BUZZARD! #1, campaigning now on Kickstarter from Wolf Cave Comics, is a wild tale of a London teenager and mob hitman who gets a lethal upgrade after his last job goes horribly wrong.
The Details
- Written By: Andrea Wolf
- Art By: Ezequiel Assis
- Cover Art By: Samuele Zardinoni
- Cover Price: $8.00 (includes both hardcopy and digital)
- Release Date: October 2021 (est. ship date)
Was It Good?
It was highly entertaining. The tone of the book is a mix of the bold, nihilistic, black humor of Trainspotting with a dash of RoboCop. If that attempt at comparison doesn’t float your boat, this comic simply defies any simple explanation.
Wolf has created a protagonist that is thoroughly abhorrent for his complete lack of respect for life, respectable for his utter love of Britain, and completely admirable for his tenacity to overcome whatever challenge smacks him in the face. You shouldn’t like this kid, but you can’t help liking this kid.
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The art is quite good. You get a sense of the characters acting out in terrible ways, but there’s a groundedness to the lines that makes it feel authentic rather than slapstick or cartoonish.
The one down on the art is the lack of shading or shadows on the characters themselves. No matter what scene they’re in, the characters always look like they’re in a brightly lit room. It’s good for clarity but it diffuses any drama.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Buzzard (just Buzzard, bruv!) is a teenager who takes care of his sister running odd jobs, a student, occasional weed dealer for super genius doctorate students at the local university, and renowned ninja hitman for the mob. Buzzard loves his sister, loves Britain, and hates his school.
One day, the mob boss who sends Buzzard on assignments, Bo, gives him a job to take out just another rich guy. When Buzzard goes to do the deed, he’s beaten to the kill by another assassin. Buzzard tussles with his competition, but they call it a draw when Buzzard gets knifed in the leg, his competitor gets a broken nose, and gets his face exposed. Buzzard forces him to take him along to pay him for the leg injury in the fight and to keep quiet about his identity.
The competition, Kal, is an older hitman nearing the end of his career, and he sees great potential in Buzzard. Kal agrees to train Buzzard for bigger jobs and bigger pay in exchange for a pay split.
What’s odd, in a charming way up to this point, is the slacker-like attitude Buzzard takes to everything thrown his way, and yet, he’s an accomplished hitman that has a name reputation among members of the mob. You could say Buzzard is a killing prodigy, the Mozart of Murder, but there’s not an ounce of danger or drop of grim about Buzzard. You’d dismiss Buzzard on sight as anything but incredibly dangerous, and the sloppy/clumsy way he carries out his missions forces you to believe he must be a prodigy to be that successful.
Buzzard picks up a case one day and decides to go solo as Kal is too high to come along. During the mission, however, Buzzard is confronted with more than he can handle and gets captured by a nasty group of Nazis. They eventually release him but use him to send a message by cutting off both his arms. Oy!
When the eggheads at university hear what happened, they pool their resources and perform an experimental surgery that not only gives Buzzard new arms but arms with a lethal upgrade.
We conclude the issue with Buzzard tying up loose ends and rearranging his life to become a full-time assassin.
How Does It End?
Buzzards’ sister wonders where he’s been this whole time. Everybody wonders about Buzzard’s elbow pads. It’s good to be home.
Final Thoughts
BUZZARD! #1 is weird, wild, dark-humored, and thoroughly entertaining. The art conveys creates a great contrast between the believability and the absurdity of each situation, and the story begs to be continued.
Score: 9/10
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