In the review for issue #4, I mentioned that the run-and-gun nature of this series was growing pretty thin. Luckily, issue #5 acknowledged that problem and takes a step back to take a bit of a breather. Unfortunately, instead of honing in on Cole Cash and his personal plight, the book instead creates new problems for itself by sporadically jumping around between characters and not sitting still for a moment to let us fully integrate with our lead character. And 5 issues in, not caring about the main character is very much a problem.
The book as a whole feels hollow, offering nothing of substance either in the way of plot or character beyond providing reasons for characters to hit each other or cars to explode. The nature of Grifter's relationship with his brother, his mask, his new ally and his on-and-off girlfriend all hold interesting potential, but none are explored in any meaningful way. The highlight of the book comes when Grifter actually attempts to, you know, grift. However, the scene is cut short by another predictable attack from a predictable source.
Scott Clark's artwork is adequate enough, though for all the action and violence that this book touts, the static nature of the artwork isn't doing it any favors. Clark does spice things up toward the end of the book with varied and overlapping panel layouts, but Dave Beaty's somewhat uneven inkwork and Andrew Dolhouse's bland colors do little to entice the reader's enjoyment of the action sequences.
For a book that held the highest of potential with integrating one of Wildstorm's most beloved icons, Grifter has been consistently falling short of expectations all around.
Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on MyIGN. You may or may not discover a profound number of cat pictures.
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