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LOSERS #3
"Goliath Part Two"
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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DC Comics/Vertigo imprint
Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Jock
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Price: $2.95 US/$4.95 CAN |
Judging from the first three issues, I'm guessing that by the end of the year, I'll be calling Losers my favorite comic-book. This issue opens with a hilarious sequence that once again highlights Jensen, the most energetic of the bunch, and Cougar, the epitome of the cool sniper archetype, and continues on into another great heist/action sequence, with a stop off in the middle to hint at what drove the team to all this rebellion in the first place. The phrase "action movie," or more accurately, "action comic," tends to conjure up images of brainless, plotless exercises in excess, but Losers is an action comic with plenty of style and a lot of brains, not to mention some tightly-paced action.
I'm a sucker for a good ensemble cast, especially in the action genre. Give me the Colonial Marines from Aliens, the line-up from The Usual Suspects, the con-running cons of Ocean's Eleven, match it with a good story, and you're golden. Diggle and Jock have done just that, and this issue fleshes the characters out a little more, although in fairness they've done a pretty good job in just two issues of telling us everything we really need to know. It's clear that Jensen, the motormouth frontman of the team, is a favorite, and I can see why. Having Cougar back him up with a sniper rifle, that's cool. Having Jensen pretend that it's his telekinetic powers at work? That's even cooler, and fun besides. It's interesting to note that the laconic Cougar and the loquacious Jensen have a bond of sorts, one that shows up while they're working.
As much fun as I have with just Jensen and Cougar, Diggle doesn't give any of the characters short shrift. The tension between Aisha and Clay is clear, and Aisha's outsider nature is reinforced in just about every conversation she has with a team member. There's also a revelation about one of the team members that I did not see coming at all which made me want to go back and read all three issues looking for clues, and has me anxious to see what's coming up next.
Character work is all well and good, of course, but the focus in Losers is on action, specifically on the caper. The well-executed plan, involving subterfuge and misdirection, seems to be the big tool of these guys, and Diggle and Jock are doing a very good job of showing that off. Their use of high- and low-tech toys, and the tendency to play things small whenever possible rather than going for the flashy but dumb, makes them come across as smart guys not just tough guys, and I like that. The balance of this kind of planning is that you need to feel as if the characters aren't just too smart for all the bad guys, that there might be some danger as well, and that is maintained this issue as well, not only by the presence of Wade, an intelligent villain, but by the reversal on the last couple of pages.
Jock's work on this book continues to impress me, with great focus on shadows and silhouettes, a rougher style that doesn't lose the specificity when needed. His technology, particularly guns and vehicles, is detailed and sharp, but most of his work has a hazy, shadowy quality that helps establish the tone of the world these guys live in. In particular, I love that we've never seen Cougar's face, which helps give him his enigmatic presence. And Lee Loughridge does a bang-up job on colors, especially on the red sun in the early dawn hours as the team storms the Goliath boat.
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