Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Andrea Mutti, andy diggle, Angela Cruickshank, Comics, control, dynamite, entertainment

Advance Review Of Control By Andy Diggle, Angela Cruickshank And Andrea Mutti

Published Thu, 28 Apr 2016 17:00:36 -0500

I got sent an early copy of the first issue of the new Dynamite series Control. It's a political thriller / crime mystery written by Andy Diggle and Angela Cruickshank with art by Andrea Mutti and the first of six parts kick off in June.

The basis of the story is that a police detective named Kate Burnham and her partner Mitch hear a call for back-up and arrive on the scene to find two shot cops, one of them dead, and a guy hanging from a noose with his hands tied up as to not leave marks. The killer is professional and still on the scene, adding Mitch to the body count while Kate tries to save the hanging man and the other cop.

We are also told about a privacy act trying to be passed in congress and the senator behind it and we see by the end of the first issue that the case and the senator are tied together some how and we find the senator in a compromising position.

The mystery is setting up well but feels a bit rushed as I think the writers were trying to get from point A to point B in 22-pages and had to rush at places to do it. Some of it also feels wrong or contradict what we see on the majority of police procedural shows. Discharging her weapon, not backing up her partner, and a dead partner are just a few of the things that should have given Kate some time off, but instead she is assigned to the case and is in charge of the squad because they're short handed. She should've at least spent some time talking to internal affairs.

I'm a fan of Diggle's writing, normally very tight and engaging, but something seems missing here. This come across as using cliches and conveniences to save time. You don't really get any sense of the characters. The entire focus is on the case, which worked well for Law & Order, but if we're supposed to care about Kate there is more work to do. On the plus side the mystery itself has some potential here and it is enough to make me want to read the second issue.

Overall, if you are a fan of the genre then you should check this book out. It has a very dark and gritty feel and it looks like it's going to dive into some pretty interesting areas as it moves forward. But don't expect to be blown away by the first issue. This is probably going to be a slow build, which is okay, as long as its not too slow.

For more information on Control #1, click here.

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