Pigs #8

Written by Nate Cosby and Ben McCool
Art by Will Sliney

My opinion of this book has wavered a great deal since it began almost a year ago.  The premise and early promise of the series had me excited.  Pigs is about the children of a KGB sleeper cell that was left on Cuba after the Cuban Missile Crisis.  The children have been raised in the mission, and are finally given the signal to activate.  We learned from the beginning that they manage to capture the President of the United States, and at the least, amputate his hand and send it to the authorities.

And then, from that terrific beginning, the series increasingly spun its wheels.  We saw the terrorists come to America and press a former comrade into service, and then we saw them kill a Senator.  After that, way too many issues were spent on the topic of the terrorists having to arrange the murder of a Nazi in a prison.  The comic was becoming increasingly decompressed at the same time that it began to slip off any kind of reliable publishing schedule (the last issue came out in April).

Now though, this issue gives me a sense of hope again.  Since that first issue, we've known that the FBI has a Russian woman named Irisa in a questioning room.  Finally, with this issue, she begins to talk, and fills in the story of just how the original KGB agents decided to have children and to pursue their mission.

My interest is piqued again, and I hope that the remaining four issues (the series is set to end with issue 12, and they have all been solicited) come out in a more timely fashion.

Pigs #7

Written by Nate Cosby and Ben McCool
Art by Breno Tamura and Will Sliney

I'm starting to doubt this book on a few levels.  First, while this comic is only a month late, anyone who has followed Ben McCool's career in comics (his six issue series Choker took 26 months to complete; his six-issue Memoir had five issues in a year, and nothing has been published in five months) knows that he has some serious problems with keeping to timelines.  The credits of this issue list Will Sliney as drawing the 'flashback' scenes, which is a little misleading.  If we accept the scenes in the police station as being in the present, than the scenes at the prison, which look like they were drawn by Tamura, would be the flashbacks. 

These are both minor quibbles - it's only a month late, and credits get confused, but it points to a lack of attention to this title.  The first issue of this comic really grabbed me, with its story of a Russian sleeper cell having been planted in Cuba a generation ago, which finally gets reactivated.  When we saw the twist at the end of the first issue, which involves the woman in the police station and a President's amputated body part, I was hooked. 

The problem is, now the Russian being interrogated wants to start talking, but absolutely nothing in this issue points to a reason why.  It's like the story for the next issue will need more exposition, so the writers decide it's time for her to talk.

There are a lot of twists to this comic.  We don't know what the sleepers' mission is, or why they are targeting a particular neo-Nazi who is in prison.  We don't know how the team moves from there to getting the President, or what they hope to accomplish.  All of this sounds interesting, but unlike a series like Morning Glories, which manages to heap on the mysteries and the human interest at the same time, I'm beginning to completely lose interest in these characters.

This book has a lot of potential, but it's in danger of losing me, and quickly (well, as quickly as McCool is able to finish each issue).

Pigs #6

Written by Nate Cosby and Ben McCool
Art by Breno Tamura and Will Sliney

I am finding myself increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of this series, but at the same time, I do enjoy it, and appreciate the way that the writers are trying to build on the various characters through the use of flashback.

Pigs is about a group of Soviet sleeper agents (actually the children of the original agents) who were left in Cuba back in the 60s, and have only now been activated.  They've snuck into the United States, and rejoined with Felix, who had left the group years before.

Now, they are out to kill a man who is locked up inside the San Quentin Correctional Facility.  Their attempt to hire a killer has failed, and so Havana, who appears to be the group's leader, is planning a break-in, against the objections of the pacifistic Felix and her sister Ekatarina. 

In a flashback (drawn by Will Sliney), we learn that as children, Ekat had a thing for Felix, but it was Havana that first slept with him.  The character dynamics are the most interesting thing about this book, especially since the plot is moving so slowly. 

I know that Cosby and McCool have a lengthy plan for this title, but they're going to have to get a move on it, or people will begin to lose interest.

Pigs #5

Written by Nate Cosby and Ben McCool
Art by Breno Tamura

There is a lot about Pigs that I find interesting and which compels me to come back issue after issue, but at the same time, I really wish this series would hurry up and have a lot more happen in each issue.

Pigs is about a KGB sleeper cell that was planted in Cuba back in the 60s, and which now comprises the children of the original cell members.  They've finally been activated, and are carrying out some missions on American soil.  First, they were sent to get some information from a Senator.  Now, they are tasked with killing someone who is being held in San Quentin Correctional Facility, which, as you can imagine, is not an easy task.

Also making things difficult is the tension within the group.  Felix, the 'White Russian', has adopted a more peaceful stance than his brethren, and has become very skeptical of their aims.  He finds it especially difficult to manage Viktor, the youngest person in the cell, who was only a child when Felix left Cuba for the United States.

Cosby and McCool have been doing some cool things with the timeline of their series, showing us events that will happen much further down the road (like the abduction of the President, apparently), and this issue is no exception, as scenes from within the prison are sprinkled throughout the comic, although it's not until the very end that their meaning becomes clear.

As I've said, I like this comic, but the writers are holding too much back, and need to start sharing a little more about what the group's larger mission is, or where their information is coming from.

Pigs #4

Written by Nate Cosby and Ben McCool
Art by Breno Tamura and Will Sliney

Pigs is a very interesting comic.  It's about a group of Soviet sleeper agents who were hidden in Cuba to wait for orders.  The original members of the cell raised their children to carry on their mission, which has now actually begun.

The core members of the group have come the United States to carry out their mission, which so far has remained shrouded in mystery, except for some scenes in the first issue which are finally picked up on again in this fourth issue involving one of the original members of the cell being interrogated about the whereabouts of the President.  They have his hand it seems - it's just the rest of them that's missing.

Anyway, most of this issue continues from the last, where the cell have attacked the vacation home of an American senator.  Felix, the one member who had left the cell and made a life for himself in the US, before being forced back into this mess, is still reluctant to use lethal force (despite the fact that we have been led to believe that he killed a gun shop owner last month).  There is tension in the group, and we learn that the Senator may not have been targeted for information, but for another reason.

It's all very mysterious, this book.  What is clearest are the flashbacks to Cuba in the early 90s, where Felix and his associate killed some boys who were picking on him, despite the fact that it led the cell exposed to discovery.  Each issue lately has been showing us more about Felix's unhappy childhood, and it is clear that the writers are expecting to make a lot of use of this character.

I like the way so much is being played close to the vest, while enough information is being dribbled out to make the reader continue their interest.  Tamura's art is looking stronger with each issue, the Will Sliney-drawn flashbacks work nicely, and amazingly, so far this book has kept to a monthly schedule (check out Ben McCool's track record on his other titles, if you are curious as to why I think that is remarkable).  Also, this month's issue has a Becky Cloonan cover, so you know it has to be cool.

Pigs #3

Written by Ben McCool and Nate Cosby
Art by Breno Tamura

Pigs is cool, but I don't feel like the subsequent two issues have been able to live up to the promise of the first issue.  This series started with a story that managed to introduce some of the main characters, set up the general situation, and provide a surprise ending which has not yet been revisited.

Since that first issue, we've now spent two watching the actions of the Russian terrorist sleeper cell (now the children of the original cell members) come to America, recruit a former member, and now travel to Colorado to hunt down a Senator, for reasons we still don't know.  Along the way, we are given a few flashbacks to the early 90s, when Alex, who is beginning to look like our POV character, was being trained.

This comic is still plenty intriguing, I just feel that ignoring a bomb like the one the writers dropped on us two months ago for too long is going to have a negative effect on the story.  I've heard that the writers have a long, complicated story to tell, which I'm all for, I'm just worried that they may lose some of their audience if they spend too much time on the smaller details of the beginning of the story.

Generally, this is an impressive package, which has some decent art, and has been able to stick to the monthly schedule so far (check McCool's track record on his other projects).  I prefer the covers being done by Jock to Amanda Connor's cover this month (although, I do love Connor) mostly because Jock's style is more in line with the interiors of the book.

Pigs #2

Written by Nate Cosby and Ben McCool
Art by Breno Tamura

I guess the fact that this second issue has come out on time puts to rest my main fear about this book - namely that Ben McCool would keep it off a monthly schedule (check his track record; neither of his two Image mini-series have finished yet).

Pigs has all the signs of being a pretty interesting comic.  It's about a sleeper cell of Russians who have been living in Cuba, waiting to be activated.  That activation happened last issue, and we saw that the cell infiltrated the States, and that they've managed to do something to the President.

This entire second issue, however, is set somewhere between activation and implementation, as the members of the cell pay a visit to Felix, a possible member of their group who lives with his wife and daughter in Miami.  It becomes apparent, both through flashback and discussion, that Felix is a reluctant participant in this endeavour, feeling no great love for Russia or Cuba.

I like that the writers are taking their time in establishing this book, its characters, and their relationships with one another.  This series reminds me of The Losers, although is perhaps more sophisticated, especially in the way in which it jumps around through time.  I'm going to be adding this to my pull-list for sure now.

Pigs #1

Written by Nate Cosby and Ben McCool
Art by Breno Tamura

The high concept for this comic is pretty awesome.  A group of KGB sleeper agents, with orders to take down the American government were installed in Cuba back in the 1960s, and are still there, awaiting orders to begin their mission, and passing it on to their children.  You know, despite the fact that the Soviet Union has fallen, and Castro is retired.

It sounds like Cosby and McCool are really taking the long view on this comic, and so take their time establishing some of the characters, and some of the conflicts between them.  When the senior member of the cabal, Vidlen, dies of a heart attack, there is new uncertainty in the group, just as they are finally activated.

The story jumps around in time quite a bit, with the most recent part involving a pair of police interrogating a woman who looks to be in her fifties or sixties.  The cops seem to know a lot about this KGB stuff, and the last page contains a pretty big surprise that definitely has me coming back for the next issue.

This is the type of comic I like to read - the cover by Jock immediately reminds me of DC/Vertigo's The Losers (which is MUCH better than the movie) but the comic itself continued that feeling of familiarity in tone and appearance, if not in details.  Tamura, who I'm not familiar with, has a Jock-ish vibe to his art.  Cosby and McCool explain a little about the book's genesis in the back-matter, and what I read there gives me comfort that there is a highly-detailed plan for this comic, and that it's been exceptionally well-laid out.

Which brings me to my main concern.  I've read bits of McCool's other comics - Choker and Memoir, and haven't been all that impressed. I'm also pretty sure that neither one of those titles have finished yet, and are months behind schedule.  On the other hand, I've enjoyed many books that Cosby has edited for Marvel, and feel confident that his editing skills will help him keep the book on track.  I'm definitely interested in sticking with this title, so long as it keeps coming out.