Sentinels #2: Dirty Deeds Done Right

I don’t like anyone in this book, not a single character. That would normally be a deal breaker for me, except once again Alex Paknadel, Justin Mason and the rest of the team make the concept highly engaging with heady mix of violence, trippy moments, uncomfortable awkward situations and some real gross out moments.

The issue leads with a flashback as Paknadel takes us back to the 90s and we get to see a bit of Drumfire’s history and how Onslaught is connected to her, then plunges you into the now with a prison break gone sideways as the team go after the former Black King Sebastian Shaw. There’s violence galore with excellent dialogue from Paknadel in between the mayhem. Mason excels at the action scenes and dynamic movement as the issue delivers dirty, chaotic, bloody mayhem that Paknadel threads humanity and connection into at the same time. The combination is captivating, not an a particularly pretty way but very much like an ongoing trainwreck you just can’t look away from.

The issue also delves into the ongoing rivalry between Trask and Ellis and while the x-office likes to say these books are not really connected, that connective tissue is there. This issue it takes the form of some very nasty experiments by Ellis and co involving a dog (CONTENT WARNING) and if you’ve been paying attention to solicits for other x-books, while her attempt in this issue is a bloody failure we Know it’s just a question of time before those experiments succeed. Chuck in some major personal drama with Lockstep and his son (oh hey there’s that waitress again…more connective tissue!)and well its a packed second chapter that doesn’t take it’s foot off the gas for even a second and that’s really part of what makes it work so well.

Mason and Blee continue to deliver a book that is not pretty in the traditional sense but rather a colorful but gritty, violent affair that mirrors the ugliness of the subjects at hand. Mason’s facial expressions sell the close up drama and Blee does an interesting color tonal back and forth between the traditional sentinel color palette and burning red’s and oranges. I love any comic that takes the subject script and through deliberate art and coloring choices compliments and elevates that script when visually brought to life on the page. Sentinels does this exceptionally well. Everything VC’s Travis Lanham does with the lettering is additive to the look and feel of the book. It’s really a perfect example of how a great creative team can do amazing things with a concept, that nearly everyone shook their head at, and sell it to the audience. This book doesn’t ever set a foot wrong. it knows what it is and grabs you by the throat and shows you.