Comic Review: Lost Soldiers #4

Lost Soldiers #4

Image Comics

Writer: Ales Kot

Artist: Luca Casalanguida & Heather Moore

I was shocked by this issue. Not often that happens but it happened here. By the end of the last issue of Lost Soldiers, I was expecting a revenge story here. Kot has created a very realistic series, I’ve acknowledged that in past reviews. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to supernatural and superhero comics but I didn’t expect the level of realism here. This is a great issue but it’s not just because of art or writing. The shocking moments can make you think about yourself, the media you consume, and the effect it has on you. Not many comics can accomplish something like that.

The comic starts off with one of its darker moments. A pair of child soldiers working for the drug cartels are chatting when suddenly they’re graphically gunned down. I’d say this was what surprised me the most. Not only the depiction of children forced into a position like that but the death itself. Even in other violent comics like 2000AD you rarely see a child die like this. It’s rare so right away the comic grabs your attention. It makes you think about the real-life child soldiers around the world who experience this daily and then we see who did it. Kowalski. He’s gunned these children down as part of his attempt to get revenge on Burke. When we last saw this man he was sympathetic.  A tired old man who’d lost his family and had nothing to live for. This is only the start of the comic but it completely changes our opinion of the character.

Throughout the rest of the story we see Kowalski on a campaign against the cartel. He attacks their operations constantly with the ultimatum that he’ll only stop if they surrender Burke to him. We also get a lot of insight into why the revenge means so much to Kowalski through flashbacks to Vietnam. Eventually, Kowalski gets what he wants, a meeting with the man he hates. Burke isn’t a character that we know a lot about. We’ve seen him through flashbacks from the point-of-view of Hawkins and Kowalski but that’s really it. The character hasn’t been given time to show what age has turned him into. We get a bit of that here. Kot mostly does this through implications. Burke continues to be a man of few words but he continues to be an interesting character despite this. It’s a testament to the writing quality of this series.

The art throughout this issue continues to be gorgeous. Kowalski kills a lot of people throughout this book but none of them look the same. Everyone has a distinct enough face that you can easily imagine them as real people. The use of colour to highlight the violent moments is great. It’s done in a similar way to the violence during the flashbacks in previous issues. We’re seeing most of this from Kowalski’s perspective so it helps build the idea that he’s reliving that time. The action is handled well too. I’ve read a ton of comics like “The Punisher” that focuses on one man starting a war on crime. They’re always incredibly unrealistic and tend to work best in a cartoonish style. Casalanguida pulls off the realism here though. I can look at these fight scenes and find them believable enough that it doesn’t distract me from the story.

The lettering throughout the issue is of good quality. Kowalski and Burke have slightly different text in their speech bubbles compared to other characters. All the other characters are from Mexico so this is done to highlight that they’re speaking a foreign language. You see some nice bits of onomatopoeia throughout the comics. Guns clicking as they run out of ammo, certain gunshots. One of my favourite moments is a page showing the city with the gunshot sounds above it. It drives home the idea that this violence is occurring throughout the whole area. Kowalski also gets his own narration boxes where he discusses his campaign to lure out Burke. Previous issues had a mysterious narrator who disappears for this issue. The change helps put even more emphasis on Kowalski’s words and it’s a great touch.

Overall, this was a great issue. I feel like that’ll be the most action-filled issue of the series. I won’t spoil the ending but I got the impression that the final issue will have a quieter tone.  Still, the action here is done brilliantly. The realism might be too much for some but it’s incredibly well-written and the lettering is used to great effect. I’ve talked about the art already. It’s stunning and every issue so far has been amazing in that regard. I feel like I’m experiencing a Clint Eastwood movie like “Unforgiven” or “Gran Torino”. This issue and series has just been incredible. I actually feel sad that the next issue will be the last. Definitely grab a copy if you enjoy action comics or even just comics in general. You’re missing out if you haven’t been reading this series.

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