Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Ande Parks, anthony russo, Ciudad, Comics, entertainment, Fernando Leon Gonzales, graphic novels, joe russo, oni press

Ciudad's High-Octane Action Blows Readers Away, Just In Time For The Holidays

Published Wed, 10 Dec 2014 16:00:00 -0600

by Hannah Means Shannon

Comments

By Cameron Hatheway

From page one, you're hooked. Gun-wielding masked thugs have the protagonist surrounded, threatening to blow his head off if he doesn't follow the rules. If this was a film, these opening pages would definitely be the 15-minute hook making sure it has your full attention by the balls. The bad guys want a cool $20 million for the 18-year-old girl they've kidnapped, and know her daddy, the head of a major drug cartel, has the money. It's their way or the highway, and our handsome daredevil seems as calm as a cucumber during this heated conversation. As soon as our hero sees that the girl is alive and unharmed, he transforms from non-threatening to highly trained badass, killing the roomful of captors with ease. That was the easy part. The hard part is now getting this girl out of the worst city on earth, Ciudad del Este.

With Ande Parks on writing duties and Joe Russo and Anthony Russo helping Parks with the story, Ciudad from Oni Press definitely packs an incredibly talented creative team, making it worth your while. However the star of the comic in my opinion is Argentinian artist Fernando León González with his beautiful black and white illustrations throughout the novel. Every page is an intricately detailed masterpiece, just begging to be adapted to film. They wouldn't even need to hire a storyboard artist, just use every panel from every page and that alone would put asses in seats.

The main character Tyler Rake is a top-notch mercenary who is very in demand internationally. His team gets contacted by potential clients, and decide if it's a mission Tyler should take or not. When they first hear from Brazilian drug lord Gabriel Roche that his daughter's been kidnapped and doesn't even blink when they inform him the price with be $5 million, Tyler's team is suspicious. Not Tyler though. When he hears that he has to rescue her from Ciudad del Este, one of the most dangerous places in the world, he simply thinks, "Sounds like fun. Book it and send the plane."

One of the most intriguing characters in the book is the city itself, which lies on the borders of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. Originally created to be a trade center for all three countries, corruption and violence now runs rampant, with the inhabitants and their allegiances completely untrustworthy. The mission was simple: get in, get the girl, get out. Only the monkey wrench thrown into the gears is Gabriel Roche himself, who planned on betraying Tyler as soon as he delivered his daughter Eva over to his right-hand man. Lucky for Tyler, he always has a back-up plan.

It's definitely an action-packed kind of comic, with car chases and shoot-outs aplenty. Tyler battles through each obstacle to not only save Eva, but more importantly his reputation of a mercenary who doesn't just cut-and-run when the odds are stacked against him. He has plenty of opportunities to just throw Eva to the dogs and make it out alive, but chooses not to. He's willing to sacrifice both money and blood to complete his mission and make sure Gabriel and his men get what's coming to them.

González's art reminded me a little of Sean Murphy's, both with the amazing action sequences and line work. Every page is absolute eye candy, and flows together smoothly with the story. I'm not sure what González has going for him next, but I definitely now have him on my radar—as I'm sure numerous Western publishers now do too. The third act in particular seems to have the most action, highlighting González's high-octane brilliance at its finest.

The story is definitely rife for Hollywood, and upon further digging has already been announced last September as being produced by Sierra Pictures with the Russos executive producing, John Pogue directing, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson starring (which was announced further back in 2012). However on IMDB.com, there's nothing mentioned about it, so perhaps plans fell through, or it'll be back on the docket after the Russos are done with Captain America 3: Civil War and before Johnson starts with Shazam!.

While it's always a bit sketchy for comics to be turned into movies before the comics are even out yet—aka the Mark Millar approach—Ciudad bucked that icky feeling and ended up being a fantastic action comic with an enjoyable story and fantastic art. As of now I could care less when the movie is being made, for the graphic novel is a homerun and definitely worth that empty spot on your comic shelf.

Ciudad (Oni Press)
Written by Ande Parks
Story by Ande Parks, Joe Russo & Anthony Russo
Illustrated by Fernando León González
168 Pages, B&W
$19.99, Available December 16^th

Cameron Hatheway is the host of Cammy's Comic Corner, an audio podcast. You can hire him to rescue that last chocolate donut from kidnappers on Twitter @CamComicCorner

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!