Written by guest contributor Lance Lambert
I was deeply invested in Hit:1957 and it became one of my favorite picks. If I didn’t learn after watching Episode I that life is full of disappointments, I had to face it after reading Hit: 1957. This last issue of the series ended with a “well, that’s all folks” feel, leaving me asking the same, “That’s all?”
Slater is at the end of his road. Bonnie is capped in the head at the end of issue three, being the only part of the story that really went out with a bang. All he has left is finding Domino, the man responsible for these hardships. If you think he’s going to get what he deserves you’re mistaken. Slater ends up leaving without his revenge. The desire for retribution was not fulfilled unless some unnecessary back story was expected to suffice. I’m referring to the filler that follows the opening scene. It shows Slater’s constant struggle with his father and his fight to overcome his low self-esteem. It’s great to know background, and honestly I had no problem with it in the earlier issues. However, this is the finale, he’s given up and moved on, it’s an easy way to pull feeling when it could have been done through character development.
Before I move on, I must comment on the handling of Bonnie. It was a shocking twist and man did it have me waiting for this issue. Yet, even her death fell flat with no remorse from Slater or any concrete results. She was a solid character with most of the story being centered on her affairs. Although she was caught in a really tight spot, her character spit on the role of “damsel in distress”. She was in some serious shit, but she could hold her own, plotting to escape without Slater’s help. But after issue #3, it was as if she was never important.
Let’s get to Sticky, Sticky is waiting outside of a trailer he expects to find the serial corpse fuckers. I thought this sub plot was interesting, its brutal and keeps the dark noir feel alive. Like the other characters I was invested in Sticky’s conflict. And like Slater and Bonnie, I was disappointed with the outcome. He ends up taking both of the psycho’s out. Sadly, he couldn’t reach them before they were had their way with Leroy, the respected bartender. It’s a very heavy scene, where Sticky is encountered with another choice of whether to shoot or to not shoot. If you remember he made the wrong choice in the beginning, killing an innocent man. This was a big moment for Slater and he found that he sometimes needed to make the tough choices. In that moment there was some closure to find he became self aware. However, afterwards we see no more dialogue involving his moment.
For the art, there’s not much too say. The art inside is mediocre. It does a fantastic job emulating the dark and gritty nature of noir, but doesn’t have much else going for it. In the previous issues the writing was strong so the art did not have to do much work moving the scene. The quality of writing in this issue was pretty damn sad and the art isn’t at the level to save it. There was something that was consistent and managed to wow me every time, it was even the reason I first picked up the book. That being the covers.
When it all comes to an end, Hit: 1957 couldn’t produce. It is sad for me to say because I was really impressed with this series at the beginning. It started with intricate characters and a hard hitting story, it ended with a lame attempt to tie loose ends. It must kept in mind that this series was very short, being only four issues, but that is no excuse for a story that had so much potential. I’ve seen many limited series do the exact same thing, and it’s a huge disappointment. If you enjoyed the first three issues like I did, I still wouldn’t justify picking this up.
Score: 2/5
Hit: 1957 #4 Writer: Bryce Carlson Artist: Vanesa R. Del Rey Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 7/29/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital