Loose Ends #3 Review

Writer: Jason Latour / Artist: Chris Brunner / Image Comics

Loose Ends stays violent in what is the fastest issue of the short series. As noted after issue #2, this one was set up to cover a lot of ground – or at least it needed to if it were to catch up to the pace required to tell a full story in 4 issues – and to that end, while you may not be convinced in the potential of its conclusion, we are all intrigued enough to see what it is. Where issue #3 shines are some of the imagery involved, where Chris Brunner and Rico Renzi paint beautiful scenes that say more than words; where words would do little more than distract from the tone the panels themselves carry.

Loose Ends #3 Panel 1

Like previous issues, much of this one is told through flashback of Sonny in the military, his service in the Middle East paving the way for the life he’s in now. Frenetic and somewhat hard to follow, the flashbacks have little time to establish the characters needed to substantiate our characters’ backstories and how deeply they dive into illicit trade. It’s hard to see their worth; one might wonder how the present-day story might be different if readers were not given them at all and left to speculate parts of his past, filtering details that risk convolution or confusion, deciding for themselves what clues from the past are most consequential.

Loose Ends is most gripping in its present-day drugs and danger, the Bonnie and Clyde runaways in their suffering, fear, anger, and the temporary solace they find in drugs and each other. That solace – those scenes of fleeting moments of peace – are beautifully rendered and emotionally powerful in that when the high wears off their memories of murder will return, and their situation made worse.

Loose Ends #3 Panel 2

Overall, Loose Ends’ penultimate issue plays catch up through great imagery and few words, the fastest-paced issue of the run so far. The conclusion is wide open, and the meaning of the series can go a several different directions, which is enough to pique our interest in what happens in the end.

8.3 out of 10

Reading Loose Ends? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.

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  • Jordan Calhoun is a writer in New York City. His forthcoming debut book "Piccolo Is Black" is a celebration of the common adaptations we made while non-diverse pop culture helped us form identities. He holds a B.A. in Sociology and Criminal Justice, B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Japanese, and an M.P.A. in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy. He might solve a mystery, or rewrite history. Find him on Instagram and Twitter @JordanMCalhoun

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