The good news is that Gary Phillips script and plot is much clearer than what we've seen in some of his other comic-book crime dramas. The bad news is that the reason it's so clear is that we've seen this sort of story far too many times before. Phillips embraces private-eye genre cliches, from the dead cop dad and the mystery that consumes the P.I. son, to the goons following the main character around waiting for an opportunity to beat him up. The story's entertaining, but it's far too familiar. The saving grace of the book is the deliciously dark artwork of Shawn Martinbrough. I've been a fan of his work since I first saw it on DC titles in the mid 1990s, and I remain a fan today.
A star basketball player goes into hiding after his ex-wife, who's just written a tell-all book about their life together, is murdered. The athlete's lawyer hires private investigator Nate Hollis to track him down, and as he makes his way through Los Angeles following leads, he picks up some company along the way: a couple of goons who want to find out what he finds out. Nate has to interrupt his business in the middle of the day, though, to keep an important appointment, as he joins his grandfather at the gravesite of another murder victim: Nate's father.
Martinbrough's art could be described as a cross between the styles of Eduardo (100 Bullets) Risso and Phil (Green Arrow) Hester. There's an inky quality to his work that's in keeping with the slightly noir feel of the private-eye genre plot here. Lee Loughridge's warm, muted colors go a long way to bringing the west coast setting to life. Martinbrough does a good job of conveying the reality of the violence here; these fights are messy and bloody.
Shades of O.J. and Kobe Bryant rear their heads in this comic book, and to be honest, I tired of reading such stories. It's been done to death, but to be fair to this work outside of the larger pop-culture context, Phillips does a good job of it. He also conveys just how tough but damaged a soul the protagonist is. He's strong and resourceful, and while he never comes off as emotionally vulnerable, melancholy and dissatisfaction do make it through his tough exterior.
The murder of Nate's father and the distance in their relationship that he now regrets just reinforce the feeling that this story and these characters are thoroughly formulaic. There's nothing weak or off about the storytelling here, but there's nothing new to be found here either. 6/10
