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Loose Ends #3 Review

Comic Books

Loose Ends #3 Review

In this, the penultimate chapter of Jason Latour’s fantastic true crime sage, Sonny and Cherry hide out in Miami. Yet while they seem to be enjoying their life on the run, staying high on each other (and a couple of other things), there’s a storm coming that our heroes may not be entirely ready for.

Loose Ends #3 (Image Comics)

Loose Ends #3 Review

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If you’ve read either of my previous reviews of Loose Ends, you can probably guess how I feel about issue 3. The thing is, with how amazing the combination of Chris Brunner’s artwork and Rico Renzi’s colors is at rendering the vision of Jason Latour, I don’t mind it being trite or predictable. This series is just so fucking good.

I don’t mean to downplay Latour’s role in my enjoyment of the book, but this is yet another issue where my favorite segments are largely textless. The opening sequence of an inebriated Cherry waiting in a hotel room in the glow of the city lights doesn’t add much to the story, but it’s still wondrous. Renzi’s work rendering the reflected lights is just phenomenal, and the fact that he gives this (and really every) sequence its own color scheme is great visual storytelling. It lends a unique and personal feel to each individual scene. Renzi’s colors intermingle so perfectly with Brunner’s pencils that it’s almost musical how they play off of each other.

The peak of this can be seen in the mid-issue segment detailing Sonny and Cherry’s time spent hiding out in Miami. It’s a largely random collection of sequences conceptually, but rendered in such a way as to give readers information on not only the mental and physical state of our heroes, but an important element of the plot as well. In one scene we see Sonny high in the bathroom, his head literally swimming with the image of a skull poking out of a poppy flower floating above his head, finally confirming the suspicion that the money he’s been flashing is from heroin he somehow brought back from his tour of Afghanistan.

Though the drug game has allowed him to treat his lady to a hell of a trip, it’s also caught the attention of Rose and Flynn, a pair of crooked cops who have been squeezing Sonny’s old partner in crime (literally and figuratively), presumably trying to nab the stash in Sonny’s trunk or get a hold of their connection. As we head into the final issue of the series, the antagonists have finally bared their teeth, and despite concerns that the central threat hadn’t been developed enough, a satisfying completion to the story doesn’t seem so implausible anymore.

It’s impossible for me not to gush about this book. This series shows just what kind of contributions artwork can make to a story, and should be taught to aspiring illustrators as an example of what pencils and colors can do. Read the damn book, is what I’m saying.

Loose Ends #3 Review
Loose Ends #3
Is it good?
It’s impossible for me not to gush about this book. This series shows just what kind of contributions artwork can make to a story, and should be taught to aspiring illustrators as an example of what pencils and colors can do.
The art is essentially its own character, and it’s amazing.
Only one more issue left.
10
Fantastic
Buy Now

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