I get sucked into comics for different reasons. Sometimes the writer, the art, the subject, or even the title. Good Cop Bad Cop appealed to me because of the subject. I love insanity pieces and the idea of a good cop and a bad cop rolled up into one guy felt right to me. That is exactly what Rough Cut Comics brings to the table with this new TPB. Meet Detective Brian Fisher. Seemingly normal dude who gets kicks out of putting the bad guys away in Glasgow City. He reads like a very quiet man with not a lot of friends or family history. We first get introduced to Fisher when he hears of a case where a limb was found in the alley. The comic switches gears by not taking us through the whole run around of the case but instead jumping to the end. Fisher has caught the guy where he is now waiting to be interrogated by Fisher. The comic does this throughout the different stories. You hear or see a case then you are flash-forwarded to the case being solved. And why not jump around with these cases, because the comic doesn’t revolve around the cop drama, but it revolves around Fisher. I like how this is set up. I couldn’t do it with every comic, but here it works with the ideas Jim Alexander is trying to get across.
Anyway, Fisher takes us through his first case when interrogated Jason Andrews, the one responsible for the limb. When the dude doesn’t speak up of where the rest of the body is that is when Mr. Hyde comes out to play. His physical appearance is atrocious looking. His hair is more black, eyes are darker, figure becomes large, and his teeth look like a wolves’. It isn’t nasty. In all honesty, I don’t know if the other characters can see his change or if this is all symbolic. Just as Mr. Hyde, Fisher turns violent and mean. He uses any means possible in order to capture his prey.
Once it is all over, Fisher usually feels a small dose of regret but since he is a cop I am sure he is feeling grateful for the evidence he just achieved. I find this odd in the comic that we deal with such psychological problems but most of the reading is within conversations. I thought we would spend some time in the man’s head. The only proof of us going through his head is when the case ends and the reader gets the report printed from both sides of Fisher. Again, this part is cool, but I really wanted to see it in the comic not in a report.
We go from case to case with Fisher each time losing his cool. The big case comes when Fisher finds out who kidnapped a little girl. His Hyde side comes out to play and doesn’t stop until he kills the man. Now Fisher gives himself three strikes or else he is going to have some consequences taken out on himself.
Dealing with the psychological aspect of humans is a tough gig. Clearly, Fisher is crazy, but I still think some readers will relate. It sort of reminds me of Dexter, where audiences still like him even though he is a psychopath. Maybe it shows something about psyche, but mostly just shows we are entertained by rejects. Good Cop Bad Cop allows us to see this bat shit crazy side of a normal being without us having to do it ourselves. For that I commend this comic.
Score: 3/5
Writer: Jim Alexander Artist: Will Pickering Publisher: Rough Cut Comics Price: $12.99 Website