Posted in: Comics, News Review, Review | Tagged: charlie fab, comic book reviews, Indigo, keithan jones, sean hill, uraeus
Indigo Hit List 2K20 Review: A Well-Produced Compilation
War orphan turned child soldier turned refugee turned world-class assassin — the journey that created the lead character Indigo is a seemingly spectacular sequence of events. Unfortunately, the reader is not shown this, but told, learning far too quickly in a single prose paragraph before the book ever begins. This issue is a well-produced compilation of three short stories, separate missions of assassination sending Indigo into exotic environments as varied as southern France, the Bahamas, and Beverly Hills. Each locale is rendered with such loving and intricate detail that it a luxury to see. Once on location, Indigo sets about performing her lethal craft with a mixed degree of success. Given the style and panache, she walks into every panel with, that's a strange bit of disappointment.
First of all, let's not sleep for even a second on the visuals here — the work of Charlie Fab, Keithan Jones, Sean Hill, and ArtMunki is breathtaking, with precise coloring, line work and action scenes that would top almost anything you'd see on the stands. Look for a smashed table, a high dive, and a beautiful sequence with a sniper shot, as all are high points of visual spectacle that would be as good hanging on your wall as they are on the page. Unfortunately, none of the three short pieces tell complete stories.
Individually or en masse, these works tell the reader almost nothing outside of stereotypes about the characters. A rich guy has anonymous bimbos, it says, another has a sense of entitlement based on his money and influence. Those aren't precisely stretching of the imagination, and that lack of distinction is a significant deficit. Reading these works are intriguing and then frustrating in turn, like watching trailers for episodes of a show you can't watch. Likewise, given the reputation the character has, she has an unfortunate set of surprises that would make Boba Fett look more impressive. Indigo Hit List 2K20 is a sophisticated, mixed bag of results that clearly shows some strong work in the underlying concept, incredible visual stylings, and execution challenges just a bit too great to overcome. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.