Zenescope Entertainment 2014
Written by Dan Wickline
Illustrated by Josh George & Ronilson Freire
Coloured by Viviane Tybusch, Fran Gamboa & J.C. Ruiz
As Keres continues her path of punishing the wicked, one man will wish for a second chance he may not get. Well now at least I know her name and to be honest i’ve not been a fan or supporter of hers thus far so let’s see if this issue can change that shall we.
Well I will say this i’m not entirely sure that this issue was done right. As much as I like Dan and his writing what the hell just took place here? So the poker game where we see members of the Russian mob around a table about to play cards at an establishment that is well guarded and our resident ginger dealing cards. There little playful arguing and jabs lead to them thinking of Adrian and what he’s going through so off we go to see that. Honestly we didn’t even need to see Keres here at all she was kind of pointless if you ask me.
Adrian was on a job for Viktor and he screwed up royally and he has to face the consequences of his actions. So it’s a mob thing right so you know that Adrian isn’t going to be allowed to live once he’s been interrogated and they learn he hasn’t talked about his connection to Viktor. He’s now a cop killer and they don’t live long and he’s too dangerous to leave any trace of a connection back to him so Viktor has to do what he has to do. Have his men bash him on the head, throw him in a box and bury him alive.
Now i’m confused because this isn’t an urban legend i’m familiar with nor is it really any kind of cautionary tale it’s a simple careful what you do and who you do it for. Well Adrian wakes up and he hatches an escape plan, he doesn’t know how long he’s been asleep but his watch still works and he’s able to get light to see what he’s doing. I’m pretty impressed too because his determination to escape this death trap and that he manages to do it isn’t what I was expecting to see.
Should have known something was up when after he escapes we never see his face. However the series of events that he goes through since his escape well let’s say it’s done so well that you don’t notice that aspect until later in the story. So up until we see him it’s nice to see what he goes through for the love his wife and children but it makes me wonder what the hell was the point of all this? I didn’t really see a moral or a lesson or a reason for this to have happened and well he didn’t do anything particularly scary like come back and seek revenge of his old boss Viktor.
Then the last page again there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for what happened. It’s like this series has been solid with a few WTH were they thinking issues thrown in. Consistency is key in a series and this one hasn’t had it as much I’d have liked to see.
I will say though that I really enjoyed the artwork here. Josh and Ronilson worked really well together splitting this issue in half and making it seem like there was only one illustrator working on it. I’ve not seen Josh’s work before but I have to say i’m pretty impressed with his debut here. The men who enter the game look amazing and the attention to detail and his style well they’ve made me a fan. Ronilson is someone I already admire for his work and his second half of the issue is done even better than I would’ve imagined.
I’m mixed about this as I see potential here but don’t see how it all fit together. The interiors however are fantastic and again Keres is irrelevant to the story. Was it worth reading well I’m glad I am exposed to Josh George’s work and seeing Ronilson’s is always a treat and so 50/50 really.