It’s a trap!
Creative Staff:
Story: Eliot Rahal
Art: Dike Ruan
Colors: Miguel Muerto
Letterer: Andworld
What They Say:
The sinister, and newly reconstructed, Detective Atticus Black has been placed in charge of stopping the so-called “Vampire Slayer” and finding (the still missing) Detective Harper Halloway. But what Black doesn’t know is that the killer he’s hunting is from a distant past, when humanity waged war against their immortal brethren. And that Toyo has partnered with Detective Harper Halloway to bring Black’s crimes and treason to light.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While there was a bit of whiplash with how events unfolded in the first two issues, it made the re-reads all the more enjoyable in seeing how it came together. Eliot Rahal has an interesting world at work here that went bigger with the addition of Toyo in the last issue and his deal. All of which gives Dike Ruan a lot to work with here as we get a chase/trap episode unfolding that feels like it’s all about the momentum and energy. It has a Kenichi Sonoda kind of feeling about it in that it reminded me of Gunsmith Cast a lot with some great moments and a keen sense of page layout to make the chase work. All while making Black come across as the real crazy that he is – but in a way that you really enjoy watching play out.
With it now being three months since the events that launched the series, Harper has spent that time working with Toyo in the hunt that he’s engaged with to take down the immortals. She’s still largely playing a part here in order to survive because he’s not someone she can take down herself and even if she does the whole of the city is after her. So it’s a wait and see and look for something better thing. Here, we see how Toyo has set up a new target with a trillionaire who has written an article about how he’s not afraid to go out into the world openly these days while other elite like him are in hiding or lockdown in order to stay alive. All fo this is a trap that Black has set up in order to draw out Toyo and eliminate him while also finally getting his hands on Harper and to maybe understand why she turned her back on him and his offer of immortality.
What makes up a lot of the book is the actual chase itself after Black gets his target all set up and strapped in. Watching as they race down the highway and get attacked by Toyo with Harper assisting, it has a really great energy to it and the swordfight between the two as they get into some one-on-one material is really great. Dike’s artwork is hugely dynamic here and as Black gets more savage and feral along the way it definitely clicks in a really big way. There are some fun twists in how the action itself unfolds that really works well as it leaves you wondering just how deep Black cut and how it will impact his control over Harper, while also wondering how Harper is going to survive after she gets a ton of bricks dropped on her during this trap as well.
In Summary:
I really enjoyed the first two issues and this one eases up on some of the worldbuilding for a bit in order to just go big with the action. But as big as it goes it’s kept personal as it really involves just three primary people with Black, Toyo, and the target while Harper oversees things. What we get is really solid here as I love the flow of the vehicle action we get and how Black just launches himself from there to fight. It’s beautifully colored with a good intensity to capture all the line work that Dike puts into the design, resulting in something really drives you from panel to panel to keep up with the action. Definitely a book worth checking out.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: Vault Comics
Release Date: September 16th, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
