My favorite miniseries of 2013 Hit is back with another installment in Hit: 1957. If you’re a fan of gritty, intelligent noir stories with stunning art then-well, first I highly encourage picking up the trade (which is known as Hit: 1955), and then pick up Hit: 1957 #1 when it hits shelves. There’s a ton going on in this issue just like the previous mini-series so I’ll try not to bog anyone who’s reading this down with just the plot. Basically, if you’ve read the first series before you’ll be familiar with some of the characters and the continuation is exciting. But new readers are also led into the story with just enough hand-holding so they can enjoy the issue without having to read four-issues worth of backstory if they don’t want to (which they should).

Times have changed over the past two years. Crime is seemingly low and the LAPD has taken over, but the underground is always a nasty place. Slater is back but has a new hit squad, and as we see in the opening panels Bonnie has been dwelling in the luxury of a new name, wealth, and an apartment looking over San Clemente pier. But everyone’s luck starts to run out very quick as Bonnie goes missing and Slater is being tracked down by Internal Affairs. I also loved some extra tidbits in there like the extremely dark past of Slater as a child and a new serial killer on the loose.

The art is absolutely gorgeous in this issue right from the opening panels with Bonnie on the beach in San Clemente to the more brutal scenes of the hit squad doing what they do best. I did notice a slight change in the art around page 10 or so that was a bit off to me. Although still great art in my opinion, there was noticeably less detail and a lot more line work. This reminded me of the art in the first series where to me the art in this issue was a bit cleaner which I really enjoyed. The slight change might be jarring to some people, I felt it was a bit odd but nothing to ruin your experience of the book. Overall, Hit: 1957 #1 is a great debut issue and I can’t wait to get back into the beautifully disturbing world of Hit again.

Score: 4/5

Hit: 1957 #1 Writer: Bryce Carlson Artist: Vanesa R. Del Rey Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 3/25/15 Format: Mini-Series, Print/Digital