Anghus Houvouras reviews Zero #3…
“Shanghai, 2019. An opulent skyscraper party full of terrorists looking for fresh funding. Edward Zero is about to sabotage it big time — and then the skyscraper starts to vanish, bit by bit. So maybe he should look into that first?”
My admiration for writer Ales Kot grows with each subsequent issue of Zero, which with the third issue has come to the halfway point of this six issue series. There are three issues to go, and I already am starting to feel bummed out that it will be drawing to a close.
Maybe it’s because Kot has created such an engrossing world in a short span of time, taking us into the dark and disturbing world of Agent Edward Zero. The creative concept behind the series, using a different artist with every issue, felt like a gamble when it first started. Would the story suffer due a lack of cohesion? Would the disparity in artistic styles make it difficult to follow month after month. But some gambles pay off big, and Zero has fast become my favorite new comic of 2013.
The story thus far has weaved back and forth through Edward Zero’s life, taking him from a brutal middle eastern conflict to diving into his formative years being trained to become a master assassin. The third issue shows us those skills in action as Zero infiltrates a ‘terrorist kickstarter party’ to try and take down the world’s most wanted criminal mastermind.
Like all of Edward’s previous assignments, nothing goes according to plan. Complications arise at every turn, from his oldest friend and fellow wetworks operative being captured to the presence of giant bagel shaped teleportation device.
The issue has a great, old school espionage film feel to it. The entire issue, like the previous two, is dripping with style. Mateus Santolouco’s art feels tailor made for this kind of super science spy story. The revolving door of artists continues to serve the story well because each installment seems to benefit from their particular style. I can’t see Santolouco having the same kind of emotional impact of the second issue flashback that Tradd Moore so beautifully rendered. And by that same logic, Tradd Moore’s style wouldn’t have produced the kind of day-glo, old school pulpy fun that Santolouco has delivered.
Zero #3 is another great read.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon.
Originally published November 21, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
