I had some catching up to do with this series, but I definitely wanted to return and give it another read. This series has a rotating group of artists so it’s instantly fun to check out each month as you never know what style to expect. Also… Ghostface Killah. Need I say more? The first story continues with its segment in which we find Anthony Starks working for the DeLuca Family. In the previous issue he won the war with the other rival family in just one night and all by himself. Now the family is concerned about controlling him and so Lucraze has a job for him. He knows his wife is messing around with someone in the family, but he doesn’t know who. He wants Starks to take care of it with people outside of the family. It has some usual twists to the story, but Starks’ dialogue is sharp and hits like a machine gun making it very entertaining. It should be interesting to see how this story plays out in the next issue, but there is a possibility of it going typical mobster story.
The rest of the issue is spent with our record hunter. He’s still tracking down demonic records, but here’s the thing… I think this is supposed to be a young Starks. I’m not 100% sure, but I think the characters are one in the same just from different points in time. Anyways, Migdal as he’s called enters a club where he’s supposed to buy the record off of a DJ. The guy begins to play it and suddenly Migdal sees everyone as demons and other crazy stuff. He grabs the record and leaves, but his journey to find them all is not complete.
Overall I like both stories a lot. I’m partial to the second one more than the first, but I find the idea of the record to be quite awesome. The character dialogue in general is really good. There’s a sharpness to it that makes it entertaining to read. You never really know what the characters are going to say and that makes a fun read. It also makes the characters very memorable.
The art is really good for this particular issue. The different artists really take charge of their section of the story and bring it to life. The club was one of my favorite scenes as it captured the setting perfectly, but gave a futuristic anime vibe at the same time. Overall the art team does a fine job of carrying the story visually and matching the attitude of the writing.
I like this series and you can pretty much count on it being a fun read each month. It’s one of those series that could only exist as a comic and so they experiment with it and are pushing the boundaries of the medium which is a good thing. If you missed out on the first two issues you’re definitely going to be lost on the overall narratives, but you could still read this issue and understand everything that’s happening. Check it out if you want to read a music infused comic that doesn’t hold back.
Score: 3/5
Story: Adrian Younge, Ce Garcia and Matthew Rosenberg
Writers: Matthew Rosenberg and Patrick Kindlon
Artists: Breno Tamura, Gus Storms, Tyler Crook, Toby Cypress and David Murdoch
Publisher: Black Mask Studios and Ashcan Press
Price: $3.50
Release Date: 9/4/13