We really sort of loved the first issue of this Boom! Studios miniseries. Now we’re on the second-to-last issue, and really sort of on the edge of our seats. Noir comics don’t get much better than “Hit”.
Written by Bryce Carlson
Illustrated by Vanesa R. Del ReyAs the noose slowly tightens, Slater is left with a choice: does he give in to Blair’s sadistic demands and rejoin the Hit Squad, or does he take action against the East Coast mafia to save Bonnie? But really, he doesn’t have much of a choice at all…
It sounds odd to say, but one of the most appealing things about the plot of “Hit” so far has been the messiness. There are some noir stories that seem to move along like well-oiled machines, with betrayals and revelations turning up at rhythmic intervals, but to me the most interesting noir tales have always been those that give you an idea as to how fraught with complications each day in your protagonist’s life can be.
That’s definitely the case with “Hit” as Slater, policeman and LAPD-sanctioned hit man, continues to find himself involved and implicated in all kinds of messy situations. He’s not exactly guilty of anything grave, but he sure isn’t innocent either, and seeing him negotiate the thin fragile line makes up a lot of the suspense of this story.
To recap, he’s discovering that the Captain of his squad isn’t clean by a long shot, and at the same time, realizing just how deeply involved his girl, and the Captain’s daughter, Bonnie, is going to have to be in the upcoming plan of action. Those are some serious notions, adding more darkness to an already pretty tarnished political landscape, and the way the relative dirtiness of Slater’s job is being cast into relief by these concepts makes for some arresting reading.
At the same time, the crime Slater is currently investigating is taking on some new dimensions, and while the events here don’t tie directly into the main plot, a suspect’s monologue offers an additional perspective on Slater’s situation that actually runs pretty deep. In this case, we’ve got a partly-culpable character saying a few words as to what guilt really is, and they make an impact. The fact that Slater’s supposedly clean-as-a-whistle partner guffaws at the story just makes the scene that much more effective, ensuring that no message or moral in this tale comes across without being undercut by a bit of cynicism. It’s some pretty gutting stuff.
Vanesa R. Del Rey’s art continues impress with its confident compositions. It’s hard to quantify, but the way Del Rey sets up the page, the tension seems to build up organically from panel to panel. It’s something about the way the eye is kept roving, the same way deep-focus shots in film noir require you to continually “scope out” a shot, from foreground to background. You become the detective, whether you set out to be or not.
I wasn’t enthusiastic about the character work in the first issue, which seemed a little flat if appreciably sardonic. But now that the characters have a little history to them, the gap isn’t as noticeable, with the slightly mask-like expressions fitting in nicely with the idea that these are characters who show multiple faces to the world. What’s more, the compositions do a fantastic job filling in the blanks, getting a lot of emotion across on their own. The way the emotional impact of this story sneaks up on you is largely due to the delicate pacing of the art – as I said, it demands more from you as a reader, forcing direct engagement with the plot.
Archie Van Buren’s colours cover a lot of ground in this issue, transitioning from the sunny waterfront to interrogation-room starkness, and doing a gorgeous, textural job of it all. Everything looks a little bit rain-spotted and moldy, like the pages of a rotting pulp novel, and it’s a nice gesture toward the omnipresent corruption coming across in the plot.
I was on board with the first issue of “Hit”, and the series has only gotten better, plumbing the political complications of the world of underground crime, as well as the moral ambiguities of Slater’s position, and coming up with solid gold. At the same time, Del Rey’s art has captured the atmosphere and run with it, putting all of us readers in the hot seat as the story unfolds. If the going so far is any indication, “Hit” #4 is going to do just that – like a pile of bricks.
Final Verdict: 8.9 – Buy
