Exquisite Corpses – Lone Gunman #1: Number One With A Bullet

The Oak Valley massacre was two years ago, but the scars on Laura, Xavi, and Jason will remain forever. Trying to move forward in Seattle, the surviving trio of the Thirteen’s most recent game try to readjust to normalcy while constantly looking over their shoulders. However, when a new Gunman comes hunting for them , Laura is dragged down a rabbit hole that may expose the game once and for all.

Lone Gunman is the third book to spin out of the Exquisite Corpses universe. While Fox Mask Killer is a prequel and Rascal Randy functions more as a side-story, Lone Gunman feels more like a crucial piece on the road to the sequel that both deepens the lore behind the Game as well as the Thirteen. What results is a grounded, yet still bombastic, mystery filled with blood, conspiracies, and bullets.

Pornsak Pichetshote’s script starts with a flashforward before turning the clock back a couple of weeks to re-establish the cast. Laura, Xavi, and Jason are the only ones left from the Oak Valley massacre from the previous game and a majority of this issue focuses on how they are trying to cope with their life on the run from the Thirteen, specifically “Massachusetts” (the old woman who won the Game in the previous series). Laura is angry and haunted by the visions of Wilfredo Torres (the previous Lone Gunman), Xavi is trying his best to make something of the money that was gifted to them (100 million dollars), and Jason is still traumatized from all the death he saw. It’s a good place to pick up with these characters and the mystery of Torres and the Mad Northwest adds another layer to the story.

Alberto Ponticelli’s pencils fit the gritty tone of this story, but a couple of off-model moments come close to taking you out of it. Once the bullets start flying however, the action is exciting and bloody with Jordie Bellaire’s more muddy palette adding to the chaos.