Comic Review: Gunning For Hits #4

Gunning For Hits #4

Image Comics

Writer: Jeff Rougvie

Artist: Moritat

The music business is rough. For executive hotshot Martin Mills, its about to get a lot rougher. For the first three issues of Rougvie and Moritat’s dalliance with the 1980’s New York music scene, its been a fun ride. Rougvie has held our hand and given us a peek into a world he himself worked decades ago, with colorful characters, excitement and political navigating abound. But as Folani warned Diane in issue #3 – and by extension, us – we were just in the honeymoon phase. In this issue, we see the uglier side of the music industry, as every facet of Mills’ life looks to be on a collision course. While this issue may be on the slow side, this turn is a necessary one in the grand scheme of the story the creators are trying to tell.

As stated earlier, writer Jeff Rougvie brings authenticity to his story, as he has worked in the music business since the 1980s. In the previous issue’s backmatter (which is necessary reading!), Rougvie outlines how the music industry isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be. He states the “rock star life” is, “impossible, impractical and dangerous to maintain.” He says that countless young, talented, impressionable kids were given the wrong impression of what this lifestyle pertains, and learned the hard way.

The same goes for the reader. Martin Mills has been portrayed as a charming, likable protagonist, but this issue brings aspects of his personality to the surface that leave you questioning him. Mills also learns a thing or two about someone he himself admires: rock legend Brian Slade. Slade’s fixation on Mills’ newest signing looks almost certain to destroy everything he has worked so hard for. On top of that, he also has to deal with petty bosses, money-hungry managers and a man threatening to reveal his past life as a hired assassin.

Rougvie’s candor is one of the series’ biggest strengths. You can feel a love for the music industry behind his writing, but he doesn’t shy away from its extreme shortcomings. He also draws a fine line between alienating and intriguing non-music obsessives with his constant “shop talk”, but an opportunity to learn is there if the reader wants it. Moritat’s art loses the absurdist edge it had built up over the first three issues, with most of the panels involving two characters engaged in serious conversation. Gunning For Hits still boasts some of the most appealing, fluid art going around right now, so hopefully, Moritat gets his chance to show off in the coming issues.