Comic Book Review: Assassin Nation (2019)

Publisher: Image Comics

Writer: Kyle Starks

Artist: Erica Henderson

Issues: 5

Status: Complete

Like a kill shot from a sniper, Assassin Nation is short and sweet, but perhaps not necessarily as direct as the bullet fired. The five-issue comic follows a gang leader and former number one hitman trying to find who is trying to snuff him out. He assembles 20 of the best assassins in the game to act as his bodyguards and take out the immediate threat to his life and reputation.

Each assassin is more colorful and unique than the last, and among them is the former number one ranked killer, Maxwell Bishop. A man who decided to come out of retirement in an attempt to find the assassin responsible for killing his husband, and where better to start than a glorified assassins convention.

The obvious targets suspected of wanting the main boss dead are the other rival gangs, each unique with regards to their methods and interests, but as the story goes on, the mystery becomes more complex than some would've originally thought.

Not wanting to give away to much, I would say that Assassin Nation falls into the category of action comic that pulls readers in from the first issue. It had me interested from the get-go due in large to having a collection of assassins demonstrating their own unique set of skills.

The artwork reminded me a little of old Archie comics in places, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I have come to prefer more sleek and sharp artwork with word bubbles that don't require a heavy degree of squinting. But overall, the art doesn't cost the overall story too much and i was able to follow the dialogue without any troubles. However, the story can be quite see-through and somewhat easy to figure out. The characters are also not the most memorable you're ever going to see in a comic, but the Katana Kids did remind me of The Crazy 88 from the Kill Bill film, so thats something.

Like a short story, a short comic is tricky to write as it needs to create a satisfying story that fits its moving parts together without any odd protuberance from the complete body of work, so to speak. The writer managed this well with a concept that I still really like, and the comic does leave room for more to come. If you just want a quick and exciting read, then try this one on for size. Happy reading :).