Tet #2
Written by Paul Allor
Art by Paul Tucker
IDW Publishing
As I think about it now, I came all too close to passing this series by. Two issues into Tet I can only note how unfortunate it would have been to have missed it.
So might I just say this is one you should just buy and enjoy it, which would save you reading any farther.
For those wanting a bit more, I will start with Paul Allor’s story. Tet is about an American soldier who was in Vietnam when the Tet offensive was launched.
We know he survived as elements of the story are in current day America where Eugene Smith is an old man who struggles to walk with a cane.
But the meat of the take in issue #2 focuses on Marine Lieutenant Eugene Smith in Hu City in 1968.
In this issue we find out why he walks with a cane as an old man. The story around Smith being wounded is as good as a comic can get. There is a feeling of realism in the scene which is hard not to be caught up in as the reader.
Paul Tucker’s art associated with the scene is great too. Now a regular reader of my humble words here might recall that when I reviewed issue #1 I noted the art in Tet really hadn’t drawn me to the series. That was true, but now through two issues it has grown on me as being just what the series needs. The art has just enough realism, with dramatic flourishes of lines and ink to give the story the feeling you are looking inside a dream of sorts.
When flashback to the war, and the uncertainty of things as the Tet offensive was launched it just works.
This series is moving up my list of best of the year. Very, very good indeed.
Tokyo Ghost #2
Rick Remender & Sean Murphy
Image Comics
I’ve noted this before, but I am a general fan of Rick Remender. Tokyo Ghost is the fourth of his series I’ve gotten into, and while only two issues in, this is his best work. That is saying something as Fear Agent and Low are both fantastic reads with the latter having outstanding art.
The art on Toyko Ghost is a bit of an acquired taste, but now into issue #2 I find I like it more and more.
As for the story, it’s gritty, mature-themed, and at times tosses in the ‘gross-out’ factor, but it all works for an overall ‘feel’.
While issue one was a ride which would make Fast and Furious movies look a tad mundane, in issue #2 the writers take their foot off the gas and do some world building.
We learn how Constables Led Dent and Debbie Decay came to be friends, and partners, a relationship which is at best strained, perhaps unhealthy, and definitely one which will be at the heart of the story moving forward.
The writing duo just lays out the history in a convenient block which some will likely wish was handled more over time, perhaps in flashbacks ala TV’s Arrow. In my case it fills in some needed information and now we can move forward.
From the high tech world of book one we see the main characters transitioning to a world of green and no tech, a place with the immediate feel of medieval Japan. I love that setting, so I am drooling for book #3 based on that alone.
How Decay, and more so Dent, adapt to the lack of tech will be interesting to see.
It is to be hoped the writers are still able to incorporate scenes from the outside tech world, as the two worlds are stunning polar opposites both in terms of story and artistic impression.
At this point I am totally hooked, and you should be too.
