Review - Bankshot #1 (@DarkHorseComics)


"Now, I'm going to tell you a story."

The saying goes that war is hell. War is also profitable for many which is why so many countries seem ready to jump right in. It's only profitable for certain people, however, and Marcus King in Bankshot #1 from Dark Horse Comics is one of those people. The issue is written by Alex de Campi, illustrated by ChrisCross, colored by Snakebite Cortez and lettered by de Campi.

Marcus King: modern-day Robin Hood or terrorist? Maybe both? When Marcus comes face to face with an adversary who knows all of his carefully buried truths, he’s forced to become the man he has always pretended to be. And punch a small army of dudes. And blow up stuff. Lots of stuff.

de Campi isn't shy about positioning Bankshot #1 as a book about war and the chaos that accompanies it. Most of the first issue is predicated on this chaos as de Campi uses it to drive the narrative and the development of Marcus King as a character. This bombastic approach keeps the pace frenetic. The dialogue is very brisk and fast-paced in a way that keeps up with the action perfectly. And de Campi knows that war transcends nationality, mixing in a good variety of different intelligence agencies and players to keep things fresh.

The artwork by ChrisChross is--quite frankly--bananas. ChrisChross infuses the book with sheer chaos in terms of combat and battle, filling a good chunk of the middle of the book with panels that depict nothing but war. Each of the panels is extremely effective at enlightening the reader on the perils of war and ChrisCross doesn't shy away from bullets, explosions and fire. The black gutters further this effect by drawing more attention to the action in panels. The colors by Cortez provide the right shade of olive green for most of the book to complete the desert setting.

Bankshot #1 is bombastic. Marcus King is a man with a very profound ability to find himself in the company of some of the world's worst people without thinking twice. de Campi infuses the book with all manner of violent enthusiasm as the characters seem to think that war is the only answer. The artwork by ChrisCross is fantastic and follows along with the action flawlessly. Bankshot #1 is non-stop from the jump and just gets even more wild as it unfolds.

Bankshot #1 is available June 28.

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