Broken Frontier

Urban vigilantism at its most violent keeps the story moving.

Hopping in at issue #5 of 6 is never a good idea; it's akin to just watching the last half of The Empire Strikes Back. When Vader reveals he's the father of Luke, when Han is frozen in carbonite, and when Lando swoops in to save the day, none of these elements have any of the gravitas that they would for people who've seen the whole movie, and less than that for those who've seen this and the movie before.

Critically, the writing is entertaining, and the art has its own style that oddly blends the horrifying gruesome of vigilante work with a cartoonish, wide-eyed nature. Looking at it as a whole, The Strange Talent of Luther Strode comes off more as The Strange Lost Scene of Kick-Ass. It's the concept of taking urban vigilantism to a realistic world where nobody dresses up as a bat and the villains will wholesale maim and dismember (and the hero might have to step up to these levels) that's been done recently. Is it better than Kick-Ass? Hard to say, but it definitely feels as if it's following in the footsteps.

The Strange Talent of Luther Strode #5 functions as a part of a story, but fails on the single-issue level. This is a series you need to go back to the beginning of and read, or wait for the trade; the penultimate issue can't sell you. Those following the book may get something else out of it, but those flipping through it on the shelves will just wonder where Luther is during Kick-Ass.