Ciudad

Ciudad #1-5

by Ande Parks, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo

She was kidnapped and taken to the worst place on earth. He was hired to get her out. Now, they’re both trapped in a city that wants them both dead, and their hopes of getting out are fading fast. From the bloodthirsty criminals, to the corrupt police, to the kid hiding a Glock under his sweatshirt on the corner, everyone wants Tyler Rake and Eva Roche dead. Set in the real world locale of Ciudad del Este, CIUDAD explodes with breathtaking action and hyper violence from critically acclaimed writer Ande Parks [CAPOTE IN KANSAS, UNION STATION], writer/directors Joe & Anthony Russo [CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER], and artist Fernando León González!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Crime, Action, Thriller

168 pages, Hardcover

First published December 3, 2014

About the author

Ande Parks has worked on several projects with Phil Hester, including Nightbreed (Marvel), Rust (Malibu), Fringe (Caliber), and Freaks Amour (Dark Horse). Currently he inks Anima, Steel and Superboy, all for DC.

Ande Parks (born October 1, 1964) is a professional American comic book artist, known for his work as an inker and writer in the industry. His greatest notoriety has come from his stint with fellow artist Phil Hester on DC Comics' Green Arrow series from 2001 to 2004 and writing the graphic novels Union Station and Capote in Kansas by Oni Press. He grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City and currently lives in Baldwin City, Kansas with his wife and two children.

Parks began his professional career as an inker in comic books with Dark Horse Comics. He has inked the penciled artwork of such titles as Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Superman, Daredevil and Spider-Man. His artistic style has won him praise in the comic books industry, including an industry Harvey nomination as best inker. His idols and influences include Neal Adams, Klaus Janson, Jack Kirby, Dick Giordano, and Mike Grell. Parks has stated in at least one on-line interview that he inks with Hunt 102 and Brause 511 pens and a Raphael #3 brush. For characters from the comic books, Parks has acknowledged he has most enjoyed Batman and Captain America as his favorite characters.

He is probably best known for his work on the relaunched Green Arrow comic book series beginning in 2001, which he inked over his frequent collaborator Phil Hester. On Green Arrow, Hester and Parks worked with writers Kevin Smith, Brad Meltzer, and Judd Winick over their approximate 40-issue run. The book has been collected into several volumes. The American Library Association called it one of the best books for young adults. Parks and Hester have also done work on DC Comics' Nightwing with writer Devin Grayson, allowing Parks to work within the Batman family of characters, and the new revamped Ant-Man comic book for Marvel Comics in 2006-2007.

Although better known for his artwork, Parks considers himself to be more of a writer than artist. He has contributed several articles in comic book trade magazines, such as Draw!, geared towards critiques of artwork and professional tips for inkers. Parks' combined his inking style with his fondness for writing when he created the superhero spoof Uncle Slam & Fire Dog for Action Planet Comics, based to a certain extent on his love of Marvel Comics' Captain America. Uncle Slam appeared in three issues of the Action Planet anthology book series, and in two issues of his own book in the early- to mid-1990s. The character also appeared in a completely on-line comic book for Komicwerks. A new Uncle Slam book, "Uncle Slam Fights Back", was released in the summer of 2008.

For graphic novels, he has often turned to his neighboring region in the Midwest as source material for his writing projects. To date Parks has steered towards writing what is best classified as historical fiction. He has credited Alan Moore's From Hell as being a large influence in his decision to pursue writing in the historical fiction genre. In 2004, Oni Press published Park's first original graphic novel, Union Station. The book dealt with the events surrounding the Kansas City massacre, which took place in 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri, and helped J. Edgar Hoover make the F.B.I. a powerful organization in law enforcement and government for decades to come. Eduardo Barreto provided the artwork, done in black-&-white to give the piece more of a Depression-era period look.

In 2005 Parks returned to the genre of historical fiction with Capote In Kansas, drawn by Chris Samnee. The book details the time Truman Capote spent in Kansas while he worked on his literary masterpiece, In Cold Blood.

Continuing on with the Marvel Universe of characters, Parks co-plotted with Ed Brubaker and wrote "Blood of the Tarantula" fo

Reviews

[bookthump · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was disappointing. I am a big fan of EXTRACTION, the Netflix Original Movie based upon this graphic novel and while the plot of the movie and the graphic novel are nearly symmetrical, the story and dialogue of the graphic novel are far inferior. In the film, there is an early line of dialogue in which a character tells his friend to stop swearing all the time because it makes him sound stupid. I feel like that line in the film is a direct slam against the graphic novel which features the word "fuck" on just about every page, or so it seems. The last ten pages also features a development that I fully expected but hoped the book would surprise me by eschewing. Sadly, the book went exactly where I expected it to go and it was just as gross as I expected it would be. Big eye roll. Skip this and watch the film instead. One of those rare instances when the book is not better than the movie.

[Melek · Rating 1 out of 5]

I must say, the only reason I took a shot with this book is that it was tagged as a comic. Nothing else. I was ready to ditch it and request another book right after reading the first half of the blurb, but I thought a comic would be good for an evening reading. Boy, how mistaken I was. If only I had an excerpt firsthand, no way I would take a second glance at it.

The dialogues are the least of the problems. I'm not going to list all the reasons why they are unrealistic and all, but I'll note this: The 1/5 of the words the hero says are either "fuck" or something that includes "fuck". For the first pages, also including the other dialogues too, the ratio was 1/3.

The plot was weak. This is to say, the book is the very best equal of any cheesy action movie that the hero runs up and down to save the girl. You might as well turn on the tv and watch one instead of reading it. At least you'll be saved from the art (or lack thereof) in this book.

The art. Don't get me started with the art. It was drawn so badly that I had times I needed to focus really good to be sure who is who. I don't want to say too many bad things since the illustrator can draw better than me, but I've seen three and five year olds that are better than me too, so this is not really a flattery. I simply didn't like it.

[pampampampampam · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is going to be a very short review. I only read a few pages of this graphic novel, and I stopped reading for two main reasons.

1) The art. Being that this is a graphic novel, I expect the art to be of good quality. Now, it's certainly possible that the artist's work wasn't rendered correctly in electronic format, in which case the publisher should be ashamed. The art looked like dotted lines that vaguely formed shapes that looked like they could be people ... or Cthulhu. I'm also not a huge fan of B&W comics--I prefer colored, but sometimes B&W really adds to the storytelling, although here it does not. If this is simply a formatting issue, I apologize to the artist. If it seriously looks this way in print, I apologize to readers' eyeballs. Yeesh. I am by no means an artist, but I'd like to think that I have some taste in the art department.

2) The dialogue. Mostly it consists of the f-word. I think the author couldn't figure out dialogue, so just said, "Oh, F-word. I will use the f-word constantly because uh, that makes stuff gritty ... and stuff." Also, some of the dialogue is in (Spanish) (evidently, in this comic book, parentheses denote a different language, instead of using different lettering or line weight or something) but the main guy character responds in English and everyone gets along all right ... except for the shooting bits, which honestly ... I don't care.

I know I sound harsh, but this was utterly pointless and a waste of even the few minutes I gave to considering it, and the time it took me to write this review.

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley.

[Glire · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ni siquiera pude terminarlo. El "arte" es terrible, de hecho he visto cosas mejores en las caricaturas del periódico. Las imágenes se ven pixeladas y muchas veces para poder entenderlas tenía que hacer mega zoom en la pagina, o entrecerrar los ojos y girar la cabeza 45 grados a la izquierda, mientras bailaba la danza de la lluvia. Ok, exageré, pero el punto es que requería mucho esfuerzo, y como no había nada que me incitara a seguir leyendo, abandoné.


¿Qué le pasó a Miguel? ¿No tiene ojos, le arrojaron acido a la cara? ¿Qué es esa mancha negra, sangre, pintura, un pulpo asesino que lo está abrazando? Tantas dudas y tan poco interés de mi parte en descubrir la respuesta.

Los diálogos son malos. Generalmente no tengo ningún problema con un lenguaje grosero, total uno que otro insulto nunca ha matado a nadie. Pero aquí los insultos son el dialogo, hasta el punto que perdían el sentido y era aburrido seguir leyendo.

La trama es cliché y no tiene nada particularmente memorable.

En general, esto es como la transcripción (con muy malos dibujos) de una de esas viejas y malas, películas de acción para televisión.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real Paraguayan city of Ciudad del Este forms the backdrop for this hyper-violent action thriller graphic novel. Hats off to the creators for picking such a fertile setting for, what is essentially a very well-worn story of a mercenary hired to rescue an attractive young woman. The city is less than sixty years old, but due to its location on the border with Brazil and very near the border of Argentina, has blossomed into a commercial hub with more than 300,000 people living there. What makes it really interesting, however, is the mix of the population -- in addition to Paraguayans, there are loads of Brazilians, Argentines, Koreans, Taiwanese, Lebanese of all religious stripes, Iranians, and more. This mix comes alive in the extremely bloody story, which has the mercenary and girl on the run from several different factions of gunmen. The whole thing is kind of mash-up of The Professional, The Warriors, Terminator 2, Escape From New York, Bourne Identity, and so on. Kind of fun if you like that kind of stuff with a high body count. The stark black and white artwork -- no greyscale -- fits the action perfectly, kind of reminded me of European comics from the '80s.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A violent, gritty tale of crime lords, kidnapping and mercenaries. The story was gripping and made for a fast read. I've enjoyed this author's previous work. However, I found the ending too happily summed up for such an otherwise grim plot. I can't say I'm particularly fond of the b/w rough, sketchy art style but it does suit the atmosphere. Pretty good.

[Oliver Flores · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the books that I've been itching to read. Having checked out only the first chapter--i.e., the first issue in this mini-series, though, I forget exactly why I was so interested in this book to begin with... So far, it's not really my type of book. Maybe it's because I've been interested in Latin America or maybe it was the artist, about whom I read an article in the Spanish newspaper Pais not too long ago. Fernando Leon Gonzalez. I had checked his stuff out and I liked it. Cartoony, Bambi-eyed, quasi-Frank Millerish character work. It has a perverse logic to it when paired up with grim, Rated-R material like that of "Cuidad". Having said that, I'm still not sure why he was chosen for this project. I personally think that he's a talent (seriously) but maybe he was chosen because he has a Spanish last name? "Ciudad" is set in Latin America after all. But though the guy has a Spanish last name, he actually is Spanish (as in from Spain) and, by all accounts, he's never visited the South American city in which this story takes place. Thus his Spanish last name might not be enough to offset some of the controversy this book could engender among more politically conscious people:

This book opens with a group of epithet-spewing, ski-mask-wearing South American kidnappers snarling and point guns at a bland North American bagman (though he could be Canadian, right?) who's name is Tyler Rake, aka John something. Tyler/John is delivering a message on behalf of a rich individual who hopes to retrieve his troubled teenage daughter from said kidnappers. The bagman is constantly referred to as "whiteboy" by the jittery, faceless kidnappers who have no discernible motive for doing any of this other than to get a ransom (which would be enough of a motive but for the vibe you get that they're really doing this because they're, you know, South American). A ridiculously big ransom that they have no real shot at ever collecting at that.

South American or not, you immediately understand that these cagey, deluded kidnappers are merely archetypal goons and that they don't have much longer to live. ///SPOILER/// Sure enough they promptly get mercilessly blown away by the bagman who turns out to be a über mercenary, i.e., an action hero. Surprise. ///END SPOILER/// However, there's a scene amid the ensuing mayhem where the mercenary bashes in the face of an adolescent kidnapper who is clearly way in over his head here--even among his brethren; in the stylized and cartoonishly violent "Kill Bill" this boy merely would have received a good spanking. Not here. "This isn't a game," the mercenary informs the now disfigured boy who clearly doesn't know what just hit him. Neither did I, honestly. I mean, this scene sort of has some real ugliness to it, a kind of depth that I welcome in slick action-thrillers like this. Was this scene a sign of greater things to come?

Soon, the mercenary is out on the street with the girl and rather than move on to the next setting and to the next "plot point" he tells the girl to brace herself because this is just the beginning of what promises to be a hellish obstacle course to freedom. At this point you realize that they're not quite out of that room with the kidnappers, so to speak. The reason for this being that the entire city is apparently chock-full of trigger happy, anonymous kidnappers, among other types of predatory criminals. It's this eyebrow-raising conceit of an entire city overflowing with armed criminals that informs "Cuidad's" conceptual hook, namely that the story is essentially one prolonged, hyper-violent opening scene in an action-thriller. Indeed, as many reviews for this book have pointed out, this book keeps the frenetic action of a typical action movie's opening scene going where most would switch gears and head off in a different direction. Some reviews have written off this conceit as the unfortunate byproduct of a story that was dreamed up by Hollywood screenwriters. (Although the script was penned by one Ande Parks, it seems to have been developed up by Anthony and Joe Russo of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" fame.) So be it. But it's the conceptual hook of the title nonetheless. Take it or leave it.

Or is it? The writers seem to have bigger fish to fry. To be sure, by suggesting that none of this activity--including the preposterous notion of an entire city brimming with wanton criminals "is not a game," to quote the protagonist, the writers try to justify their hyper-violent action-thriller premise as some kind of plausible reality, however over-the-top it might seem. One thing is certain, much is made of the so-called real life setting of "Ciudad" in the promotional materials for the book. Reading the actual book, however, you can't really tell if "Ciudad" is based in Portugal or in Paraguay. Or Mexico? Many reviewers can't seem to figure it out either. Answer: Paraguay (it says so in the book). But really. There's nothing in the setting or in the characters who inhabit it to suggest that Ciudad del Este couldn't be almost any violent city in Latin America, at least as far as most of the headlines coming out of those places are concerned. According to said news accounts, Latin American cities and countries, to boot, are overrun these days with lawlessness at every level of society; entire countries run by criminal organizations and gangs that routinely compete for headlines with corrupt politicians and telenovela actors. Apparently, corruption and violence has seemingly infiltrated every sector of these populations to the point of seeming like the stuff of dystopian sci-fi. "Cuidad" seems to embrace these alarming notions about Latin America rather literally.

Indeed, EVERYONE in Cuidad del Este can turn out to be a predator of some kind. Or at least a potential source of mortal danger, in particular for outsiders (even where little pig-tailed girls are concerned), who seem to be there only to hunt or to be hunted. I wouldn't have been surprised if an actual jaguar had leaped out to attack the hero at some point. The Paraguay that "Cuidad" depicts is the kind of brutal, hyper-violent landscape in which Sam Peckinpah might have placed his violent gringos if he had designed a video game, or directed a Die Hard movie. Therein lies the book's biggest conceptual conceit: a frenetic, hyper-violent scenario that would only be credible in a video game or in an action-thriller is, like, crazily enough, plausible here. Or worse—justified. The movie geek in me can appreciate this screenwriterly conceit. Another part of me would probably call this cultural chauvinism or something if I, uh, wasn't guilty myself of embracing such troubling and inaccurate notions about Latin America at some point.

Having said that, the ostensibly real-life setting that "Cuidad" depicts is ultimately dubious, if only because it's presented in such a broad, all-encompassing way as to seem interchangeable with any city violent in Latin America. I can't say much about Paraguay or about El Salvador--though I do know of some people who had to leave the latter country due to gangs extorting a mom and pop business they were running down there. As far Mexico goes, however, the streets aren't wild-west stunt shows or overrun with drug dealers, kidnappers, or, I dunno, Mexican Walter Whites looking to kill you, take your life savings then bury you in a remote grave. Nor must you become a vigilante to protect yourself. It isn't "Our Most Violent Year" EVERY year down there. In fact, unless you make a certain amount of money (multi-millionaire status), you're pretty much home-free to live your life by whatever means you have at your disposal. Free to go about your business unaffected by world events like most people in the free world. Criminals kill will mostly criminals, and though poverty and corruption is definitely rampant down there (as always), obscenely rich drug dealers don't run the country, the government does. And it rules it with an iron grip these days. The real predator down there is still the government. Not the people. Thus the dubious reality that “Ciudad” suggests is obviously a big problem with the book in that undermines its more serious intentions. The ambitious premise doesn't ring true.

As such, the fatiguing scenario depicted by "Cuidad" feels more like a recurring nightmare that an outsider or that a sheltered person who watches too much news or too many relentlessly violent, socially conscious TV shows might harbor than like a plausible reality. This kind of nightmare betrays a deeply-rooted fear of The Other. The result, then, is that the so-called reality depicted in "Ciudad" is less like "The Wire" meets “Die Hard” than "The Warriors" meets "Die Hard", but writ large. You cross the danger zone and/or kill enough bad guys and you're safe. Here the danger zone is magnified to nightmarishly mythical proportions. It's dubious us-against-them-politics notwithstanding, though, "Ciudad" could have provided more elemental thrills and danger, albeit as a collective nightmare come fantasy.

For example, even in a cult film like "The Warriors", which doesn't pretend to be realistic at all, the main characters were truly vulnerable; aside from being comic book badasses they were outnumbered, true underdogs. There was something truly nightmarish to their journey through a stylized, dystopian New York City overrun with street gangs that were out to get them--and only them. Although they were technically bad guys, you rooted for the poor Warriors because on a primal level you identified with them. Further, as some reviewers of the movie have pointed out, the cartoonish violence in "The Warriors" ultimately gives way to a brutal reality. In "Ciudad", however, right from the start the protagonist is clearly the superior warrior, a super-warrior really. He's about as vulnerable and real as the hero in a first-person shooter game. Or as vulnerable as Bruce Willis in "Die Hard", anyway (that dude just refuses to die.). Thus, even as a collective nightmare come fantasy, "Ciudad" doesn't quite work because the main character isn't vulnerable enough to make us really feel the elemental danger that either he or his ward are in. The other characters are just plot devices, including the girl.

As such, the creative team behind "Ciudad" seems content to use the rampant and unceasingly alarming headlines coming out of Latin America to merely justify the premise to the mother of all Bruce Willis action flicks. Maybe this is how "Die Hard 6" will look. I haven't read the rest of "Ciudad" so I'm not sure. Part of me wants to finish the book to see how the writers keep developing the story's premise, which, admittedly, I find interesting. Another part of me just wants to keep reading in hopes that this is might be the one "Die Hard" movie where John something, er, McClane dies at the end.

[Anustha Upreti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow aren't I happy to get done with this one.

[itchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is pretty graphic despite being rendered in monochrome. There's obviously changes compared to the film adaptation but the general flow of the story seemed faithful enough.

[Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first thing that I must say about the digital copy of Ciudad that I got from NetGalley (Thank you!) is that there must be something wrong with the digital file. Except for a few pages (for example, page 39), most pages appear pixilated, sometimes making it impossible to see what is happening in each panel. I had to read it on my computer with 2x and 4x zoom to be able to make out the dialog (though the zoom made the pixilation even worse!) Page 39, however, was beautifully drawn. So, I am assuming this was just an error, which needs to be rectified immediately if the publisher wants positive reviews of the digital version.

Beyond the art, the story is engaging enough, but nothing novel or unpredictable. Perhaps the way the story is told, where panels show events overlapped with past or current conversations, make the storyline a bit more dynamic and layered, akin to watching a film with narration and events going on at the same time, but beyond this, every new turn of events is predictable. Most of the dialog is bordering on cliché. Bad boys talk tough, women are always weak and cowering, the morally ambivalent main character is too tough on the outside, but a caring teddy bear on the inside, and on and on. There is a lot of attempts to noir, and some of it does work, but overall, I can say that this is just another graphic novel with lots of shooting and bad talking without much content. One of the main cornerstones of noir is the unique philosophizing of the main character that we hear throughout the story, which is lacking in this novel, except for the sentimental letter in the end, which does not add much to the story or the characters.

All in all, Ciudad will make a blockbuster film, I am sure. But it is not a memorable graphic tome.

[A Reader's Heaven · Rating 2 out of 5]

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

She was kidnapped and taken to the worst place on earth. He was hired to get her out. Now, they're both trapped in a city that wants them both dead, and their hopes of getting out are fading fast. From the bloodthirsty criminals, to the corrupt police, to the kid hiding a Glock under his sweatshirt on the corner, everyone wants Tyler Rake and Eva Roche dead.

I have recently been getting into a lot of graphic novels - trying all kinds to see what flavour (so to speak) that I prefer. This isn't one wasn't to my taste.

Numerous issues to raise here:

Firstly, the artwork. Graphic novels, to my way of thinking, should have awesome art. Otherwise, we would just read an actual novel and do all the picturing in our heads. The artwork in this book was very low grade. Granted, there could have been an issue with the digital file - but even still, it is all in black and white (not a good start) and there just isn't much in the way of clarity. Lots of pixelated pages and just a letdown.

Secondly, the dialogue is just terrible. It seems that the hero is a walking obscenity-laden dullard and the rest of the characters are equally dull. A poor attempt at noir that just didn't work (for me.)

Lastly, the plot itself. Nothing new and creative here. Think Bruce Willis action film and you pretty much get the idea.

I have given this 2 stars instead of one based solely on the fact that the file may have had some issues. But that doesn't explain the plot or dialogue.


Paul
ARH

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you get when you combine amazing artist Ande Parks with screenwriters Joe and Anthony Russo (Community, Captain America: Winter Soldier)? You get a high velocity story like 'Ciudad.' It rockets from page to page and feels very much like an action movie.

Eva Roche is kidnapped and her father wants her back so badly that he'll hire mercenary Tyler Rake and his team to pull it off. The problems begin with the city of Ciudad that they find themselves in. Tyler is good with an inventive name and improvising when things go bad, but he's not so good when the victim he's rescuing gets under his skin. When things go sideways (more than once), Tyler and Eva find themselves thrown for curveball after curveball. The bullets fly as everyone involved shoots first before asking questions.

My review copy had some pretty low grade art, and I see complaints about it on GoodReads, but some online samples I've seen show a much better resolution than the review copies. That's unfortunate, because the review copy looked like a third generation xeroxed 'zine, and that's no way to treat Ande Parks art. The story is very cinematic and kept me turning pages. I thought it was a pretty good story.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Oni Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this fast-paced graphic novel.

[Elle Markov · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I said this book was incredible I'd be lying, the dialogue was mediocre at best, there are only so many time you can use the F-bomb in a conversation before it's like "hey, you know there are more words in the English language right".

The book is in black and white, which is okay given it's telling a gritty story. But, the characters leave a lot to be desired, Eva is the girl Tyler has been hired to rescue, there is no background or anything that would make you engage in their struggle and worse towards the end there's a scene where all of a sudden Tyler has feelings for Eva, which completely does not make sense or follow with the rest of the story.

By the end of the book I was so annoyed with the lack of direction that I wanted both Eva and Tyler to be captured and killed. This book tries to play off on all the cartel/mob related conflict in South America to bring a gritty story, but it failed and it's a shame because there was potential there, it just wasn't capitalized on.

Rating 2 out of 5
Read@Book

[Paul Allard · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to abandon reading this in the Adobe digital Version as it was too hard to read and distinguish what was in each picture

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this was action packed. Imagine story that is a mix between "Escape from New York", "Mile 22", "Raid", "16 Blocks", "Gauntlet" and "Proof of Life".

Some will say this graphic novel reads like a movie script and they would be right. This is "movie script" in as far that story is very simple - mercenary expert in extraction of people from highly dangerous environments gets stuck in Paraguay, in Ciduad de Este, and hunted by corrupted government officials and criminal underworld because he is trying to extract the daughter of a very important person from the clutches of the kidnappers.

To say all tropes are in is not required - it would be like saying that starships and weird creatures are part of every space opera.This is an action event through and through, characters are slightly underdeveloped but again this is not drama nor criminal investigation that would flesh out the characters. Again no need - entire story is a race with time, fighting great odds to ensure our two heroes manage cross the city border into safety. We are spectators as action scenes play out in this great city and as our heroes try to get to the safety outside of it.

I can understand that good people of Paraguay might feel offended by description of lawlessness in Ciudad de Este but we need to come to terms that stereotypes exist and always will (hmmm, Russians are always baddies, I wonder why eh). Ciudad is here just a metaphor of large metropolis and underlying criminal shadowy world that is present in every major city.

Art might be off-putting to some but I liked it. It is a little bit cartoon-ish and I don't mind it. Decision to go without colors was in my opinion a great one (but then again I am fan of b&w graphics since Alex Raymond, Hal Foster and Al Williamson).

Good action romp and very interesting book. If you are fun of action stories that do not diverge or branch into ever more complicated story-lines give this one a chance, I think you will like it.

[Adnan Mehmud Samrat · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Ciudad," is a gripping graphic novel that combines action, suspense, and a raw depiction of the dark underworld. The book follows the intense journey of a mercenary named Tyler Rake, who is hired to rescue the kidnapped daughter of an international crime lord in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay—a lawless city overrun by criminal gangs. As he battles against impossible odds, Rake encounters brutal challenges that test both his physical limits and his morality.

The narrative is dark and gritty, showcasing the raw violence of the city and Rake's relentless determination. Parks' writing combined with the visually stunning, moody artwork captures the essence of a high-stakes thriller. The book dives into themes of redemption, survival, and loyalty, making it a compelling read for those who enjoy intense action and morally complex characters.

Overall, *Ciudad* is not only an action-packed thriller but also a visual journey that explores the brutality of the criminal underworld, leaving readers questioning the price of violence and the boundaries of justice. Fans of hard-hitting, graphic storytelling and cinematic action will find this book captivating.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Ever third word is "fuck," which normally isn't a problem but there are so few other words. I also don't have a problem with violence, but because there is no color, some of the images are not decipherable because of the goopy mess characters are making kd each other. I felt very little for the characters. I didn't feel excited for, frightened of or for them. I'm not sure if this was a serialized comic and that may have helped add some emotion and connection to characters but having it all in one collection was again just meh. I would be interested to see the Netflix movie. This could be a fun action piece with more character development.

[Edward Correa · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia termina siendo una especie de storyboard para la película que produce Netflix bajo el nombre de Extraction. La historia es básica, la acción es MUCHA (lo cual funciona muy bien en la película) pero el arte es apenas aceptable para una obra de cómic independiente.

[Randall Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite story. Ande Parks though weaved an intricate tale of spies, villains, revenge and honor. I'm curious as to the Netflix series coming soon.

[Arnoldo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dialogue starts pretty rough. Usually like Ande Parks' work but this is not his best.

[Avalon Aeternum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This got a movie with Chris Hemsworth (Thor from Avengers) and directors from Avengers called Extraction. It is great.

[Virna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was and ok story, I enjoy reading this.

[Komuniststar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nabijen akcijom, crtežom podsjeca na 100 metaka. Priča zgusnutija negu u filmskoj adaptaciji.

[Brion Salazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard for me to be unbiased with this book as it is written by a friend. All I will say is if you liked the Netflix show then go read the source material.

[Natasha Carpina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made me wanna write a James Conrad fic...

Overall I loved the pace and the story.

[Tushar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speechless

[Piyush Mourya]

Fast paced action and the type of art style I like, nothing more I need! Was a fun read for me.

[Manoj Saha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extraction (2020 film)

[Himi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of Saul Bass since before I even knew who he was. I picked up Ciudad because the cover reminded me of his work from the late 50s into the early 60s. I didn’t even read the synopsis until right before I started reading the story. Even if I didn’t enjoy the story, the cover is enough to make me feel like getting it wasn’t a waste.

Ciudad is about a girl who gets kidnapped and taken to the one-stop corruption shop Ciudad del Este and the man who rescues her. The synopsis mentioned that it contained hyper violence and that made me a little hesitant because sometimes the action can get in the way of the story. Thankfully, it didn’t.

The story starts out with Eva already kidnapped and Tyler already in the process of rescuing her. With this being the whole first chapter and so early in the story. I wondered what the remaining four chapters could be filled with. Well, they were full of phase two of the escape and it was worth just about every page. Talk about the odds being against you. They were outnumbered, outgunned, and betrayed at every turn. Tyler wasn’t used to spending so much time with the target and after doing his job for so long he gotten used to treating everything like a job. However, Eva rattled something inside of him and before the job was over, he realized he cared. He cared about her and about himself and it was no longer just a job.

It sounds kind of cliche, but it was well done. I was all for it until he kissed her, though. I guess the writers though it was romantic, though not strictly in the love sense of the word, but it wasn’t. It was actually inappropriate. Eva was in high school when he rescued her, so wrong, wrong, wrong. Fortunately it stopped there and is somewhat forgettable in the grand scheme of things, so I won’t hold it against the story to much.

It was a thrilling ride and there was a lot of violence, but I don’t think any of it was gratuitous. I think the cover represents the feeling of the story well, because now I’m in the mood for something like Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (one of my favorites) for which Saul Bass did the title sequence for.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sufficiently entertaining but stuffed with too much directional action such that any meaningful story was invariably crowded out by bullet wounds, intralingual cursing, and redundant prophecies of doom at the hands of everyone but the lone American.

Conceptually, CIUDAD isn't particularly bad; an alcoholic hitman is addressed for a mission that takes him into the heart of South America where everyone is corrupt and nobody has any respect. The girl he is tasked to rescue is the privileged child of a drug kingpin, now behind bars.

In any case, the story is cluttered and muddled with too many parties all wanting the same thing. The kingpin's ascendant bodyguard; the upstart police lieutenant; the mayor; punks on the street; everyone wants to use the girl as a poker chip, except the American is the only one with her trust. This is good and bad for the narrative. The good is that a conversion of conflicts encourages drama. The bad is that things don't always line up and the conclusion feels forced. CIUDAD, in this regard, is 50/50.

The story could have easily cut out one or two villainous elements and cinched up the drama just as well. The story also could have made an effort to establish Eva, the girl, as a little more tolerable than a ragdoll to be shot at, throwing up, and so forth.

The art is a wash of black and white, occasionally showcasing something clever (smoke, building shadows) and occasionally getting in the way (vehicle art, blood). I don't think the art of CIUDAD is particularly easy to digest, but once you get a headstart, you get the hang of it.

Other problems: some scenes toward the end show a clear lack of structure (panels omitted to encourage a speedier conclusion); the apparent preference for multiple languages and automatic translations in the lettering was terribly annoying; facial expressions in the character art was minimal, sometimes making it difficult to tell characters apart; and the excessive dialogue, which at times made it difficult to observe the art itself.