Story by: Robert Kirkman
Written by: Nick Spencer
Art by: Shawn Martinbrough
Colours by: Felix Serrano
Letters by: Rus Wooton
Cover by: Shawn Martinbrough and Felix Serrano
Published by: Image
Cover Price: $2.99 (USD)
After Robert Kirkman’s experiences while working on The Walking Dead T.V show he decided to try the same writing room style that T.V utilises for a comic book, and Thief of Thieves is the result. So far only Nick Spencer has been revealed, but there are at least two more writers who will be announced as collaborators for future arcs. It is interesting to see how this will work and how well it will succeed, but based on this first issue, Kirkman could be onto something good.
The first thing that really stuck me about Thief of Thieves was the cover, it really is excellent. Martinbrough and Serrano do a great job of teasing and concealing. The face of the thief is in shadow, but the painting he is casually walking away with seems to portray stories that will appear in future issues. This is a very clever device and it is my favourite bit of art in this debut.
Unfortunately, once past the cover, the art isn’t quite as impressive. Martinbrough is certainly talented, but a lot of his work here seems just good, rather than anything more. There are moments when the art picks up, usually when Serrano has a more interesting colour pallet to work with, but it doesn’t quite seem as well as it could. The frequently used wide panels do give the comic a cinematic feel, but maybe Martinbrough should be allowed a little more freedom in which to work.
Aside from the art, the plot is engaging and entertaining. There is a lot of strength in Spencer’s script and the initial heist scene, to the flashback to the two protagonists’ (Celia and Redmond) first meeting moves along well with snappy and fun dialogue. My favourite line was definitely “This is Viggo, the head of my security, he will be hitting you now”.
The success of this series will most likely hang on the quality of the relationship between Celia and Redmond. They have some nice moments together in this issue, with Celia’s motivations being briefly touched upon, but for all the intrigue and trickery that will likely follow in Thief of Thieves it is most important that the characters work as a pair.
The issue ends with a twist of sorts (which I can’t imagine will stick) but I’m still interested in this series as it has opened with a solid debut . The highlights were certainly the cover and the dialogue, but it should be fun seeing in which direction this series heads. The tag line alone is intriguing enough; “There is nothing he can’t steal, nothing he can’t have… except for the life he left behind”.
8/10
