Panini Comics has released a new episode of the fearless and hapless detective Reckless.
Sects always have a seductive as well as disturbing power. There are many dodgy stories that have been created (and continue to be produced). And a priori this sickly power he has among people who are unlikely to get into any of them is more than evidenced in the multitude of fictions built around him.
But if anyone takes the cake, it’s La Familia and its terrible leader: Charles Manson. There are many prisms through which this objectionable figure has been scrutinized, but what is clear is that the actions of his assistants mark the end of an era. A time of freedom, extremism and optimism transformed by fear and violence. The hippie ideal suddenly turned into a demonic panic, an era that made Reagan’s run for president inevitable.
All this social and ideological substratum is what he drinks. Reckless: The Devil’s Friend† This second story is consistent with the novels of any self-respecting detective: in the end, they are a narrative resource to talk about other things.† The case, the plot, is nothing more than a dramatic tool, but that’s not the point.
In this case, Ed Brubakerreturns to character with an equally fresh take on the genre. It does this largely by drawing inspiration from things unusual for this subgenre.† And that diabolical panic, the influence of cults in 1970s Los Angeles, and how they became other, more terrifying things, the passage of time. His gaze is devastating, true, and the look of someone who has spent years thinking about how to tell a story with this substrate.
The new case for Detective Reckless is to find the whereabouts of the missing sister of a woman with close emotional ties. Getting these answers will take him into Hollywood’s darkest underworld, the shadows cast by the artificial light of filming.
Once again, it establishes an excellent plot, where everything is executed with great care and without the need for major dramatic turns to attract attention. Rather, it manages to ensnare the reader with a story, some characters, and a mystery whose solution is even more odious and scandalous than its already tragic predecessors.
The rhythm of the story is perfect and his mastery of telling such stories is evident. She knows how to create interest with exactly the right elements and create a situation where each new layer is more captivating than the last.† He seems like an infallible writer who can do nothing less than perfect.
But in addition, he knows how to develop the character and show him as proactive and intelligent, but also vulnerable. Despite the fact that this type of character is more archetypal, the author manages to humanize it and give it depth.† With each new story, the character develops and changes his perspective and ideology.
This second approach to the reckless universe justifies the mastery of this epic. It is the consolidation in cosmos noir that creates the Brubaker/Phillip duo.yes A breakthrough in a truly breathtaking universe.
Sean Phillips’ art isn’t particularly outstanding, but it’s still excellent work and ideal for this type of story. ENHaving worked with Brubaker for so many years, his line is exactly what is associated with his dark stories. When you are always on a level of perfection and use the classical language flawlessly, things come naturally. And it shouldn’t be like that.
Therefore, it’s best to view Sean Phillips’ entire career as one business and not focus on the individual parts within it. And he remains an excellent and unrivaled cartoonist for Brubaker’s sensibility.
Again, color was trusted by Jacob Phillips, and it’s consistent with what you’d expect from a Bru/Phillips collaboration. Natural colors, albeit gloomy and muted. Although his choice of warmer tones than usual is interesting because of the location of the story. It continues to permeate the drawing in millimeters.
panini comics It logically places this second part of Reckless in a skin with the same characteristics as the first. It includes an afterword page where Brubaker summarizes the reasons and motivations for this story.
Reckless: Friend of the Devil is an ode to change. A summary of the evolution of Los Angeles and, by extension, of the West in the second half of the last century. A work that serves to further complement an already brilliant career. And such.
