The Losers: Ante Up

Rating:
Summary: It's like a heist movie, except in comic book form.
Review: "The Losers" are a group of five US special forces soldiers who went on a mission in Afghanistan for the CIA, and saw something so terrible that the CIA shot down their helicopter, believing that the Losers were on it.

Five years later, the CIA is still under the impression that the Losers died but the entire team survived and they were in hiding. The team knows that once the CIA finds out that the Losers are still alive, they'll be labeled as terrorists and hunted down; so they want to find some proof of the CIA's criminal endeavors, which they only saw a small part of in Afghanistan. With this proof they want to leverage the CIA into backing off and letting them live.

The Losers are made up of an extremely likable cast of characters. They're led by the no nonsense Col. Clay and his second in command Roque. The most entertaining character is Jensen who is their motor mouthed infiltrator and electronics expert. Cougar is like a stereotypical silent but deadly sniper and Pooch is a family man who is in charge of transportation for the Losers. Their sixth member is Aisha, a female muhajideen who is working as a double agent against the CIA, for the Losers. Many of the Losers don't trust her, and Jensen's attempt to seduce Aisha is one of the funniest scenes in the comic.

I think that if this was strictly an action comic with the plot described, it would be an entertaining read, but the characters elevate it to a higher level, and make this an extremely worthwhile collection.
"The Losers : Ante Up" collects the first six issues of this monthly comic from Vertigo. That means that it gives you the first issue of Losers, a one shot introducing what this comic is all about, and the five part Goliath story line in which the Losers go up against Par-Sec, the tough as nails security firm of Goliath oil in order to secure their freedom.

"Ante Up" is a great buy, it's 9.95 for six issues which means that there's a pretty substantial discount considering that each issue has a cover price of $2.95.

Rating:
Summary: Well crafted, but the plot has been DONE to DEATH already!
Review: Although the premise sounds a little formulaic, the execution is more than sensational. Andy Diggle and Jock deliver a pulse-racing arc that's worthy of a cinema treatment. It may not be as ground breaking as Vertigo's other titles but it's sure is up there in terms of entertainment and thrills. Jock's art is perfect for this type of comic genre. Along with Stormwatch: Team Achilles, I recommend The Losers.

Rating:
Summary: Winners
Review: Although the premise sounds a little formulaic, the execution is more than sensational. Andy Diggle and Jock deliver a pulse-racing arc that's worthy of a cinema treatment. It may not be as ground breaking as Vertigo's other titles but it's sure is up there in terms of entertainment and thrills. Jock's art is perfect for this type of comic genre. Along with Stormwatch: Team Achilles, I recommend The Losers.

Rating:
Summary: BETTER than Hollywood.
Review: Comparing The Losers to a Hollywood movie does it a great disservice. The dialogue in most movies doesn't even come close to what Andy Diggle serves up in this poignantly paranoid and timely series. He's Tarantino with talent. Scorcese with restraint. And Jock's bristling visuals absolutely jump off the page, bringing each character and location and emotion distinctively to life. Hollywood analogies fall short here. The Losers is a must-own, not just for fanboys and action-junkies, but for anybody that appreciates great graphic storytelling.

Rating:
Summary: BETTER than Hollywood.
Review: Comparing The Losers to a Hollywood movie does it a great disservice. The dialogue in most movies doesn't even come close to what Andy Diggle serves up in this poignantly paranoid and timely series. He's Tarantino with talent. Scorcese with restraint. And Jock's bristling visuals absolutely jump off the page, bringing each character and location and emotion distinctively to life. Hollywood analogies fall short here. The Losers is a must-own, not just for fanboys and action-junkies, but for anybody that appreciates great graphic storytelling.

Rating:
Summary: Jerry Bruckheimer movie in Graphic Novel form
Review: I'm only a casual comic reader, but since I've start reading them again as an adult I look for intelligent and innovative story telling and great artwork. The artwork in this book was very good (in that heavy, dark inking kind of way). The story, however, was right out of a Bruckheimer film and for that reason it didn't live up to what I expect out of adult comics. All action and little substance.

I won't be picking up the next book in the Losers series. I much prefered the Sleeper series, which is in a similar genre.

Rating:
Summary: Well crafted, but the plot has been DONE to DEATH already!
Review: Now, don't get me wrong, from the perspective of comics as a craft, this book is VERY well done. About as good as comics can get. The problem is that it's all a very fine house built on a rotten foundation. That foundation is, of course, the plot, such as it is.

Once again, we have the "corrupt elements of the government" out to stop someone who "knows too much". Come on! How many movies and novels have been done about that plot already? How many come out EVERY YEAR? Four or five movies and maybe a dozen books a year? It's a mine that was once valuable, but it was mined out circa 1985. There's nothing new left to say with this plot, and ANTE UP predictably falls into the same old traps that you've seen in dozens of Hollywood productions, though individual scenes were well done when taken divorced from the dinosaur plot.

I do still mildly recommend this book, however. It's worth reading for the character interactions alone, and if you're a student of storytelling, it serves as a cautionary tale of how you must be careful in plotting, because no amount of high-caliber costuming can make a pigs ear look like a silk purse (which is my attempt to describe the book in a manner as cliched as the actual plot is).

Granted, comics are often ABOUT cliche. And if this plot were used in a BATMAN or X-MEN comic, I would probably forgive it. But Vertigo is all about doing comics with a prose mentality, and NOBODY could use this plot in a prose work without it being perceived as derivative of literally hundreds of other works.

Rating:
Summary: Top-Notch Action & Humor
Review: Take a big budget action film, mix in some great dialogue, add a pinch of betrayls and you get Andy Diggles The Losers. This is a great read with some intense action. The art is great, very similar to Sean Phillips noirish style on Sleeper. By the time you reach the climax, you'll be hooked!

Rating:
Summary: Top-Notch Action & Humor
Review: Take a big budget action film, mix in some great dialogue, add a pinch of betrayls and you get Andy Diggles The Losers. This is a great read with some intense action. The art is great, very similar to Sean Phillips noirish style on Sleeper. By the time you reach the climax, you'll be hooked!