It’s like…sure, we’ve always played the game like we had nothin’ to lose–but it feels like we lost everythin’. We were soldiers, man. We were a part of somethin’! But now…
The Losers: Ante Up by Andy Diggle and illustrated by Jock is a double cross revenge story. The first issue of the collection is available as a free download on the website, but I preferred traditional paper so I checked it out via ILL. I was interested in the book because of the hotness that is the movie, which I sadly haven’t seen yet.
What I Liked
– I am a fan of badassitude and between Clay, Aisha, and Cougar, the characters have that in spades.
– The art reflects the mood of the story. It’s hard to get a physical read on the characters, although they all have distinctive characteristics. Even when they’re in sunlight, there are a lot of shadows and dark areas. It adds to the feeling of mistrust and danger.
– The plot is pretty straightforward. They’re trying to find Max so they can get their identities and their lives back.
What I Didn’t Like
– I know I just said the plot is straightforward–and it is–but it took me quite a few pages to get my grounding in the story. That may be because…
– Even though the artwork suits the story, I’m not really a fan of it. Aside from the three characters mentioned above (and the one blond guy whose name I can’t remember), it was hard for me to really get a read on the characters, which left me feeling disconnected from the story.
– The book is really violent. Lots of blood spurts, brains on the pavement, etc. Not so much a fan of that, which was all shown in pretty clear detail.
In conclusion: I still want to see the movie, even though I know who the bad guy is–mostly for the pretty, pretty cast. The book doesn’t make me want to see it more or less than I did before, though. And I am not at all interested in reading any more of the books in the series.
The Englishist 