Fast cars, criminal world, dizzying action. Another installment of Fast and Furious? No, this is the first volume of Death or Glory.
The first volume of Death or Glory opens the sensational thriller series by Rick Remender. This time the author focuses on action, maybe with a little bit of sentiment, but it's far from the gloomy mood of Deadly Class or the old-school Fear Agent. The assumptions are simple: we are to be fascinated by the action, but not necessarily to feel the atmosphere or get into emotional puzzles. And in this field, the comic works well.
It begins quite innocently, according to the patterns developed in this convention. Glory, a mechanic and rally driver, must quickly get a large amount of cash to save her father who is sick. There is of course only one way: to rob members of the criminal world. This is where the fun begins. Glory is not Nikita or any other Atomic Blonde: she's a girl who can and does well with her speedy bangs and weapons, but she's not a ruthless assassin. She lacks skill and experience, so the action collapses, which drives the spiral of events. Glory gets into another trouble, sometimes more and more abstract - here, referring to the film style, you can find certain points in common with, for example, Quentin Tarantino's films.
Rick Remender in Death or Glory puts the script in a way straight from action movies or thrillers: and those focused primarily on action. New threads, dynamic scenes, constant twists: yes, we will undoubtedly find a lot of this in this comic. Unfortunately, it seems that - like many film scriptwriters - he is falling into a trap he has set himself. As long as a lot is happening, the recipient has a busy head and does not think about the whole thing. However, when a calmer moment appears or the work ends, it turns out that in fact we have a race of scenes stuck together with quite a pretext and poorly outlined plot that is to drive the heroine. For some it will be enough, others will feel disappointed.
Owen Bengal's drawings work decently as a medium for this story. Quite simplified, sometimes a bit cartoonish, they bring lightness to the narrative. The only question is whether it was necessary: this story would have probably grown stronger if it had been a bit darker.
The first volume of Death or Glory does well, but there are also a lot of "buts". The skillful introduction of plot twists is definitely a plus. On the downside, there is no purpose whatsoever in this story, and there is a dissonance between the events and the way they are presented.