Writer: Brian Wood / Artist: Mack Chater / Dark Horse Comics
It’s hard to believe Briggs Land isn’t being talked about more. You’d be hard pressed to find a book with better character development and compelling suspense. Every panel unfolds like a scene in a noir-ish television show among the likes of Banshee or Quarry. It’s no wonder AMC picked this joint up and is currently developing a script.
Issue #6 sees tension building in the wake of Hillson Home Value’s… umm… corporate restructuring. We discover that Grace is out making some unlikely allies in the interest of keeping the white supremacists out of Briggs Land. As it turns out, not all Neo Nazis go away after a simple punch in the face. Meanwhile, we learn that there is way more to Hillson Home Value than meets the eye and Caleb has plans for it that might not gel well with Grace’s vision for Briggs Land. Brian Wood has a fantastic protagonist in Grace, a competent and complicated badass, never dumbed down or made too omniscient for the sake of advancing the plot. Mack Chater is highly skilled at using a washed out color palette to deliver a technicolor, 80s pulp feel to Wood’s story. The simple expressiveness of Chater’s faces help to build tension in simple situations from page to page, making for a suspenseful read that leaves you ready for the next issue.
Bottom Line: Wood has an incredible crime drama on his hands that is potentially on par with The Sopranos and Sons of Anarchy. If anything about the premise appeals to you as a show, I’d go ahead and pick this book up to get in on the ground floor.
9.5 American Gangster Reruns out of 10
Reading Briggs Land? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
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Issue #6 sees tension building in the wake of Hillson Home Value’s… umm… corporate restructuring. We discover that Grace is out making some unlikely allies in the interest of keeping the white supremacists out of Briggs Land. As it turns out, not all Neo Nazis go away after a simple punch in the face. Meanwhile, we learn that there is way more to Hillson Home Value than meets the eye and Caleb has plans for it that might not gel well with Grace’s vision for Briggs Land. Brian Wood has a fantastic protagonist in Grace, a competent and complicated badass, never dumbed down or made too omniscient for the sake of advancing the plot. Mack Chater is highly skilled at using a washed out color palette to deliver a technicolor, 80s pulp feel to Wood’s story. The simple expressiveness of Chater’s faces help to build tension in simple situations from page to page, making for a suspenseful read that leaves you ready for the next issue.
Bottom Line: Wood has an incredible crime drama on his hands that is potentially on par with The Sopranos and Sons of Anarchy. If anything about the premise appeals to you as a show, I’d go ahead and pick this book up to get in on the ground floor.
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