You show me a comic that features a hit and run with a paratrooper, characters thinking their way out of an airstrike, several last minute rescues and a deepening story about a mysterious operation in the middle east, and I'll show you The Losers #12, the rip-roaring conclusion to "Island Life." Diggle and Jock are up to their usual tricks this issue, which means a ton of action with more than a little dark humor and an approach to military action stories that owes as much to action movies as it does to the classic comics from which the series takes its name and original premise.
I'll get to the action in a minute, but first a word on the characters in this book: I like 'em. Jensen, the loud-mouth of the group, is probably the easiest and most fun to write for Diggle, and sure, he gets plenty of witty one-liners in this issue, but he's hardly the only interesting member of the group. Pooch, even when badly wounded, remains a source of stable and clear thinking for the team, Cougar is the quiet but efficient guy who always comes through with fire or transportation when it's needed and Clay, whose brusque and professional exterior takes a hit this issue as we see him risking his own life for Pooch and expressing concern that makes him seem a lot more human. Because I like these characters, I care about what's happening to them, and I can appreciate the book on a level beyond "whoa, that was a cool action scene."
That said... "Whoa, that was a cool action scene." Several of them, actually. Diggle and Jock put stuff on paper that actually makes me laugh, or wince, or react with the right kind of shock, just like I would if it were in a well-filmed action movie. Clay's rather unusual method of dealing with a paratrooper is one such moment, as is the viciously clever way that the team deals with an incoming airstrike. Then there's Cougar showing up at just the right time, surprising Jensen and the reader, or the appropriation of the bad guys' exfiltration plane... basically, there are a ton of really good action sequences to be found in these pages.
On top of the moment-to-moment action, which is always strong, there's also a nice touch of conspiracy and manipulation going on in the background. If I've guessed at what Max was up to correctly, I think his plans might involve a rather radical physical restructuring of the middle east, but either way, I'm dying to see where it all goes from here. In addition, though he's only in a few pages here, the CIA agent who has been put on the trail of both Max and the Losers adds an interesting wrinkle to the story, and I love that he himself is almost as rogue as the Losers, operating under the orders of someone who can't even admit he gave the orders.
What more can I say about this series that I haven't said before? Though the book got a trade collection and seems to be getting support from DC, it is worryingly low on the sales charts, and a second collection hasn't been announced yet. This is one of my favorite series on the market, and given that too many of the books that fall into that category have recently been cancelled (like Runaways) or seem dangerously close to that line (like Gotham Central), I'll take this opportunity to once again point out that The Losers, in addition to being beloved by Eisner judges, comics media and mainstream media alike is a terrific action read, worthy of mention in the same breath as Vertigo hits like Y: The Last Man and Fables.
