Guest Review By Matt Lowder: HARDCORE, VOLUME ONE

HARDCORE (Image, Dec 2018-April 2019, #1-5 mini-series)

5/5

From the publisher:

"Imagine being able to take over the body of anyone on Earth. Sound crazy? Not for Agent Drake and the Hardcore Program. They can turn any person into a human drone to get to targets that normal soldiers can’t.

 Drake is the best soldier Hardcore has to offer. But when he gets stranded in a body with only 72 hours to discover who’s hijacked the Program, he’ll have to pull out all the stops against an enemy who could be literally anyone. 

From the creative minds of ROBERT KIRKMAN and MARC SILVESTRI, and presented by ANDY DIGGLE (THIEF OF THIEVES, Losers) and ALESSANDRO VITTI (Secret Warriors)."

WHY I RECOMMEND IT:

From the get-go, this was a pants-on-the-ground, yippie kai-yay, John McClain, John Wick, John Rambo, John Conner, bullet-flyin' action comic just begging to be made into a feature film. This was a random pick-up (#1-5 bundle) from my buddy Mike Clarke's table at Captain Blue Hen's Labor Day Flea Market. Pristine condition. 

     Awesome cliff-hangers in each issue, fun action movie flare throughout. Not reinventing the wheel, but these are monster truck wheels. Lots happening on each page at a pace equal to it's quality illustrations and stylistic colors. It's fast, sexy, gritty, and straight-forward narratively. Hard speculative sci-fi action for those who like tech-integrated espionage and things that go BOOOOOOOOOOM. 

     The story may be too simple for some. If you enjoy SPEED, BABY DRIVER, READY PLAYER ONE, or DIE HARD, you'll be pleased-as-punch to know vol 2 called "Hardcore Reloaded" just came out in a follow-up 5-issue trade this summer. These books make me want to watch CON AIR and THE MATRIX simultaneously on two televisions. 5/5