The Killer is back in the fourth volume of the critically acclaimed cerebral noir thriller from Award-winning creators Jacamon & Matz! After his misadventures in Venezuela, our Killer retires to Mexico, but his Colombian cartel friend, Mariano, and the Cuban agent, Katia, are not far behind. Soon he finds himself drawn back into the great geopolitical game between Cuba, Venezuela, and the United States, with oil revenues and political independence the stakes. Even when he stumbles into unusual territory as the shadow owner of an oil company developing Cuba's off-shore deposits, the need for his usual skill-set is never far away.
"Matz" is the pseudonym for French writer Alexis Nolent. He has written scripts for video games, a novel, and as Matz, a number of comics including Triggerman by Walter Hill. His graphic novel, Du plombe dan la tete a.k.a. Headshot, was adapted into the 2012 film, Bullet To The Head.
I don't particularly like this new phase of the series. It's not longer about the hitman way of life but more about a gangster/businessman way of life.
Some parts felt extremely boring, to the point that I paused the reading and picked something else to read.
I honestly considered a 3-star review for this double volume but the fact is that, regardless of the less good things this phase has, it still has outstanding narrative moments, and the series as a whole it's still pretty good.
It's still a series I recommend and a read that I could see myself re-reading it in the future, so it can't be that bad, right?
After a soft reset and realignment in Vol.3, Matz's Killer gets back to doing what he does best in Vol.4: killing targets and philosophising lyrical.
Meanwhile, Jacamon's art goes from astonishing to confounding in its beautiful complexity. His ability to render near photorealistic landscapes. His technical accuracy at capturing shadow and light. His atmospheric use of colour. His kinetic depiction of sex and violence.
Basically a continuation of Volume 3, with my same criticisms/reservations carrying over: as it grows more overtly political, it becomes less interesting. There's less flat out lecturing in this volume, but it hammers home the same ideas and criticisms of Western politics ad nauseam. Desperately needs a gear shift at this point.
The killer teams up with Mariano again in Volume 4, Unfair Competition. There are two stories that make up this volume, but they are tied together.
In the first story, the killer is sent to America to take out some corrupt people in the oil industry. He meets up with Freeman, an ex-CIA agent. In the second story, Mariano, Freeman and the killer find themselves in the oil business in Cuba. In order to cut through regulatory agencies, the killer's special talents are called on.
Along the way, there is plenty of commentary on the corrupt rich, or the complacent middle. It's another fine story in the series, and although I used the word a couple days ago in my review of The Killer Omnibus, it's very cinematic. The story by Matz is good and the art by Luc Jacamon is excellent with backgrounds teeming with details. I like this series.
The noir adventures of Asesino continue in a world filled with shady underworld politics, paranoia and ambiguous ethics. I really love the tone of this series, but the storytelling could definitely be bit more meaty.
Good, things picked up in the end. I think this should be a pure character study, more so than it is, but maybe the last few issues will have that. Liked the ending :D
Ranking of the volumes so far: 1 2 4 3 finished april 14