Larry Hama is ready for issue two of his video game tie-in with a distinct G.I. Joe feel, but is knowing half the battle?
Call of Duty: Black Ops III #2 (Dark Horse Comics)
This is totally Sniper Wolf, right?
For those of you who understand the above caption: we are now friends.
Okay, let’s talk BlOps.
This issue, full of the same ultraviolence, incredibly frantic action and battle scenes, and loads of creative sound effects for death as the last one is a hell of a fun read.
Having said that…It’s also a confusing one.
The benefit that Hama brought to the table with G.I. Joe was that everyone was quirky as fuck. Right? There was a Native American guy in buckskin pants, next to a Jack Nicholson lookalike sailor, next to a mute masked Ninja, next to a guy in a tiny tank-top named Roadblock. Every scene, you knew instantly who was who.
This? This falls prey to the same issue the game has, which is when you are dealing with soldiers in a “realistic” way, with injuries and death, they end up being pretty replaceable. It took me until a few pages in to realize that random badass white guy from this issue was the same badass from the previous:
I think my beard grew an inch just reading this.
Artwise, this seems like a rushed effort in comparison to last issue. Some of it is spot on, but I think that Marcelo is under a very tight deadline, so some pages end up looking a little more sketchy than probably intended. Still, we’re talking about a book where the entire purpose is to show scenes like the one below, so I’ll give that a pass:
There’s no way that’s what it actually sounds like.
Story-wise, I’m not as confused as I am about who’s who. This is a very dangerous Black-Ops team, losing members and recruiting more ass-whuppers as they go, and the prize they are all chasing is always just one step ahead. The intel search and moments of down-time show a camaraderie between these soldiers that is a nice breath and pause before more gunfire starts in. Still…I do find myself going “wait, what?” every now and again.
Is It Good?
It’s not as solid as the first issue plot wise, but it makes up for it with some pretty intense gun battles.
Oh that’s how you say that.
The sniper duel is a fantastic moment, and the other “spray and pray” scenes all look and feel fantastic.
Still, I’m losing the thread. Characters without too much difference, mostly nameless underling bad-guys, jumping in the action mid stream, and very forgettable plot points = I’m starting to get lost, and probably should re-read the first issue.
If I’m losing plot points by issue #2, I think there might be something a tad off.
These guys will find me, and end me now.
The first issue was a solid 6: fun and interesting, but this one falls a bit short.
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