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Brubaker and Phillips’s third book in the Reckless series delves into the shady world of 1980’s California real estate and crooked businessmen.
The first two books in Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’s pulpy, noir series Reckless established a compelling character with a nose for trouble and a charming, if gruff, disposition. The third installment in the series, Destroy All Monsters, is scheduled to be released in October, published by Image Comics. Similar to the first two graphic novels in the noir-inspired series, Destroy All Monsters throws Ethan Reckless down a dark and surprising rabbit hole of corruption while weaving an entertaining story reminiscent of Roman Polansky’s Chinatown.
Set in a washed-out 1980s L.A, Friend of the Devil finds Reckless struggling to maintain his friendship with his assistant Anna while investigating a corrupt businessman named Gerard Runyan. City Councilman Isaac Presley hires Ethan to publicly expose Runyan’s corruption to get revenge on the man for ruining his late father’s community improvement plans. Ethan takes the job and finds himself in the middle of a sordid political power struggle.
Destroy All Monsters is less streamlined than the first two Reckless books. The first third of the story is a meandering exploration of Reckless and Anna’s friendship and an earlier, unsuccessful case. At times, this slow exposition divides the reader’s attention and makes it more challenging to invest in the story. The complicated nature of the central mystery would have benefited from having more space in the book, but still manages to be fascinating once it gets started. Brubaker subverts readers’ expectations by centering this new addition to the Reckless canon around Ethan’s friendship with Anna rather than a love interest or a femme fatale. Where the mystery might be lacking, the characters are stronger and more interesting than ever. Anna’s story steals the show as Brubaker reveals new information about her childhood and her personal life. Brubaker allows her history to recontextualize certain moments from previous books in the series without undermining or rewriting them.
Sean Phillips’s art is as good as ever. Throughout his numerous collaborations with Brubaker, he has developed a hard-boiled visual language that perfectly matches the tone and pace of the comic. Phillips draws every character with some degree of menace, or at the very least a capacity for violence, that is sure to keep readers on edge throughout the story. Jacob Phillips’ colors are subtle but exciting. His shifting palette makes even the quietest moments feel dynamic.
Friend of the Devil hits all the notes audiences have come to expect from the Reckless books while feeling fresh. Brubaker’s exploration of Anna’s origins expands the universe in an engaging way and the central narrative is a fun journey through a delightfully grimy city. This isn’t the strongest of the Reckless books, but it is an entertaining, well-drawn story that fleshes out an important character’s history and sets the stage for a slew of enthralling tales.
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