Bullet to the Head #1-6

Written by Matz
Art by Colin Wilson

I've become a pretty big fan of French comics writer Matz, from his work on The Killer, and now Cyclops, both usually published by Archaia Studios.  Artist Colin Wilson is one of those terrific artists, who for some reason, tends to stay on the fringe of things, getting titles like Point Blank (with Ed Brubaker, and very good), and the odd issue of Star Wars Legacy, when he deserves much more recognition.

So, going in to this six-part series, my expectations were high.  On the surface, this comic has a lot in common with The Killer - it's about hitmen and cops who have gotten all wrapped up in a big political power play.  There are a lot of differences though.  Where Matz's Killer is a quiet philosopher, his hitmen in this series are bullshit artists who spout endless streams of dialogue that places them somewhere between Bendis and Tarantino.

The series is a bloody and fun little tale, with some great twists and wonderful scenes, but to be honest, it's hard to follow.  Some of the blame for that actually has to go to Wilson, who has many of the characters looking a lot alike, but many of the scenes are so ambiguously scripted and laid out that I sometimes had a hard time following exactly what was happening.  To add to that, there were some definite issues with the translation from French (or perhaps Matz wrote it in English, and that's where the problems lie).  At times, the dialogue was grammatically stilted or incorrect, and at other times, incorrect names were used.

Still, this is a good comic.  I enjoyed the reckless abandon of the cop who is out to avenge his partner, and the assassin who is looking to do the same thing.  This is a buddy cop movie, although the partnerships and alliances shift as characters get knocked off left and right.  If you like Pulp Fiction, you'll probably like this.

Point Blank

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Colin Wilson

I managed to miss the best of the Wildstorm era almost completely. I'd given up on the earlier Wildstorm books back when they were basic 90's Image stuff, and somehow never realized that Alan Moore was writing WildCATS until after they were published. Likewise, when Point Blank came out as part of the 'Eye of the Storm' line, I saw Grifter and skipped it (although I loved Stormwatch: Team Achilles). Likewise, I never picked up Sleeper until the second 'season' began.

So, I'm coming at Point Blank from a backwards position. I've now read Moore's WildCATS, and half of Sleeper (soon to be fixed), and so my knowledge of characters like Tao, Carver, and Lynch is much more informed than Grifter's is in this book. That's actually an interesting perspective to read this from, as it helps make clear how well Brubaker was laying the groundwork for his later work, even though he didn't know at the time that he'd have the opportunity to return to it.

This reads quite nicely as an espionage/black ops story with just a hint of superhero about it. You don't need to know that Grifter (sorry, I hate the name Cash Cole) is part of a team of half-alien something or others; the story is both self-contained and referential to the larger universe it's set in. I really like the pace of the story, and the resolution is fantastic - Brubaker was trying some new things with this book.

The art is good. Some of Wilson's characters look odd in places, but he manages to marry the Wildstorm look to a more serious comic quite nicely.

Having now read this, I look forward to re-reading Sleeper, which I remember being a fantastic book. Anyone currently enjoying Criminal or Incognito should grab that immediately.