Scout Comics 2018
Written by Ben Kahn
Illustrated by Bruno Hidalgo
Isaiah and Erin have been given the opportunity of an after-lifetime - steal a sacred treasure from an Archangel, and earn themselves a place in Heaven! But to pull off the job, they'll need to scour the afterlife for the greatest thieves in eternity, including a feudal era ninja with serious substance abuse problems, a Wild West outlaw bored out of his skull, and an Egyptian grave robber pressed into slavery for her crimes. But with the forces of Hell hunting them down, can these two thieves gather their team in time?
I think this is going to be one of those books that will surprise the hell out of you and turn into one of the years most talked about stories. What Ben does here is shatter expectations of what you may or may not think of as the afterlife. He approaches is from a very logical standpoint and I think what he came up with and how he executes this is pretty darn smart. If this is “Hell” or as close an approximation as one gets in this day and age it is a very special kind of place as we see throughout this issue. It may not be what you think but one character is able to sum things up nicely and it’s his assessment that makes this more hellish than you’d imagine.
The way the book is structured is exceptionally well done. The transitions from scene to scene is handled beautifully and the way we learn not only about their backgrounds but their present as well is done in ways that are easy to understand. The characterisation continues to be great and the fact that we are finally seeing Isaiah as he is meant to be and not the persona he’s been projecting well I gotta say it’s about time! The whole concept here is beginning to look more and more like and Ocean’s 11 kind of gig and considering what’s at stake well heck I don’t mind. Though I would like to know how he has managed to find the right people he needs from throughout history.
I do like that Ben’s story is such that it engages the readers brain and imagination in ways that you don’t expect. Any story that is going to make you think about things from a standpoint or a perspective that isn’t shown is something noteworthy. I for one would like to think that anything able to stimulate me in ways that expand the story or take you down a side road the deviates completely well either or there’s something magical about it.
Bruno’s work on the interiors is interesting to say the least. It isn’t a style I would normally gravitate towards but it really works well here. From the (coast of impanima to the island of capri) Salem witch trials to ancient Egyptians to the wild wild west what he’s able to do is pretty nice to see. There is definitely character and personality to what he does and to what we see and I like that a lot. The use of page layouts with the way we see angles and perspective in the panels shows a nice eye for storytelling. Yes I am not going to lie but I would like to see more backgrounds in use here but that’s my preference because I feel like they expand the scenes they are in.
So as the pair go off on their own and together to gather the team that they need for this caper is like a shopping list. One that we and Erin for that matter aren’t really privy to and only Isaiah knows for sure but one that is hella fun to see come together. Also to see complications arise so that there are now obstacles in their way, more so than simply breaking into heaven to steal from an Archangel is kind of adding insult to injury in the way that we see as fun, kind of like rubbernecking an accident on the highway.
Fun, tantalising and full of the unexpected this is one heist you’ll wanna be a part of!