Source Point Press 2020
Written by Garrett Gunn
Illustrated by Lee Milewski
Lettered by Justin Birch
Aspiring mercenary, Kit Kelso, comes wrist-to-wrist with the deadliest hands in history.
Oh yeah if you aren't familiar with Garrett and his writing you need to find the opportunity to introduce yourself to it. The man has a nice way with words, at least on paper, and the sheer raw talent, ability and creativity with him is exciting to see. From what I see right off the bat this is a mature audiences title just from the language and violence we see and considering the subject matter and the chosen profession of young Kit Kelso it's only natural. So if you want to read a story with some truly out of the box thinking then this is something you'll have to make sure your shop is going to have.
The more I read this more intrigued I became and that is precisely what it is supposed to do. Start off with an eye catching moment and work our way to why that is occurring and then following things from there. The way we see the books structure is fantastic and the tools of the trade are here and subtly show us it's building blocks. The idea behind the story and how we see this and how we meet the characters is done superbly. You literally cannot get enough and you want more kind of immediately because suddenly you've been thrust into a world that is intriguing, fascinating and in frank honesty full of characters you want to know and or be.
The way that this is being told is exceptionally well done. The story & plot development here as seen through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information pulls you in, gets your imagination fired up and thoroughly engages you in what's happening. The character development is phenomenal and I like that the whole tough guy routine is thrown out the window, okay the stereotype Goodfellas is anyway, and instead we see these men as real folks who have a job to do and then talk about mundane stuff. This allows the reader to be able to relate to them in some context or another. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way we see how the story unfolds and how everything works together to create this near perfect ebb & flow to the story.
The interiors here are cute. The linework is interesting and it's thick and there isn't too much attention to detail but there is this certain charm and charisma to it that I find endearing. It wouldn't surprise me either if a few characters were based on this creative team either. I am also impressed with the way we see imagery in the backgrounds. The warehouse for example and the shadows that fall across the floor from the moonlight outside is sensationally well rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a superb eye for storytelling. The way that we see this even without the utilisation of backgrounds, which I want to see more of and think we need to see more of, we still get this nice sense of depth perception, scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book. The colour work is pretty. The colour choices are sensational and the way we see the various hues and tones with the colours create the shading, highlights and shadow work through colour blocking is exceptional stuff.
I love this already and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy. Seeing the events occur how they do and seeing how things are coped with will surely entertain you. This is unlike anything you've ever read before and that is a feat unto itself as this kind of originality is harder and harder to find. Once again Source Point Press proves they are among the top houses for amazing storytelling.