BANG! #2: Yippe Ki-Yay

Last issue, we met the most recent incarnation of Thomas Cord, a character leaning heavily into the James Bond/secret agent archetype. Up next with the sophomore issue John Shaw, an action hero in the John McClain (Die Hard) vein. Kindt continues to explore the evolution of pulp archetypes with BANG! but with issue #2, we start to venture into the nouveau pulp of the later 20th century. Like Cord, Shaw doesn’t map cleanly onto a particular character but still the evocation of the archetype is clear. This skill is clearly going to be the beating heart of the series and Kindt is flawless in the execution here. Even with his enhancing inhalers and the clear drawbacks to such a device, there is no mistaking the sort of hero Shaw is modeled after and he carries the appropriate swagger and demeanor to pull off such a character.

That swagger comes more from Torres’ dynamic and fluid art style than from the dialogue although the two facets of narrative feed perfectly off of one another. Torres’ style is stripped down and more reminiscent of a Steve Dillon (R.I.P.) than some of the bigger name artists in the industry today and that helps to make him the perfect artist for this book. If we’re exploring archetypes, that more general style of caricature in cartooning is a far more effective tool for bringing the story to life than a more detail oriented style. Across the board, BANG! is a bonafied hit and a front-runner for best new series of 2020.