Hotwire: Deep Cut #1

by Steve Pugh

I loved the first Hotwire mini-series, Requiem for the Dead, and am very happy to see that the title has returned for another three issues.

Alice Hotwire is your typical smart-ass recalcitrant anti-social Warren Ellis female lead character (Ellis wrote the original treatment for the story).  In this case, she's a Detective Exorcist in a world where the dead have been returning in the form of 'blue light' electro-magnetic ghosts.  There are a number of scientific ways in which these blue lights can be dealt with, and Hotwire is the best at taking care of them.

When the book opens, she's been off the job for six months, recovering for the events of the first arc.  She is finally pulled back to work after her replacements bungle a blue light capture, causing a massive accident.  Her first day back on the job doesn't go well for her.  Also, she's been seeing an old boyfriend again, despite the fact that he died a few years ago.

The writing on this title is sharp and smart, although it pales in comparison to the incredible painted artwork provided by Pugh.  He's an artist I've respected since his run on Animal Man in the nineties, but his more recent work here and on Shark-Man has been very impressive.  I can not recommend this title enough.