“The Cyclops”
Creative Staff:
Story: James Patrick
Art: Marco Locati
Letterer: Rachel Deering
What They Say:
Sonny Campisi is learning that dragons are a pain in the keister. You can’t fool them, you can’t bribe them, and you can’t kick their teeth in. On top of that, he has to stop some of the neighborhood idiots from trying to take care of the problem themselves with their beer muscles. And then Sonny’s mob boss, Mr. Rossi, is growing very impatient with this dragon situation and is about to make a very poor decision. And if Sonny can’t manage every single problem, the neighborhood he grew up in will be burned to the ground.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Campisi hits its third issue here and it’s definitely feeling like I’ve gotten into the groove of how it operates and James Patrick’s writing style for it. It’s not that it stands out in some really big way or anything but it has just enough of a quirk to it that really catches me. There’s a density to the world that he’s presenting here and it takes a bit of time for it to really reveal the story itself. Marco Locati had a strong first installment when it came to the artwork and here he once again captures the “neighborhood” feeling well while also really getting into some great character designs as we’re introduced to more people.
You definitely feel for Sonny in all of this because he is doing the hard work. He’s wheeling and dealing in trying to get everyone to come to a solid enough consensus so that everyone comes out on top. He did his research into the dragon and his colony and he despises what happened to them and thinks it’s terrible, and wants to do right by him when it comes to Moretti. But in order to do so, he has to navigate the mob family dynamics of a couple of old and established groups with a lot of territory and a boatload of issues that exist because of generational change and the like. The dragon, understandably, has little interest in all of this and just wants Sonny to bring him Moretti like the deal he agreed to was put together. Sonny does try to nudge it a bit but the dragon is flat out not interested in anything like that. Standing firm isn’t a bad thing here.
This issue goes into a lot of backstory and it’s certainly interesting and fits into the template of a third issue to do some worldbuilding. Sonny relates what he found out about Moretti with his past, the name change, and the violence he incurred over the years. Nobody seems to like him but because of his heritage they’re all kind of stuck with him in combination with the larger family dynamics. But he’s the kind of guy that you’re surprised nobody had “taken care of” prior to this because of that. I did like that Sonny gets a bit of “familiar” history from another part of his negotiations with the head of the Larocca family, delving into a tale about a cyclops that has been told many times before apparently, and it helps to show more of how this world operates and is designed without it being heavy exposition or an info dump.
In Summary:
Campisi continues to be an interesting book that digs into some very fun stuff here. I like Sonny’s style as a fixer of sorts trying to do the right thing for everyone because it’s how they all make out. But he’s confounded by old issues and problematic bosses that only look at their stake in things and not the long-term or big picture aspect of it. James Patrick makes this an engaging read throughout as it goes about the worldbuilding while Marco Locati nails the look and feel of it just right since it’s such a dialogue-heavy installment.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: November 3rd, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
