Review – Thief of Thieves Issues 1 & 2

Thief of Thieves #1 & #2 Written by Robert Kirkman & Nick Spencer Art by Shawn Martinbrough, Felix Serrano, Rus Wooton Covers by Shawn Martinbrough & Felix Serrano Released: Feb. 8, 2012 & Mar. 14, 2012

Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) is pretty popular right now. Not only is he an established, talented comic writer, but he’s also one of the creative forces behind The Walking Dead TV series. This of course is based off his bestselling comic of the same name. He’s not slowing down and relaxing while the money and praise come rolling in. He’s out there working and bringing together some of the brightest minds in comics today to help out.

Thief of Thieves isn’t your traditional comic book. It’s not one person writing a story, another drawing it, etc. Kirkman went into this project with the idea of using the writers room concept. It’s got a rotating cast of great creators who are going to be making this new Image Comics title their own with each arc. All being reined in under the watchful eyes of Kirkman himself. At least that’s what I’m getting from it.

Anyway, the first two issues are done by Kirkman and Nick Spencer (Morning Glories, Ultimate Comics X-Men) with art by Shawn Martinbrough. I really enjoyed the first issue a lot, it had an Ocean’s Eleven feel to it. And the art made it feel like some sort of caper film. The story flowed really well, it went back and forth between past and present and gave us an opportunity to see what some of our, what I’m assuming are main characters, are like while not pulling a big heist. And let’s not forget the ending which is really what the books going to be about. No spoilers, but it was surprising how it occurred. I knew it was coming, I read about it prior to picking the book up. But the whole rest of the book didn’t really set me up for that. And that’s really the way a story should be. No one should be able to guess what’s going to happen next except for the person writing it. And when all is said and done, Thief of Thieves #1 definitely hit all the right notes and is well worth reading.

Where issue 1 hit all those right notes, issue 2 fell a little flat. We get a little bit of cryptic backstory, and get to meet a few new characters including our main “thief”‘s ex-wife. The whole book wasn’t bad, far from it actually. But after the really strong debut it just did not stack up. Some of the good moments were the flashbacks. Just like the first issue we’re given a mixture of current events and character history playing out. And I must say that is one hell of a way to pop the question. Anyone who follows Nick Spencers other work, especially Ultimate Comics X-Men knows he’s a big picture guy. He’ll spend a lot of time setting up all the pieces to paint the best picture of this world and its characters. So even if we get a few slow issues here and their this book is one worth following, for at least it’s first story arc, then make your decisions.

Both issues had some really nice styles to them, the art team is working great together. Felix Serrano’s colors just work perfect with Martinbroughs drawings. Like I mentioned before the books just feel like an old school heist movie. We also get a pretty straight forward layout, which really goes along with the style, and just about every page has an interesting caption at the top which I was really enjoying as I read.

In closing we got an interesting story coming from some big names in comics today. The first issue was a great read and left me wanting to get more. While issue two wasn’t as appealing for me it was a good read and I’m still looking forward to more. That’s just my opinion though. They’re definitely doing something right, since both these issues have sold out and gone back for additional printings before they were even released.

Chris talks a bunch on PodQuest each week. He's also been known to write about stuff from time to time. You can Email Chris or follow Chris on Twitter @Just_Cobb or Facebook

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