Broken Frontier

Insane action and frenetic pacing drive this low priced, slick-looking debut from Alias Enterprises.

Billy Andrews is a Hollywood stuntman heading up Killer Stunts, Inc. The book begins by throwing the reader directly into the action with a long, elaborate movie stunt set four months in the past. It briefly introduces us to several of the main players and what they do before thrusting the timeline ahead to the present where Billy arrives at the premiere of the film with his Hollywood starlet girlfriend who receives all the publicity and inadvertently leaves Billy behind. This is a much needed lull in the action as the finale is an eight-page chase and slugfest that ends with a pseudo-mystery for Billy and his company.

Honestly, that little summary is the best I could come up with. No, seriously. After reading Killer Stunts, Inc. #1, I really didn’t have a clue what was going on. I felt like I had just encountered a Jerry Bruckheimer career highlight reel set to high energy techno music…only my ears didn’t hurt. Jim Shooter would be proud.

Kinney clearly wants to grab the reader’s attention with the high-octane opening. He maintains the stranglehold for most of the remainder of the issue, but by the time the last page hit, I was left scratching my head. I think there might be a mystery tied into the ending here, but it’s not enough to convince me to come back for more. Perhaps if the book focused more on developing a plot that might intrigue me instead of wowing me with visuals I’d change my mind. However, I’m left looking at a character that, to my knowledge, possesses no real dangerous (or otherwise promising) qualities that make coming back for more seem desirable.

Despite the script’s lack of distinguishable direction, it works hard to appease the eye. Cohn, Manley and Lynx do a fine job of keeping me in the issue until the end. The art is not perfection by any stretch of the imagination, but it is dynamic and flows well--two things even accomplished artists have difficulty achieving from time to time.

The best thing about this issue was hands down, the price. I have to give Alias Enterprises credit: at 75 cents, it is very difficult to pass on a new full color book even if it is by unknown creators. Fortunately, there were a couple other Alias launches for the same price this week. You may want to consider them over Killer Stunts.

-Kert McAfee