The Extraction franchise, whether it’s the Netflix films or the original graphic novel, has always been defined by bold, bloody action. So in that respect, Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #2 more than lives up to its name by having its protagonist fight through a legion of adversaries. Those looking for a deeper story, however, might be a little disappointed.
To recap: after seeing his cushy life in Brazil go up in smoke, Rake and his friend Pudge are recruited to extract someone from a heavily guarded police station. But things get complicated when Adi, a sniper he’s supposed to be working with, finds herself trapped after carrying out a side mission involving a German terrorist cell. Rake winds up infiltrating Adi’s location in order to get her back to base…and finds himself up against overwhelming forces.
Ande Parks’s meat-and-potatoes style of storytelling works to his advantage, as he’s able to set up the obstacle Rake faces and then show exactly how Rake deals with it. Readers will see that Rake’s very good at turning things to his advantage. When he and his allies are trapped by overwhelming forces, they use the shadows to their advantage to pick off their foes. Likewise, raiding the garage of the house they’re trapped in provides them with both an escape route and yet another advantage against their foes. The main plot also gets a few wrinkles, including complications that only serve to piss Rake off.
Yet Parks remains somewhat coy on what is driving Rake. Though he seems eager to wrap up this mission and disappear, we don’t know why. That answer could be coming in future issues, but for now, it leaves Rake as a mere cipher of a character. Compared to his other portrayals, it feels a bit slight, and I’m hoping Park makes up for it as the story goes on. After all, part of why I tuned into the Extraction movies was that Rake was a tragic character.
What Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #2 lacks in character, it more than makes up for in art. Ronan Cliquet has a true gift for illustrating action sequences, especially in a certain pair of pages. Those pages feature a minimal use of light, as Ronda Pattinson plunges each panel in a deep black hue to simulate the feeling of being trapped in a dark room. The only flashes of light come from wayward bullets and a flashlight tumbling around, but they show just how efficient and how brutal Rake and Adi are when it comes to depriving people of their lives.
One of the most interesting parts of the comic actually concerns another series Parks is working on for Ignition, titled Bad Thoughts. It pairs him with another incredible artist in the form of Dave Wachter (Punisher, Uncanny Valley) and has a killer hook, as protagonist Jack can actually hear the darker thoughts that race through our heads…and decides to do something about the people who’ve acted on them. It’s the perfect blend of high concept science fiction and gritty action thriller, and it shows that Extraction isn’t the only great idea Parks has come up with.
Though Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #2 is fairly light on story, it more than makes up for it with well-paced, perfectly drawn action. Here’s hoping that the next issue delivers on both the story progression and the fight scenes.
