Reviews
Sandman Mystery Theatre, Vol. 2: The Face and the Brute by John Watkiss, R.G. Taylor, Matt Wagner
thecommonswings's review
4.0
My only concerns with this book is occasionally it wanders into glibness by using real horrors to drive the action - the monstrousness at the heart of Chinatown is all the worse for being barely spoken. It really lingers as you slowly process the relationship between father and daughter. If Wagner can learn to curtail the temptation to toy with fridging female characters and the like, then this would be brilliant. It’s taut and dark and beautifully written, at heart an attempt to take the noir elements of Batman and see if they can exist with little more exotic than a gas mask and gas gun. The art is phenomenal by the way: kinetic and dark and scratchy and pivotal to the story telling. Certainly it’s one of the few books I can think of where art and writing is absolutely simpatico so quickly
joshhornbeck's review
3.0
FIRST THOUGHTS:
Nice little grimy noir. Very dark, but completely riveting. I like the stylized illustration, but at time it makes it hard to follow the narrative or distinguish between characters. I appreciate Dian’s agency and narrative arc - especially in a medium (and written at a time), that often keeps female characters on the back burner.
Nice little grimy noir. Very dark, but completely riveting. I like the stylized illustration, but at time it makes it hard to follow the narrative or distinguish between characters. I appreciate Dian’s agency and narrative arc - especially in a medium (and written at a time), that often keeps female characters on the back burner.
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