. Plus now that his husband’s dead he’s got a vested interest in how all this plays out, which of course plays right into Rankin’s favour. Very interesting, as Arte Johnson would say.
I do like the way that this is structured. I love that Kyle is as creative as he is talented because that just enhances the enjoyment reading this. He understands how the flow should be so that information that we get doesn’t feel forced, rushed or just thrown out there because we should know it, it all happens organically within the story. The opening this issue is fantastic as we get to see Rankin and Bishop having that moment to catch up before heading into a meeting. This is the kind of conversation and dialogue that can only come from two men who have known each a long time and spent a great deal of time together. Oh and said dialogue is incredibly descriptive and makes ME want to hang out with Kyle.
One of the more genius notions was to have those who survived getting together and talk while having to wait for those two to arrive. There is something about Dave that makes you raise an eyebrow Spock style questioning. There is something about his fresh baby faced outlook that belies the army training and his shooting skills. He’s like the opposite of my man Fuck Tarkington and I think that the array of personalities that we see is more exciting than finding a c-note in your winter coat. I think it’s genius how we get to see them through that one event in their lives.
Erica might be one of the few artists whose work I adore that doesn’t have that George Perez attention to detail that I love. Her characters are full of emotions and their facial expressions are flawless in their descriptive of the personality of it’s bearer. There is something endearing about the way the noses and the eyes are done for each character that helps the reader connect to these people all in such varied ways. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off this stellar eye for storytelling. I will say more backgrounds please, pretty please with a cherry on top! Yet while I want more the way Erica sets up the page is bloody brilliant. The colour work here too is so nice to see. We get this really nice utilisation of light sources that show us shading and colour blocking are a real treat.
So this issue I miss Fuck being in his overalls without a shirt with that delicious hairy chest, just thought I would share that. As we get to see the sequence of events unfold before us I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or simply snort and giggle. While I don’t know where or when or how it happened but somewhere along the way it started having that Monty Python black comedy sensibility to it where you think the room is full of nothing but Idjits. Also one scene had me humming a Benny Hill tune as I watched them try to run. I am here to testify that this book is going to become, if it hasn’t already, your new Magnificent Obsession!
Skybound/Image Comics 2019
Created & Written by Kyle Starks
Created & Illustrated by Erica Henderson
Lettered by Deron Bennett
Someone’s trying to kill Boss Rankin! After the shoot-out in his loft, the remaining assassins have accepted his offer to be his private security force. There’s no way anyone tries to knock him off now, is there? There is?! Are more people going to die? Probably!
After the premiere issue there was a lot to live up to in this second issue. Thankfully with Kyle at the helm of this ship we have nothing to worry about. The literal explosive events that we saw time around have settled and it’s time to start getting to know those who are left. I do have to say that Bishop while not my favourite character does make a wonderful number one to Rankin’s El Capitan. Plus now that his husband’s dead he’s got a vested interest in how all this plays out, which of course plays right into Rankin’s favour. Very interesting, as Arte Johnson would say.
I do like the way that this is structured. I love that Kyle is as creative as he is talented because that just enhances the enjoyment reading this. He understands how the flow should be so that information that we get doesn’t feel forced, rushed or just thrown out there because we should know it, it all happens organically within the story. The opening this issue is fantastic as we get to see Rankin and Bishop having that moment to catch up before heading into a meeting. This is the kind of conversation and dialogue that can only come from two men who have known each a long time and spent a great deal of time together. Oh and said dialogue is incredibly descriptive and makes ME want to hang out with Kyle.
One of the more genius notions was to have those who survived getting together and talk while having to wait for those two to arrive. There is something about Dave that makes you raise an eyebrow Spock style questioning. There is something about his fresh baby faced outlook that belies the army training and his shooting skills. He’s like the opposite of my man Fuck Tarkington and I think that the array of personalities that we see is more exciting than finding a c-note in your winter coat. I think it’s genius how we get to see them through that one event in their lives.
Erica might be one of the few artists whose work I adore that doesn’t have that George Perez attention to detail that I love. Her characters are full of emotions and their facial expressions are flawless in their descriptive of the personality of it’s bearer. There is something endearing about the way the noses and the eyes are done for each character that helps the reader connect to these people all in such varied ways. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off this stellar eye for storytelling. I will say more backgrounds please, pretty please with a cherry on top! Yet while I want more the way Erica sets up the page is bloody brilliant. The colour work here too is so nice to see. We get this really nice utilisation of light sources that show us shading and colour blocking are a real treat.
So this issue I miss Fuck being in his overalls without a shirt with that delicious hairy chest, just thought I would share that. As we get to see the sequence of events unfold before us I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or simply snort and giggle. While I don’t know where or when or how it happened but somewhere along the way it started having that Monty Python black comedy sensibility to it where you think the room is full of nothing but Idjits. Also one scene had me humming a Benny Hill tune as I watched them try to run. I am here to testify that this book is going to become, if it hasn’t already, your new Magnificent Obsession!
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