Customer Reviews

Hitman Vol. 5: Who Dares Wins

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

HITMAN was such an unusual book during the course of its 60-issue run (chiefly because writer Garth Ennis' creative pendulum could swing from gallows humor to mischeivous character banter to literally drop-dead mean action with the turn of a page) that it was easy to overlook the moments of serious drama. With the WHO DARES WINS story arc, Ennis and McCrea turn in a deftly delivered tale of retribution and humility.

One of the running themes of the series, and specifically this story arc, is how seemingly trivial events can lead to huge trevails despite our best efforts to put them behind us. "Forced atonement" seems about as apt a description for what befalls the protagonists thoughout the story as anything.

Prior to this tale, the main characters Tommy Monaghan and Natt the Hat had come through a series of episodes relatively unscathed. One of these episodes - which had previously been related in a somewhat comical flashback - now comes back to haunt them in the form of a group of frighteningly efficient SAS soldiers. Also, a local godfather decides to exact a similar revenge on our main character at the exact same time, with wave after wave of hired guns, finally pressing Monaghan and Natt to play both ends against the middle.

Ennis' sharp characterization shows Monaghan and Natt realizing these are threats they can't shrug off as they have so smugly with others, and there's nothing comical at all about the grim determination with which the SAS soldiers seek out our duo.

Ennis allows the reader to read minds like Tommy Monaghan by clearly presenting the points-of-view of every character, from minor player to major cast member. By doing so, the antagonists gain a humanity one often doesn't find in "comic books"; you know why each character sets upon their course of action, and you can't fully blame them.

HITMAN was also one of the few mainstream books I've ever read where there was a genuine danger for the main characters in almost every story. There was no guarantee of a return to the status quo (if one even existed) at any point, and the characters' mortality was always on the line.

McCrea's artwork was perfectly supple enough throughout this book's run to embrace the elastic nature of Ennis' writing. By turns brooding and naturalistic and exaggerated and comical, this was the arc where McCrea's artwork became noticeably darker, setting a somber stage for what was to come. And as bloody as some confrontations turn, McCrea keeps the artwork comparatively gore-free -- no small feat for these stories.

This story is a major departure from others which more clearly demonstrate the grounding HITMAN has in the DC Universe - there are no superpeople, monsters (of the supernatural kind anyway) or such to be found - which may be why it isn't as embraced as others. However, for those who prefer seeing Monaghan in a more believeable narrative, behaving in a surprisingly less-than-typical but still believeable fashion...you can't lose with WHO DARES WINS.

All of this is but opinion, but this installment of the Hitman series is not worth ignoring. Garth Ennis' writing is great on an emotional level, if you just take it as it comes. It causes Tommy and Natt to examine themselves, which is interesting. It's also interesting to see the lengths the SAS guys go to to get their hands on Tommy and Natt. The ending is good in execution. Although you can easily see it coming, it doesn't matter. The intensity of it is great, if you think about it as a movie (Visualize, man!). The only reason I give this 4 stars is that it isn't as good as Ace of Killers (Which I feel is the best in the Hitman series.), and the Irish slang is a bit hard to get around at times. Quick commentary: It would seem that DC has ceased to print the further adventures of Hitman in TPB format. It's a pity that it had to be so early in the series. Hitman fans should get together and tell DC we want the rest, just like how they published all of Preacher.

To be honest...I love Hitman. LOVE IT. I have gone so far as to purchase art from the series I love it that much. But this was the only story line I thought was just a little to convaluted. I was confused half the time reading this trying to figure out who is who, and what was going on. I have a feeling Garth was writing this from the heart because some of the language that the charecters use is hard to read (he uses alot of Irish Slang)...other than that...if you are a Fan...pick it up!

From the title, it is pretty obvious that this is about Tommy Monaghan and an encounter with the SAS.

It is a bit odd as the quite competent Monaghan with superpowers has problems with this SAS team. Part of it is probably his reluctance to shoot normal humans, as opposed to his bad guy meta rule.

Let me just say that I bought this ANYWAYS. I love the characters, I wanted more. However, this story betrays your trust in the author.

YOU CAN'T MAKE RULES AND THEN IGNORE THEM. That's bad writing.

The first books make it TOTALLY clear that Tommy Monaghan is effectively impossible to surprise, what with his X-ray vision and telepathy. Mobsters, assassins, and even Batman himself have a hard time getting the drop on him.

Since the bad guys in this book are a SMALL group of British SAS, with NO superpowers, who do NOT know about his abilities, going into HIS hometown, you would think they would be pretty much doomed, no matter how skilled they were or how much ammo they packed. After all, he's very hard to surprise and has survived much worse than them (demons from hell, anyone?). Also, he's VERY accurate with a handgun.

So in this book he gets surprised a LOT. He gets very, VERY scared. His powers seem to have almost completely faded away overnight. His accuracy goes into the toilet. When he DOES manage to kill one of the SAS, he gets incredibly angsty about feeling the guy's death telepathically even though he killed a mobster in book one while reading his mind and was perfectly fine about it.

In short, this should have been a short story. A fun short story. However, everything I expected from Tommy didn't happen. At almost every page I kept asking myself "Why doesn't he JUST...?" Because if he DID, it would WORK and that would make it a short story.

Tommy couldn't act like Tommy without making it a short story, so he doesn't.

Bad writing.

The only thing I can say about this book is don't buy it!
Tommy Monaghan didn't deserve that. The first 4 books of the series are so good, I'd advise to stay on that good impression.This last one is messy with a lot less humour and many more casualties.
Right I was deceived by Garth Ennis who made much much better than this.