Image Comics 2019
Written by Mark Millar
Illustrated by Simone Bianchi
Lettered by Peter Doherty
Set in a brilliant new sci-fi universe, Sharkey is a blue-collar bounty hunter who tracks criminals across the galaxy in his converted, rocket-powered ice-cream truck. Aided and abetted by his ten-year-old partner, he's out for the biggest bounty of his career.
At first I thought ya know this is pretty different from what I am used to seeing from Mark. Then after you read this and think about it you begin to realise that this is exactly the kind of work Mark does so well. This is the story about a man named Jed, poor old mountaineer –no just kidding couldn’t resist it’s a solid story about an arrogant ass of a man who happens to be a legal bounty hunter and is trying to make enough money to pay some debt and move on. Probably to create more debt but hey he’s a macho, macho man. So with his usual flair for characterisation dialled up past 10 Mark is having fun and it shows.
The way this book is structured is pretty sensationally well done. That isn’t surprising and I gotta say Mark’s work through Image has been steadfast and amazing. So much so that I can’t get enough of it which is great because when you see, sense, a creator having fun doing what they do and do it unapologetically well it lifts your spirits. I loved the opening here and it does precisely what it’s supposed to do, it shows us his personality and how good he is at his job. Plus as an added bonus we love to hate him already. Aside from the fact that Simone is doing the interiors here we are immediately drawn to this book and to Sharkey himself.
There is something here that we don’t normally any of in comics today and that’s all the variations of penis words and sightings. I mean I don’t know what Hosum-Dong is but I wanna order one! I am guessing it’s a drink considering what we see and it looks vile and potent but I still want one. Then the novelty condoms in the single penis variety yeah this is what makes this what it is. Also we see his purple penis, kinda, or he’s just wearing bikini briefs which would be a shame. Still now I want to get an original Sharkey ala Burt Reynolds but showing his nice purple eggplant. Oh and yeah the soundtrack here continues as you Pay for the devil, a plug to a pedal, I’m your type, Weak Knees from the level, I’m sick from the treble I’m your type of metal!
Goodness gracious great balls of fire the work that Simone does on these interiors is Earth-Shatteringly magnificent. His signature style hasn’t changed over the years and there’s no reason it should he’s such a mega-star talent that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. God the attention to detail that we see everywhere blows my mind and brings this to life in ways that make these species even more believable than I could’ve imagined. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows us his stupendous eye for storytelling. His judicious use of backgrounds expands the moments and brings that size and scope to the story. The colour work is beyond reproach as well and the way it’s utilised to accentuate the different species well it is that verging on kitsch but not quite hitting it that’s exceptional.
There is so much going on here and so many characters we are introduced to in such an organic manner. The writing is flawless with it’s pacing, story & plot development and characterisation and the interiors just take it several stages past flawless. If you think I am joking or exaggerating you need to read this and find out for yourself that this is the next level of storytelling and it’s no surprise it’s going to be a film on Netflix!