Writer: Matthew Rosenberg Artist: Tyler Boss Publisher: Black Mask Studios
WHAT IS IT?
A bank heist story meets the pre-pubescent-friendship genre.
Like Stranger Things or The Goonies, but replace all the supernatural/sci-fi stuff with the traditional crime trappings of Reservoir Dogs or Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
(Minor Spoilers)
A girl and her small, tight-knit group of friends are your typical middle school outcasts. Their seemingly normal life gets a little more exciting when a rough group of ex-cons enter it abruptly and sweep the girl’s dad up into their plans to rob a bank.
Following the sort of half-baked, heartfelt logic behind most decisions 12-year-olds make, the group decides to save her father by robbing the bank first.
Hijinks ensue.
WHAT WORKS?
The story balances the preteen kid genre with the crime genre really well
There are laugh-out-loud moments of humor and recurring gags
The art is stylish, humorous and even gorgeous at times (see image)
It’s a page-turner: straightforward, not getting bogged down in details
Clean, expressive art
Your young adult can read it – it has some cursing and violence, but it’s not R-rated
Representation: the main character’s a girl, and she has a Jewish friend and another friend who is a person of color and likes to play female characters
WHAT DOESN'T WORK?
In an effort to keep the pace, the characters lose depth and can feel one-dimensional
If you’re not into a story about kids being friends or bank robbing, you probably won’t be into this
Outside of merging two genres together, it doesn’t necessarily do anything groundbreaking for either genre
SMALL SPOILER: The actual bank heist could’ve taken up more time – it felt like it was there and then it was over
WHY SHOULD I READ IT?
It’s a fun, enjoyable, surprisingly-poignant-for-the-genre experience from a team of talented creators.
WHAT DO I READ NEXT?
If you like the writing:
Stray Bullets by David Lapham
Kingpin by Matthew Rosenberg & Ben Torres
Paper Girls, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang
If you like the art:
Hawkeye by Matt Fraction & David Aja
Batman: Year One by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
Southern Bastards, Vol. 1 by Jason Aaron & Jason Latour
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Matthew Rosenberg – Writer
A fairly new name in comics
Has gotten more and more praise from his comics work in the crime genre
On the Rise: He just got an exclusive contract to write for Marvel Comics
Tyler Boss – Artist
Also fairly new to the comics scene
This is one of the first comics he’s done pencils on (usually, another artist has done pencils first, and he inks them before a colorist adds the color)
New Face: You might not see a lot of covers with his name on it yet, but I’d expect to see more after this comic’s success
Thomas Mauer – Letterer
Has been lettering for over a decade
HOW DO I BUY IT?
Click one of these:
The image(s) used in this article are from a comic strip, webcomic or the cover or interior of a comic book. The copyright for this image(s) is likely owned by either the publisher of the comic, the writer(s) and/or artist(s) who produced the comic. It is believed that the use of this image(s) qualifies as fair use under the United States copyright law. The image is used in a limited fashion in an educational manner in order to illustrate the points of the author and not for the purpose of entertainment or substituting the original work. It is believed the use of this image has had no impact on the market value of the original work.
All Black Mask Studios characters and the distinctive likeness(es) thereof are trademarks of and copyright Black Mask Studios or their respective owners. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.