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Tradewaiter: Thief of Thieves Vol. 2 – Help Me

By | September 16th, 2013
Posted in Columns | % Comments

This column doesn’t normally revisit a series after reviewing it once, but “Thief of Thieves” is a special case. Like a television show, every ‘episode’ (in this case, every arc) has a different writer who follows a story line plotted for them in advance (in this case, by Robert Kirkman). The artist, Shawn Martinbrough stays on as a constant for the book. It’s a unique approach to comic books, but has the potential for large swings in book quality.

Written by James Asmus
Illustrated by Shawn Martinbrough

Conrad Paulson lives a secret double life as master thief Redmond. There is nothing he can’t steal, nothing he can’t have…except for the life he left behind.

Now with a grown son he hardly knows and an ex-wife he never stopped loving, Conrad must try to piece together what’s left of his life before the FBI finally catches up to him…but it appears they are the least of his worries.
$14.99

The first volume of “Thief of Thieves”, ‘I Quit’, was written by Nick Spencer. It had Conrad using his skills as a thief to pull off one last heist and rescue his son from trouble at the same time. This second volume follows that same formula but switches up the source of his son’s trouble. The similarity in the narrative makes comparisons between writers even harder to avoid.

In Asmus’ favor is his linear plotting. The previous collection made use of flashbacks almost to the point of distraction. They still get used here, but in a more straightforward way. There are still some small moments of confusion, but it’s not entirely Asmus’ fault. There are no captions to indicate when flashbacks start or stop, but neither are there visual changes in art or colors. To make matters worse, younger Conrad looks identical to older Conrad.

Asmus manages to make the book accessible for new readers in a way which doesn’t clutter the book with exposition. Asmus has a gift for dialogue, letting each character speak naturally instead of only saying things to move along the plot. Unfortunately, it takes more than just natural dialogue to really bring a character to life, and that’s the first major weakness for “Thief of Thieves”. For nearly the entire book, there’s a girl in mortal danger, and she’s an important cast member who still falls into the “could plausibly die” category. However, Asmus fails to make you care about her. Or any member of the cast, really. While the characters have backstory, they lack depth.

That is just a symptom of the book’s greatest fault, and Asmus isn’t blame for it. The backstory and stakes only matter as much as they set up the heist. At it’s core, “Thief of Thieves” is about robberies, not people, and each one plants a seed for the next one. Knowing this, you have to wonder why Kirkman created Conrad as a guy who wanted out from the beginning. His desire to quit being a thief has only added a hurdle for a smooth running plot. Aside from some rather emotionless drama, neither arc’s storyline has been impacted by that plot element. Wouldn’t a father who wanted to continue his crime career be just as interested in protecting his son as one who wouldn’t? How long can Conrad keep getting dragged in for just one more before it gets old?

Martinbrough’s work is just as solid as his previous efforts. All the characters are easy to tell apart, and their moods are usually easy to discern. However, his heavy inking style robs the panels of depth and motion. Reading through ‘Help me’ feels more like looking at photos or production stills than a comic book. There’s more than one scene where an additional panel would have made a big difference in how well the story flows.

The real star of this collection is colorist Felix Serrano. While most of the book is just basic coloring work, there are a few scenes where he really gets to cut loose. His effects on car headlights and some select skylines are great, but a particular setting really stands out. The kidnapped girl is held in a high rise condo, and the room’s window is covered by some vertical Venetian blinds. Serrano colors it with a moody red sunset, and his shadows are unbelievable (in a good way). He even skews one of the shadows because – let’s be honest – vertical Venetian blinds suck and anyone who’s had them knows they break or get bent almost immediately. He also maintains the shadows when the window’s not included in the panel. That’s effort and trouble most colorists don’t go to, and Serrano deserves some verbal accolades if not an actual award for this work.

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Like the first volume, ‘Help Me’ comes with zero bonus content – not even covers. It is a three dollar discount off the sum of the original single issue prices, so that helps it some.

Overall, the second volume of “Thief of Thieves” isn’t too different from the first, and that renders it fairly forgettable. The lack of real character depth and the perennial chore of keeping Conrad coming back for “just one more” doesn’t bode well for the future of this book.

Final Verdict: 5 – Browse for Serrano’s beautiful colors


//TAGS | Tradewaiter

Drew Bradley

Drew Bradley is a long time comic reader whose past contributions to Multiversity include annotations for "MIND MGMT", the Small Press Spotlight, Lettering Week, and Variant Coverage. He currently writes about the history of comic comic industry. Feel free to email him about these things, or any other comic related topic.

EMAIL | ARTICLES


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