Review by: Sergio Porras The highly anticipated Thief of Thieves #14 has finally arrived! With its arrival comes new writer for the series, Andy Diggle. Diggle brought forth a breath of fresh air to the series, which rekindled my attraction for the book that I almost stopped reading.
Augustus and Conrad have been captured by the Cartel and are now having to negotiate with Lola, a feared and brutal cartel leader, who feels that he has been let down by Agustus after he fails to repay Lola. Lola gives Conrad a chance to save Agustus's ass by pulling off a job for him, but Conrad knows that he can't do this alone so he recruits his ex-wife Audrey. Although Audrey is angry and blames Conrad for most of what's happened to Agustus, she is desperate to save her son so without any other options she decides to join in on the Venice job.
Long time readers have been anxiously waiting for thirteen issues now to have the Venice job revealed. It's been hinted at multiple times but nothing is ever said about it, but it looks like it’s finally here. Don't be surprised if Kirkman takes anOceans 11 approach to setting up the story. A team will probably have to be assembled and with that will come character introductions and I'm sure they will show a lot of planning. Luckily Kirkman now has Diggle to help write all the witty dialogue that will be taking place. Suspense sells comics so look forward to one hell of a buildup.
Martinbrough and Serrano have pulled off amazing art once again. Thief of Thieves has to be one of the best looking comics on the racks. The art gives the story a realistic element that you don't see in every crime genre book. The thing that stands out the most in this issue is Lola's henchmen. I love the detail that Martinbrough added to the design of their Dia de Los Muertos masks and the colors that Serrano used seem to give them an awesome highlighting affect that make the masks look as if they were glowing.
This issue had everything that the last few issues have been lacking. There was no more stand still and it looks like they're finally going to start moving the story along. At first I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any action in this issue, but after I really gave it some thought, I stared appreciating the writing style and realized that the creative team was able to produce a fantastic story and left you wanting more without having to blow something up or let the bullets fly.
Score: 5/5
Story: Robert Kirkman, James Asmus and Andy Diggle Writer: Andy Diggle Artist: Shawn Martinbrough Colorist: Felix Serrano Publisher: Skybound and Image Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 5/29/13