What is a “Hot Pants” pick? Quite simply, it’s a book that all four reviewers on this site believe is worthy of your time. It might not be one of our favorite books, but it’s that rare breed of comic that struck all four of us, with our different tastes, as a good read. Losers is our latest “Hot Pants” pick.
There are numerous action books out on the market for people to sift through these days. So many so, that it begs the question on what exactly makes one better than the other. With Losers, a 35-issue Vertigo title and the brainchild of writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock, there are too many things that set it apart from all of the others to count. A witty, violent and edgy revenge yarn that easily contains the same intensity as the first Die Hard film, Losers tells the action filled story of a Covert Operations Unit that declares war on the CIA after a failed assassination attempt. It’s cast of characters, both good and bad, are sincerely engaging and lifelike and have an ability to get right underneath your skin and stay there. What else is needed for an action book? How about some essential globe-hopping schemes that jump from the swamps of America to the sands of Turkmenistan then back to the busy streets of London. Or maybe the addition of a whole host of plot twists and conspiracies that are both intriguing and unexpected. Add it all up and you’ve got a book that, quite frankly, is highly addictive. That’s why Losers, one of the best action books there is, is a Hot Pants pick.
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There are two big things I love about The Losers:
1. The characters - Jensen, the motor-mouthed techie, is an obvious one, but every character has something to offer. Pooch’s family man vibe, Cougar’s ultra badass-edness, Clay’s professionalism and stoicism… these are a great batch of characters. And that leaves out side players like Stegler the old CIA workhorse or Max himself, the bad guy behind the whole series.
2. The action - Jock does amazing action sequences. From Cougar backing up Jensen with a sniper rifle early on to a great car chase on an airplane tarmac, Losers offers up modern cinematic style action in a style unseen in most comics. The Losers has the best of what you’d expect from Tony Scott, Michael Bay, John McTiernan, but without some of the excesses that can find their way into their work.
I only hope that both Diggle and Jock will find new projects suited to them. Jock is too good to be wasted on covers for Batman, Nightwing and Rush City (regardless of how good those covers are) and Diggle deserves better than writing some superhero series too. Adam Strange was great, but I’m hoping that Diggle’s travels as a writer will take him more outside the superhero genre, because I think his flair for action belongs in a different context. Actually, I wouldn’t have minded seeing Diggle’s take on Rucka’s Checkmate book, come to think of it, if we have to have him on a mainstream DC or Marvel book.
24 Sep 2006 at 6:58 pm
Quotei have the complete losers collection. and for a while, i enjoyed it. especially jock’s art and atmosphere. the story has many a high point, but i have to say, the last third of the series was very dissapointing. why? it got too cliche, i think. for instance, pooch surviving a helicopter crash, or some impossible escapes that reminded me of such awful action films such as mission impossible. and i felt bad, really, because it was indeed a promising series.
24 Sep 2006 at 10:13 pm
QuoteThe great thing about The Losers was that even when there were a few eyebrow-raise-worthy plot moments, it was always still a ton of fun. The series definitely got better (and stronger) as it went along, but the character ensemble was always good.
24 Sep 2006 at 10:15 pm
QuoteStarting as one of my favorite series it kinda lost me during it’s run. Sure the action scenes were great and the covers were fabulous, but the story felt somewhat rushed at some point and the backup artist did the title no good either.
It wasn’t always clear for me who were the badguys and for what reason. Especially the declaration of the new state was somewhat laughable and looked to me if it was a kind of a hack to reach an end for the serie because it was being cancelled.
But I still would recommend this serie and maybe it reads better in TPB form.
25 Sep 2006 at 8:16 am
QuoteOne of the most underrated series of the last five years. I think it was a good that it finshed at #35 because it was in serious danger of running out steam towards the end but by ending then it kept it’s momentum right up til the very end.
25 Sep 2006 at 8:57 am
QuoteA brilliant series, and really a shame Jock couldn’t do all the issues - he’s just so good with this stuff that no backup artist could possibly measure up.
25 Sep 2006 at 10:49 am
QuoteI have the first volume of this book but haven’t gotten around to reading it. Chalk that up to all the books I’m behind on. I did read the first issue when it first came out and thought it was good. Gonna have to put it up to the top of my to read list based on how you guys feel about it.
I would have loved to have seen Jock on the new Batman Confidential book with Diggle.
25 Sep 2006 at 3:49 pm
QuoteIt seems like a lot of folks had some issues with the fill-in art and the final story.
I’ll be honest, I have some of the same issues. While the guest artists were talented, I’d really rather have seen the book ship later and feature Jock on the entire run, especially since it turned out to be such a limited run. And the plots did put Max more into supervillain territory later on, but given that the book was always more about Bond/Mission: Impossible action than realistic Queen & Country style, I was OK with that. But then, I have a soft spot for action movies, and I’m willing to forgive a little realism if it makes for good action sequences. There’s a line, of course - I’m a much bigger fan of Die Hard than The Transporter, for instance - but I can honestly say I found things to enjoy in both, just as I can enjoy both Queen & Country and The Losers.
Which is not to compare The Losers to Transporter… it’s got a little bit more reality than that, at any rate.
The book *definitely* reads better in trades, especially as the series went on. And I’m with you, Joseph, that I’d rather have seen Jock on Batman Confidental than Portacio… but I’d rather see both of them on non-superhero projects, if I had my pick.
25 Sep 2006 at 5:29 pm
QuoteAs would I Randy. Maybe they’ll have another Vertigo book out sometime soon.
After seeing Portacio’s cover I’m just not sure why he was picked for this book. Is his art not suited for this book or is it? I’ve never seen anything if his as far as interiors go.
26 Sep 2006 at 12:24 am
QuoteI picked up the first trade a little over a year ago and was instantly hooked. Big, smart, fun action that grabs you by your boys and doesn’t let go. Diggle and Jock had some awesome creative synergy going on this book. I’ve been waiting impatiently for the final trade for a while now, and now that’s it out in a day, I can’t afford to pick it up. Damn it.
I heard that the series had been optioned for a feature film a while back, but I don’t know if it’s gone ahead since then - and if it hasn’t, then someone really needs to get their tuchus in gear. Put the right people on this, and the Losers could make one hell of a movie.
26 Sep 2006 at 3:50 pm
QuoteThere’s an intro in the last trade by Peter Berg, who is the guy writing and directing the movie. I’m no fan of his movies, for the most part, but The Rundown had solid action and Berg is an actor as well and a thinking man’s writer/director, so he may “get” The Losers.
His introduction is a little weird, as he seems to read into the book themes that weren’t really as strongly evident in the actual comics (mostly it was about kickass action), but he does seem like a guy who genuinely cares about the property, given that he was willing to write the intro for the trade and has talked with Diggle and Jock, as opposed to a Hollywood guy who’s just going to fuck it up.
03 Oct 2006 at 1:02 pm
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