Dynamite Entertainment 2016
Written by Andy Diggle & Angela Cruickshank
Illustrated by Andrea Mutti
Coloured by Vladimir Popov
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Detective-Sergeant Kate Burnham's homicide investigation leads to embarrassing revelations about a powerful Senator's sex life. But is his involvement a vital clue, a deliberate misdirection… or a warning? Only one surviving witness knows the awful truth – and he's next on the killer's hit list!
Now this is the kind of story you can sink your teeth into. A perfect escape from superpowers and craziness in tights this is a good old fashioned detective story where there’s a race against time to find a killer before time runs out for Detective-Sergeant Burnham. I think seeing her in her element and with this do or die attitude, which coincidentally also has a flagrant disregard for the rules and procedure, as she has to use her mind and skills that got her where she is is refreshing. Also she’s a giant chip on her shoulder and I guess a woman on the force is more likely to have one but it drives you crazy wanting to know why.
I love Andrea’s interiors here. The attention to detail is phenomenal and the use of backgrounds and just the clean crisp linework that catch your attention and fill out the tone of the book are beautiful. The flow of the book through it’s pages and panels is a great use of angles and perspective. Along with Vladimir’s colouring they really knock this one out of the park. There’s so much emotion here and the anger or anguish, guilt and determination just shine through nicely.
After Kate’s dressing down and the scene at the funeral it almost seems like she’s hellbound and determined to crash and burn here. She’s really out to close this one and avenge her partner’s death but she seems almost reckless in going about it. Then again that flagrant disregard for procedure comes into play again though it does prove to get results. Her interview this issue while wielding results also comes with a warning one that i’m almost positive has fallen on deaf ears. I’m beginning to think there’s a lot more going on with people in what we consider high positions of power that would love to see her taken off the board.
The way this issue ends however has me wondering something else as well. The man saved at the crime scene last issue woke up and what happens next well that’s the kicker. If he wanted too the killer would have taken Kate out at the funeral and now she’s chasing him through the hospital so does he want her on the case or will is he just playing some sick little game of cat and mouse? He likes the attention and wants someone worthy to play with, does he see this in Kate even after she’s gone rogue and gone after him alone? Or is that kind of thing exactly why he is playing with her like he is?
There are still four more issues of this story and it’s unlikely that she’ll die or give up anytime soon so the game’s afoot and the stakes have never been higher. We know Kate’s determined enough but is she smart enough to play his game and get out alive?