If The Losers were a superhero comic, this issue would have something like "This is it! The secret origin of The Losers!" plastered across the front of the cover. Because that's what this is, the tale of how a special ops unit working for the CIA became "The Losers," renegades against the shadow government that hung them out to dry. It's fun to take a look back at the group before Roque betrayed them and before Aisha joined them, and it's really fun to see how the team first met Max, the nefarious representative of all that is wrong and evil about the CIA. There are subtle but important differences in some of the characters indicating what "Operation: Draw Venom" did to them, but in general, this is another solid Losers story, with moral ambiguity and some solid action to back it up.
It's funny, there have been guest artists on this book for the last few issues, with Nick Dragotta doing finishes and then Ale Garza doing an issue, and I really was looking forward to getting Jock back. However, when reading the issue, I started wondering if someone else was doing finishes again, because while the artwork looked great, it seemed like there was a little more detail in the characters than I was used to. Then I realized: I could see Cougar's eyes. This was the first indication that things are different, that the characters hadn't yet experienced the betrayal that would change all of them. Well, except Jensen, he's pretty much the same, and you gotta love him for that.
There's an interesting tone at work in this story, because the reader knows full well what's going to happen, but the team has no idea. I'm reminded of Alfred Hitchcock style of suspense, where the audience knows something is up but the characters don't, and so when the team first meets Max, and starts to get a bad feeling about what's happening, we're already a few steps ahead of them, and can see that they're not worried enough. This is also the first time we've really seen Max as anything more than a shadowy figure, and his sleazy charm and arrogance makes for a fascinating exchange with the taciturn but principled Clay.
It's nice to have Jock back on solo art chores again. Lee Loughridge is doing some strange, experimental coloring on the work which plays around with light and highlights different parts of the art, and while I sometimes found it a little distracting, in general I thought it was a neat technique. At any rate, Jock's work is terrific as always, indicating the passage of time on the Losers' march with a series of three shots of creatures in the desert, making great use of shadows and silhouettes when the Losers head out for their mission or when their Blackhawk copters take off and just generally giving a real sense of the place and atmosphere while maintaining clear and effective storytelling.
I've been enjoying the high-octane action stories that have driven The Losers for the most part, but this is a somewhat slower issue, building up a sense of dread and pending betrayal while still feeling absolutely in synch with the rest of the book. I'm very curious to find out more details of the operation that kick-started this whole thing, and I continue to be impressed with the life that Diggle breathes into these characters, whether it's old favorites or new ones like Max.
