Lots of interesting books in my backlog. Here's one. BACKGROUND:
I'm not familiar with this one, which speaks to how many comics there are that I've yet to hear about. SUMMARY: Jake Dobson, a guy who works at a comic book store, chances upon a lost phone while biking around San Francisco. He decides to keep it, and it ends up being a big mistake. Upon checking the phone's contents, he finds photos of a murder scene, and he's understandably horrified. Jake tries to do the right thing by calling the police, but it's already too late: he's stumbled into a much larger conspiracy, and he's caught the attention of a hitman hellbent on keeping things under wraps. Shit is obviously intense off the bat, as Jake is relentlessly pursued, threatened in various ways, and has his entire life completely upended all from randomly picking up something on the ground. It doesn't help that the cops dismiss his pleas at the start, thanks in no small part to the confusion brought about by the cover-ups. As Jake is forced on the run, he encounters another person caught in the middle of this whole mess, and with their help, he tries to uncover what the hell is going on. The latter half of the book is twist after twist, and they paint a shocking picture. The conspiracy Jake and his new friend find themselves trapped in runs so much deeper than they could have ever imagined, and it is terrifying. Naturally, I can't expound without spoiling these big reveals. The most I will say is that these twists do a lot to make things feel hopeless and insurmountable, and not just for Jake. I really felt for Jake as he is completely terrified in the early stretches of the story. Before he bothers to check the phone, you can see that his life is relatively peaceful; he gets to shoot the shit with his best friend at the comic store and not really worry about anything else. All of that is thrown out the window because of that phone, and once he realizes his old life is gone, he becomes determined to find some form of justice for all the messed-up shit he witnesses. For the friend Jake meets who's in the same boat, the conspiracy is much more personal (and that escalates with one of the big plot twists), but to say anything more than that would give too much away. The hitman who pursues Jake throughout the story just seems like a cold-blooded killer at first, but one of the key plot twists reveals how his motives are more complex than keeping a string of murders quiet. Again, can't explain too much, but once all the twists are revealed, you see his actions in a different light. I liked the slight nuance that provided, even if the end result is still a pretty basic motivation for a typical villain. There are a bunch of other characters, but in what is a recurring theme here, I can't talk about them much without giving away some of the big twists. They're not that fleshed out anyhow, but they do serve their purpose in the main story well. Aside from them, there's your standard "well-meaning cop who can't help but not see the conspiracy", and there's Steve, Jake's best friend. Steve's character feels like a stereotypical incel (not a kind of person I would ever designate a best friend), but Jake seems to care about him, nonetheless. The art stands out immediately, since it's entirely in black-and-white. The style is mostly this freehand/rough sketch look with simple details, relatively thin lines, and occasional textures that look like faded-out markers or smudged paint/ink. Overall, the comic's aesthetic complements the gritty thriller vibe of the story, and despite the limitations in palette, the violence still looks plenty gruesome thanks to the smart use of textures. VERDICT: I thought Snapshot was a short but sweet crime thriller with immediate, dire stakes for the main characters, a bevy of shocking reveals, and a surprising (albeit slight) nuance to the motives of the hitman chasing Jake at the beginning. I was hooked from start to finish, and I also thought the art was striking in its own way. If you're in the mood for a crime thriller, like black-and-white art, or are just looking for a short but engaging read, this comic is worth considering. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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