It's another new storyline for the Losers, which means another new locale, another bunch of bad guys and another lead on the mysterious Max. It also, unfortunately, means a new artist whose work is more uneven than Jock's stuff, and also a realization on my part that the structure of the book leads to great action sequences but maybe not so much strong long-term plotting. At any rate, this issue features some really fun moments, including a nifty little chase, some fun character stuff with the members of the Losers and a pretty nifty cliffhanger, and while I wasn't as blown away as I am by the average issue of The Losers, it's still a pretty good read.
The big change this issue is that Jock is only doing layouts, and artist Nick Dragotta is brought on board for finishes. Dragotta's work is frustrating, because there are some pages that are just beautiful, maybe even better than Jock's gritty, unusual style, and then there are some that are overly exaggerated and cartoony or just too defined where Jock would have left them a little more hazy and interesting. Dragotta's characters have facial expressions that are too over-the-top, making some of the subtle character humor come off as goofy instead, but on the other hand there's some really nice detail on the vehicles and on some of the characters as well. It's a weird mixture that looks at times like Cliff Chiang, at times like Jock and at times like Mike Allred, and a more consistent style would have benefitted the issue more.
While the art style takes some getting used to, however, the story is pretty much the same as it has been, which means a solid mix of action and characterization. I'm starting to feel the action formula a little bit as the series goes on, but if the general ideas are too familiar, the execution is still pretty sharp. The dangerous and yet sexy nature of Aisha gets a couple of fun moments in this issue that are largely visual, but Jensen is still pretty much all Diggle. His quick thinking with regards to the Hollywood movie is hilarious, and although I thought the Losers were a little obvious in their "room might be bugged" talk, I did enjoy that sequence as well.
At the same time, Diggle is putting a couple of digs into American foreign policy with the notion of a fictitious intelligence directive that lights the match for terrorist activity to push it out into the open. It's exactly the kind of twisted logic you can believe from the befuddled intelligence organizations we've seen paraded before Senate subcommittees in recent months, and Diggle also continues to show us Stegler's true colors as an intelligent patriot intent on doing the right thing as contrasted with the selfish, short-sighted operatives who tend to fill out the CIA that the Losers are fighting against. Stegler's role in the story seems to be inexorably moving him toward teaming up with the Losers, and I'm looking forward to seeing that happen.
The Losers #13 leaves me with conflicting feelings. On the one hand, I'd like to see the formulaic aspects of the book shaken up a bit, and a little bit stronger central plot besides "Find Max" introduced to keep the book interesting in the longterm. On the other, I'm really happy with this creative team, and the change of artists, however temporary or partial (Jock still does layouts), reminds me how much I don't want certain things about the book to change.
