Loose Ends #2 Review

Writer: Jason Latour / Artist: Chris Brunner / Image Comics The second issue of the 4-part series Loose Ends is more backstory than a continuation of Sonny and Cheri’s run from the law after a bar fight turns into an accidental murder. And since it’s written as majority backstory, the plot here is suddenly made to feel slow, partially because flashback doesn’t reveal a new truth that changes how we see the present day, and partially because, in the present day, the two main characters have yet to do much but drive in fear and silence. Beautifully drawn silence, though. The issue continues on the promise of shock and violence that was established in its premiere, along with the loose line work that made the first issue so gritty. Any scene can turn suddenly graphic, which would run the risk of feeling overdone in a longer series, but in 4 issues Loose Ends doesn’t have much time to overdo much of anything. Its challenge is the opposite – the need to fit in a complete story in such a limited frame – and 50% through the series you might be wondering how complete it’s going to be. Overall, this second issue was by no means bad, but it does add pressure to the second half of the series to hurry things up or risk the climax that feels frustratingly abrupt, or the story living up to its title, unfinished, too few answers to feel complete and too many loose ends to be satisfying. If you find yourself somewhat lost through the wide catalog of characters, you might feel as though this series could have been much better with more time on its hands, a proper amount for characters to establish themselves within the plot before needing to trudge forward through so many faces in so many scenes. And you’d probably be right. But 4 is all we got, so expect the third issue to make or break the series no matter what happens in the series climax. Look forward to a lot of plot convergence in round 3. 7 out of 10 Reading Loose Ends? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here. Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Google+?