Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Shawn Martinbrough
Colorist: Felix Serrano
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Editor: Sina Grace
Creator: Robert Kirkma
Cover: Shawn Martinbrough and Felix Serrano
The man with the Midas touch seems to have done it again. Thief of Thieves is sold out, but I am sure a second printing from Image is on the way. This is the same Kirkman of The Walking Dead, and Invicible, but his newest fare seems to be hell bent on conquering another genre in the world of comics. This one is all about grifters, cons, and the problems that people in this profession might possibly face in their day to day life. But just because Kirkman has now been fashioned into the new golden calf that idol worshiping fanboys have deemed Teflon, that does not mean he gets a free pass here at The Hammond Comics Blog. Let's see how this one came out in the end. Thief of Thieves Issue One: Let's go!
This book is rife with cliches at every turn. The first issue is about a master thief main character cut from the same cloth as the films Oceans Eleven and The Thomas Crowne affair. The story is not bad at all, it's actually pretty good to tell you the truth, but the only thing new about Thief of Thieves so far is that it is not a movie and is instead contained within the pages of a comic book. There was one very interesting and informative scene involving the best way to steal a car, but the rest of it involves a grifter executing a well thought out con, a cookie cutter love interest, and a proclamation (cliffhanger?/spoiler alert/blech!) at the end which is nothing more than a Stephen Baldwin Usual Suspects moment: "One job? One job?". Yes, it is true. He actually says as his parting words in issue one: "I quit." Yawn, didn't see that one coming.
Almost everything done in the first issue has been done before on the big screen, but it is too early to tell whether this one is going to be up there with The Sting, or plummet to the depths of that Edward Burns gem Confidence (sarcasm, cough!) that a few of us cinephiles picked up in a bargain bin for three dollars at the local supermarket. On a side note, Burns does some great work in Independent films these days, he just missed the mark by a mile on that one. Kirkman is known for his characters having a very real and human element, and I'm sure that he does need at least one issue to set up the premise of the story, right? I'm not sure that even Kirkman can pull off a comic book version of Dinner with Andre.
One thing is for certain, I wouldn't bet against the book just yet. The Walking Dead and Invincible are too good to write off Thief of Thieves after only one offering.Thief of Thieves does contain a great essay in the end entitled "Why I Believe in Comics", that essay right there puts issue one just over the average mark. He makes a great point about comics as a medium. To paraphrase, he says that you never hear people say they are movie fans. Everyone watches movies. The same can be true with comics now that they are more than superheroes and more superheroes. The stigma against comics books might never change, but it could. Comics are that good these days. And who wouldn't rather pay their comic book store than Comcast every month? Seriously, my cable company has customer service issues up the ass. My butt is so full. And I'm paying these guys $150 every month for their shitty equipment that doesn't even work half of the time. Wait, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, Edward Burns does make some pretty decent films but you definitely have to sift through the oatmeal to find the marbles contained within. Nice.
By: William R. Davis Jr.
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