Mugshots from Mad Cave is one of the more striking things to come out. Not just because of the eye-catching art, but how it shows complementary sides of the story and characters. In this noir, readers witness what it means to have a reputation and a legacy. One of those tends to get in the way of another, which can badly affect relationships.
Mugshots: On Profiling
Jordan Thomas writes John Bannan like both a typical and atypical noir protagonist. When readers first meet him, he sells out a companion going through hard times to pay off his debts.
Despite that, he’s social and was well missed by almost everyone in his old stretch of Brighton. But that might be the problem since his niece got kidnapped after wanting to feel like her cool Uncle John.
Even worse, the prime suspects are leaning towards an old rival of John, a dangerous gangster who chased him out of Brighton. With the presentation by Chris Matthews it’s not hard to see why.
Complements Of The Club
Matthews uses a simple yet expressive art style in conjunction with two color schemes to deliver tension. The teal color is for the main story, almost cool and steady in atmosphere. Meanwhile bits that will be important later like John’s debut are in orange. It gives readers a sense of what trouble to expect down the line.
The panel work with lettering by Lucas Gattoni is nothing to sneeze at either. John’s brother-in-law for example would spend time sitting in complete wide panel silence as John investigates in various activities. He’s a simple man who eventually gets up and acts looking big and intimidating almost trying to compete with John in presence. In juxtaposition, when seeing John’s rival beat down a drug dealer in his club while an informant explains to John how his business has changed, it shows how this gangster is still trying to keep the reputation he lost to John. The fact that these two large men might meet practically says big trouble for everybody.
Let’s Get Those Mugshots
Mugshots is a colorful crime drama about legacy and building tension through characterization. It’s full of decent surprises with plenty of suspense in what drives characters to act. For now this gets 8/10.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always, remember to look between the panels.