13 SHOTS OF WHISKEY: BURNT ENDS #2, from Markus Pattern on May 2nd, 2022, follows St. Giles’ very own Private Investigator, Sylvester Bloom, as his latest job stumbles upon a murder that may be connected to the Burnt Ends serial killer.
The Details
- Written by: Markus Pattern
- Art by: Markus Pattern
- Colors by: Markus Pattern
- Letters by: Markus Pattern
- Cover art by: Markus Pattern
- Cover price: $3.46
- Release date: May 2, 2022
Is It Good?
13 SHOTS OF WHISKEY: BURNT ENDS #2 is the kind of passion project comic fans of the medium should continually be searching out. It’s rough, confusing as all get out, and that art lacks refinement, but what the comic lacks in technical execution, it compensates for with a genuine desire to tell a solid detective story.
The plot revolves around Sylvester Bloom – a photographer turned PI who takes the seediest jobs to enable the undercurrent of St. Giles’ broken marriages and sordid sex lives. During one assignment, Bloom witnesses more than he bargained for, putting him in the crosshairs of powerful and corrupt politicians and perhaps a serial killer. On its face, the plot has the makings of a great detective noir thriller with twists, turns, sordid relationships, and murder. All the pieces are present, as long as the Pattern fits them together in a cohesive and dramatic way.
The drama is certainly present with expressive dialog and hard-hitting imagery. What’s lacking in this issue is cohesion and clarity. So many characters are either shown or name-dropped, and your head will be spinning before the midway point. Scenes jump from one character to the next and one development to the next with no time to breathe, so you never get a chance to absorb what’s happening. A typical comic will have five to seven scenes. This comic has seventeen scenes (give or take), and every scene either introduces a new character or adds new information to one of several plots. In short, the narrative flow is a chaotic mess.
The art is average for a creator-owned, written, and drawn indie title. The panel composition is fairly good, the character designs are distinctive for some characters but not others (read: some characters look alike), and the layout is solid. The lettering needs work, and the scene transitions are practically non-existent. The art is good enough to tell what’s going on, but the visuals are a work in progress.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
St. Giles is a quiet little town with a lot of dark secrets. Affairs run rampant, some involving children. Abuse, scandal, and corruption wait around almost every corner. Sylvester Bloom is the man the wealthy hire to get the evidence they need to get their way.
During one of his assignments Bloom witnesses an affair with a deadly outcome. If he brings the killer’s deeds to light, a powerful member of St. Giles goes down. However, the death is covered up using the MO of an on-the-loose serial killer nicknamed Burnt Ends.
When Bloom wheels and deals to find the evidence he needs to bring both killers to justice, the consequences of his work may stop him dead in his tracks.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
(Click this link 👇 to order this comic)
13 SHOTS OF WHISKEY: BURNT ENDS #2 is an imaginative detective noir story that has all the ingredients for a solid thriller. The intricate plot shows time and effort were put into weaving a complex story about a town with a seedy underbelly. However, the plotting is too complicated and tries to do too much in the space allowed, so you’ll need to take notes if you want to keep track.
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com
As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.