A high-octane second issue of this lauded supernatural crime noir series from Dynamite.
Weaver has the uncanny ability to steal the skills and memories of others for a brief time. Living his life as a professional gambler and con man, he soon finds everything he knows changed as he gets pulled into a bigger and more violent world, where it turns out he’s not the only one with special abilities. On the run from the dangerous Lee who he owes $200,000 in gambling money, Weaver has to very quickly decide friend from foe as the net tightens around him…
Issue one of Uncanny was a well-received addition to the list of indie crime noir books out there, but by comparison this issue feels a bit light. It’s certainly fast-paced stuff and there’s enough action going on to keep you entertained, but it’s often somewhat predictable. A lot of the dialogue is quite functional and there are more dammits in one issue then you’ll hear in the real world for the rest of your life. Some of the supporting characters are rather thinly sketched as well and you’re not surprised when they’re immediately killed off.
While the art can stray into static photo-realism territory at times, in general it looks great. Campbell’s work is very much in the hard-boiled crime noir style that the likes of Michael Lark and Sean Phillips have established on some of the major works of this genre over the last decade or so. One immediately thinks of the excellent Sleeper, which this comic has some similarities to.
Uncanny doesn’t rank up there with that company at the moment, but there is enough fun in the premise to keep things interesting. If some of the conventions of the genre are observed a little too closely, then hopefully there are enough twists coming along to make it stand out from the crowd. One to keep an eye on.
Andy Diggle (W), Aaron Campbell (A) • Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99, July 24, 2013
