Written by J. Michael Straczynski, Ten Grand is the first
issue of the former Thor and Superman writer’s new series published by Image
Comics and his own Joe Comics imprint. Joining JMS in the art department is Ben
Templesmith of 30 Days of Night fame.
Ten Grand tells the story of Joe Fitzgerald, a gruff and
worn-down former mob enforcer who now operates as an occult PI, his cost for doing business is a flat ten thousand
dollars. Joe is very much in the similar vein of other famous
supernatural detectives such as John Constantine and Harry Dresden,
but JMS’ writing of Joe seperates him from the pack. As a fan of traditional
crime fiction, the character reminds me of Philip Marlowe… except if, you know,
Marlowe routinely interrogated angel strippers and fought demon possessed
computers.
Along with the character work, JMS does an excellent job of
slowly building the story up with each passing page, infusing more of the mysticism
and magic into the world he’s created. What starts as a low key sit down with a
client escalates into the aforementioned angels and demons with a dash of hellspawn and resurrecting
damned souls.
On equal footing with the writing is Templesmith’s strong
artwork. Previously seeing his artwork in Fell, I’m pleased to report it’s
still on par with the excellent work of that series and seems to fit this
book even more. The character designs,
which are vaguely reminiscent of Jeff Lemire’s awesome work on Sweet Tooth, and
coloring match the hardboiled and dark tone of the story.
For those Hellblazer
fans still looking for a replacement after the series cancellation, fans of
detective stories, or if you're just a fan of good comics then you should to check this one out.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Review by Matt Johnson
