Volume 5 “Who Dares Wins” collects #23 to #28 of the DC Hitman series written by Garth Ennis and Illustrated by John McCrea. “Who Dares Wins” has Tommy Monaghan as the subject of two hits, one by the British SAS as retaliation for a friendly fire incident and one by Mafia don “Men’s Room Louie”. There are no demons or guest superheroes in this book but that doesn’t mean it is any less violent. This is a very focussed story that concentrates on the four SAS guys trying to kill Tommy and everyone else who gets in their way. Ennis tries to flesh out the character of the SAS guys by the use of slang and accents but it doesn’t work well. I found that the slang and accents made the story hard to read at times which spoiled the flow a little.
The art is in the same style as the other books in the series and as such it is nothing special. I Found some of the gunfight scenes to be a little confusing and had to reread them a few times before I finally figured out who was killing who. I also found that a lot of the characters looked very similar to each other which had me flicking back through the pages a few times. The paper stock is typical cheap comic book fare and a doesn’t really do the presentation any favors but it suits the art style.
I really enjoyed the story and it tears along at an action filled pace but the art and paper stock hold this book back from a higher score. I also thought the epilogue was a bit out of character with the rest of the “Hitman” series. A solid read that may not appeal to all “Hitman” fans due to its focus on the SAS guys rather than Tommy. [ISBN-13: 978-1563897184]. 8/10
Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment
