Second Chances #1

Second Chances #1

Image Comics 2021

Written by Ricky Mammone

Illustrated by Max Bertolini

Lettered by DC Hopkins

Second Chances Hotline—call now and get a new identity! All you need is some cash, a proper referral, and a very good reason to start over. When Leblanc, the man behind the hotline, is approached by a shady figure from his past, he's forced to accept a new client who doesn't meet any of the requirements—a client with chemically induced amnesia in desperate need of protection.

I can’t believe that once upon a time I wouldn’t buy a comic because it was in black & white, it’s true I promise you that. Now I can’t get enough of the black & white style of work because of just how spectacular it is to see this level of work coming off the page. Now I really like this book and the title is apropos to what the book is about. I find this just as interesting because sometimes the title can be misleading. However, once we get into the story things take a decidedly different turn which just adds a lot of layers to the book that I think make it appear to be all over the place but in reality there’s a very distinct method to the madness of what we see throughout.

I find myself very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in establishing some baseline personalities here. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, introducing the characters and the world they live in we’re pulled in tighter than a hug from grandma.

I have to say that I found myself really enjoying the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story emerge and grow. As these layers open up and we start to see the story take place and get a feel for the characters this all adds some great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is extremely nice to see.

Mark’s interiors here are abso-bloody-lutely gorgeous! The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to bring out this level & quality of detail work throughout the book is mindbogglingly brilliant. Because he’s inking the work and that’s where we’re leaving things, the standard quality of what we see is just that much more impressive to me. That we see backgrounds used so prolifically throughout the book to enhance and expand the moments makes me such a happy camper. How they work within the composition of the panels to bring about the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a masterful eye for storytelling.

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Such a great concept and execution happening within these pages. With strong, intelligent writing and interesting characterisation wrapped up in these utterly brilliant interiors we’re getting a book that we never knew we needed and now cannot live without. The twists & turns that present themselves throughout the book raise the interest and intrigue factors exponentially and not something I was expecting to see. I love being surprised like this and if this series is going to progress based on what we see here than I may just be at a loss for words when this is all said and done.