2 out of 5

Dude, for real, what is up with the indie books losing an artist midway through?  With Red City, the change is so drastic it was hard to tell if the narrative actually took a turn in book 3 or if I was just being affected by the art change.  But I guess either way the overall experience is diminished, so that’s that.

The first two issues of Red are compelling.  Starting somewhere with Criminal, we started to get a pretty hefty dose of gritty (or attempted gritty or forced gritty) noir in the comic world.  Daniel Corey turns his nose up at this and slots us back into a version of the genre where the hero is always cracking wise and isn’t above running from a fight; this is the home of one-liners that we love from 80s and 90s action with the kind of adventure spirit one might recall from the original Star Wars.  Disgraced space cop Cal Talmadge is “the only person for the job” involving tracking down a diplomat’s daughter in Mars Central; bringing her to safety is of the utmost importance to not disturb a treaty which is to be signed between a couple planets.  Book one is packed with fun interrogations and clever repartee as Tal gets closer to the girl, only, of course, to find out things aren’t exactly as simple as they may seem – running afoul of the police, of mobsters, of assassins.  Book 2 manages to drop him in deeper, picking up a friend – Angel – along the way, which allows Corey to swirl in a light romantic aspect.

While the narrative is a bit jammed (the cast of characters at the end is helpful), we love underdogs like Cal, and artist Mark Dos Santos understands the right blend of comic book framing and pacing and action to “shoot” this like the movie it wants to be, but in a way that’s truly designed for comics.  Dave Lanphear and Colorist Chris Fenoglio give the book a very friendly vibe, which, unfortunately, is part of why the second half of the tale doesn’t work as well as things get a dash more serious.  …Serious and excessively complicated.  Too many characters, too many half-allegiances and an artist switch to Anthony Diecidue who just sinks the book into an unpolished indie look that outright kills the tone.  ‘City’ still follows the beats of the genre, but Corey backs his story into a corner that requires too much explanation, and it just completely took me out of the story.  When we get to the final shoot-’em-up conclusion, the good guy / bad guy line is so wishy-washy it’s hard to know why the scene is a big deal and Diecidue’s art is scratchy lines and unclear layouts that don’t even let you know who’s hitting / shooting at whom.

‘Red City’ is a fair attempt at ‘fun’ noir of which I hope we see more.  Corey obviously knew the ins and outs of his story, but it’s too unevenly weighted between banter and talking heads, a split that’s just highlight by a garish change-up in artists midway through the 4 issue mini.