3 out of 5

This volume is actually split between two SinDexy tales, and then you could say is further split by the two featured stories only having one half of the partnership – Finnigan – as Ramone, as far as we’d know up until now, died in the last story arc.  Thus does Places logically deal with the fallout of that and the reclamation of gun-shark prominence for Finny after having gone on the lam.

While it rocks to have SinDex loose ends collected, one of the downsides to not experiencing this via the 2000 AD rotating features format is you don’t get the pause between big moments, i.e. the real time (and in-story) year that passed after Ramone’s offing.  It also undermines the cool twist that opening tale Malone uses of being written under a pseudonym and not revealing itself as a SinDex tie-in until its final pages; obviously with that thrill collected here you can already assume it relates to the duo in some way, but it would’ve been cool to get surprised as it occurred.

Still, Malone is a fun idea, and pretty greatly executed: A black and white noir send up of a nameless heavy arriving in town and setting up shop as a for-hire enforcer, while odd dreams of clowns infect his sleep and an inability to recall exactly what brought him here washing over his days.  Some rough stuff from the local mob causes him to snap, though, and he is brought to remember that he’s actually Finnigan Sinister, hiding out from Downlode mobs post a mindwipe.  Simon Coleby’s stark, angular art is perfect, and Abnett (writing as Cal Hamilton) develops  a good gumshoe latter that’s just scene-chewing enough.  In fact, Malone is so nicely balanced that it’s a disappointment that it drops its twist so soon.  At 7 parts, it feels like the solid noir setup – which really stands on its own – could’ve been tailed out a bit longer, writing a full-on Malone story that didn’t get hijacked by SinDex.  This might’ve also made the whole “mysterious past” angle a bit smoother, as its sort of wedged in there.

The latter half of the book is Finny’s return to Downlode (back in non-Malone visage), and unfortunately its rather a drag, reading like its just going through the paces to get our duo back where they were.  First is Finnigan’s justification for returning, for which there really isn’t one, and then there’s the somewhat plotless structure of it, just wandering around and filling in missing story pieces.  Anthony Williams’ art can, at times, have a somewhat simplified Gorlan Parlov look to it, but for the most part its way too digital slick and nondescript, with a mid-range color palette adding no highlight.  The thrill is somewhat of a snooze both to read and look at.

But, hey, mission accomplished in getting us where we need to be.  Some necessary story beats are captured here, but its not the best representation of what SinDex can offer.