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On to this week's new releases,
and 21 Down is the latest in WildStorm's attempts to
breathe new life into their line.
The X-books connection here, by
the way, is that co-writer Jimmy Palmiotti used to write
Deadpool. Oh, and it's edited by Bob Harras.
There's a name from the past.
Palmiotti's opening arc on
Deadpool, and one of his strongest, was an attempt to do
noir. Then he started doing jokes about killer Catholic
school girls, and my attention wandered. Fortunately,
for 21 Down Palmiotti and his co-writer Justin Gray are
dumping the adolescent material and playing it more or less
straight. The noir influences seem to be back in play,
as well.
The high concept here is that
Preston Kills (and by god, that's a terrible surname for a
character) has the power to sense how people are going to die,
or in some cases, how they already died. But his power
makes him terminally ill and he's going to die in the next
year or so.
Actually, the concept is that
he's going to die when he hits 21. Hence the name.
But while that was explained quite nicely in the promotional
materials, it's never very clearly explained in the issue
itself. For that matter, we're not told how he knows
he's going to die. He just does.
The concept is held back by these rather
obvious questions hanging over it, but Palmiotti and Gray
write the character well enough. He's really just trying
to keep his head down and avoid getting into any sort of
relationship while he waits to drop dead. Although the
idea of him infiltrating unrelated support groups is a little
too obviously reminiscent of Fight Club, the general
characterisation is fairly convincing.
Art comes from Jesus Saiz on pencils and
Palmiotti (again) on inks. Despite this being
technically part of a superhero line, the general approach is
the real-world look, and it comes off well. This is a
fairly talky issue, but it doesn't degenerate into pure
talking heads.
A few awkward elements hold it
back, but the central premise is strong and the cast are well
defined. Possibilities.
Rating: B+
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