“Goodbye Love, Goodbye”
Creative Staff:
Story: Steve Orlando, Jon Tsuei
Art: Rubine
Colors: DC Alonso
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
What They Say:
Aaron Tse’s path of revenge has already taken him from America to China to avenge an attack on his parents perpetrated by his own family. After a disastrous shootout between the Hu and Margolis sides of said family, Aaron questions everything. Is this a war he can’t win? Just when Aaron thinks the stakes can’t get any higher, tragedy strikes again, and this time, it might finally push him past the point of no return.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Steve Orlando and Jon Tsuei packaged a lot of things into the first few issues of the series, almost too much in a way, but it really did capture the way other stories that have started similarly before, especially in film. I’ve enjoyed both writers’ works over the years so a team-up feels pretty natural with a mixture of scripting/dialogue and overall concept approach to things and this issue feels like their talents blended together well. Rubine’s artwork for the opening installment was strong and that carries through here in an even better way as things feel like they’re more cohesive and straightforward. Their designs are the big win for me here and Alonso’s coloring helps to give it all that extra depth and clarity to really stand out well.
As the series continues on, things are getting more and more complicated for Aaron. The reality is that he shouldn’t have come here as even with his set of skills there are just so many unknowns and backstories that he’s not going to be able to make the right choices. And we see repeatedly early on in this issue as the family heads try to suss things out that his aggressive nature is just making everything worse. Which is comical because he’s also one to not really go the distance just yet with the violence. His position is easy to understand in that he wants to make sure his parents are safe but this is just so sprawling of a thing with so many heads to it that he won’t really get answers. Especially when the man he’s accusing claims to have not sent the assassins and has no real interest in the family member that tucked tail and ran.
But as time goes on and the family tries to decide the right course of action, it’s becoming clearer to them that they’re entering a final stand kind of territory. It’s not about whether they can operate in Dalian anymore but whether they can survive as a family and that changes the narrative. Aaron, of course, isn’t sure of just how far into this he should go and conflicting messages all around have him even more unsure. But it’s no surprise that upon learning of his father’s death that even with his mother pleading for him to return home that he truly wants revenge at this point. Not justice, revenge, and the bloody kind that he can dole out personally. I do like that we see him taking in the sights and sounds a bit before he goes all-in on this as part of his trying to connect to the area and his heritage as it helps to cement him a bit more.
In Summary:
The series moves along well here in basically getting Aaron into the right place to go forward and deal with what’s going on. It’s understandable that he’s a bit noncommittal at first here because there’s a huge learning curve in understanding what’s going on here. The script works a bit better this time around as it’s not trying to cover a lot of backstory and plays more to the emotional side. And that comes through in the artwork nicely, from how Aaron reacts to seeing the various locales that he visits to work through things.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: December 1st, 2021
MSRP: $4.99
