Customer Reviews

The Losers (Book One)

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

 

 

This double-sized collection pulls together the first twelve issues of this over-the-top espionage yarn. The titular characters are a band of 'burned' Special Forces grunts - dropped by the CIA after a mission goes wrong. The Losers are out for revenge - tracking down particularly dodgy CIA operations and breaking them up. As their digging around starts to turn up answers, they start drawing even more unwanted attention from the Powers that Be.

It took me a while to get into The Losers, but once I got there, I didn't want to put this down. Diggle's writing is already patently cinematic - this is straight out of the hyperkinetic paranoid action movies of the early 2000's. Jock's art and (gutsy) layouts reinforces the pace. Something is always going on and the reader's eye zips from panel to panel. This is a great comic book, and done, right, should make for a good film.

The Losers Vol. 1 & 2, written by Andy Diggle with art by Jock, is as close to an action movie as you can get in comic form.

Jock's art explodes off the page, giving the action sequences a sense of motion and vitality you don't often get in comics, while Diggle's script is tight and sharp, making each character distinct in the midst of chaos.

Originally published in 2003, the comic follows a group of disenfranchised covert ops as they try to get their lives back following a betrayal by the mysterious Max - unfortunately Max is a high level military/CIA asset and crossing him means putting themselves in the crosshairs. While the basic set-up may sound similar to the The A-Team that's as far as the similarity goes; this isn't played for laughs - it's serious business.

Of course, things don't go that easy as the team face mercenaries, the CIA, the fact that Max may not even exist, and a betrayal at the hands of one of their own - but then if things were easy, they wouldn't be Losers, would they?

The complete series of The Losers is being re-released in two volumes to capitalize on the forthcoming movie starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans - so this is a perfect opportunity to get a jump on it.

Highly recommended!

With the Hollywood movie looming on the horizon this trade paperback collecting the first two volumes of the Vertigo series The Losers by Andy Diggle and Jock is sure to garner more fans, something that this comic richly deserves. Excellent plotting and well-conceived characters have been hallmarks of Diggle's writing, especially on titles such as Hellblazer, and his talents are fully on display here. Artist Jock is as brilliant as ever with the art, and at 303 pages this collection is a steal for only 13 bucks. Buy this trade before the movie if you can, and proceed to lose yourself in a world of military intrigue, conspiracy and bloody action as Clay, Jensen, Cougar, Aisha and Pooch tear up the pages with trademark violence. The Losers is a title that will be in print for many years to come, and occupies a special place on my shelf. Highly recommended.

It's exactly what was advertised. Full sized. I bought as a gift so I can't speak to the actual content of the comic series, but the condition was excellent.

I enjoyed this overall. The artwork was different from what I'm generally used to, but all in all, I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to read more.

Excellent read with great storyline,characters and terrific art work.
Unlike the movie where the characters have been softened up to a degree, the characters in this graphic novel have a hardness and a ruthlessness about them which gives them a great definition of character.
If you were betrayed by your bosses,almost killed and couldnt see your loved ones again Im sure you wouldnt be wise cracking every 5 minutes!
This I think is a good thing as they retain their air of mystery especially with the character Cougar ( the comment in the movie about his hat made me shudder!).
The art work is awesome and I cant wait to read the rest of the series.
John R

I bought this with the thought that if Hollywood saw fit to make a movie out of it, it must be one of the better graphic novels out there. It turns out that logic was a bit flawed ...

Pros: This book collects two volumes and thus two complete story arcs together, so for the money it's a good value (as trade paperbacks go). The art is decent, and the stories are fairly action-packed. Think "the A-Team" (though probably more resembling the newer movie version coming out rather than the old one from TV) and "Mission Impossible". We're talking thought-out capers with a heavy emphasis on action. Also think "Heat," just not as deep.

Cons: The characters are hardly developed at all, and honestly two of them look so similar at first that, with the rougher art style, it took me a little while to tell them apart. The focus is much more on the group dynamic than on developing individually compelling characters. Also, there are significant plot holes, as though the author got so carried away in his excitement about how cool the caper was that he completely missed some points, or else figured you would. For example, (spoiler) despite the betrayal of the team by one of its members and a trap being sprung around them, they still manage to make a creative getaway from a failed caper. However, it's made clear that this getaway was in the works for days and clearly required serious planning and prep beforehand ... which would mean that the betraying team member should have known all about it and accounted for it.

Ultimately there just wasn't anything compelling enough for me in this to bring me back. I won't be buying the other books, though I may look at them if the local library happens to have them.

Sorry guys I really didn't feel this one. I'm the guy who can't sit through an episode of CSI, and has extremely high expectations for action movies that don't involve the supernatural. The Losers is an espionage tale that is targeted for the James Bond, Bourne, or Italian Job fan. I can really see some people enjoying it, but when I tried to, I couldn't manage to generate a reaction.

I just felt like every reveal and half-page explosion was not exciting at all. The only likeable character in the series, to me, is Jensen. I got a little humor value, but the tough guy government rejects were not interesting. I almost found some stunts clever, as they do perform a lot of plans and heists, but they were barely intriguing. Luckily, I have faith that the film will do much better and create some real action, because it's hard to replicate it through comics. The Losers is only for die-hard action espionage fans, because a superhero guy like me couldn't crack a smile.

I don't mean to generalize or bash the thing, but I'm going to be honest with my lack of satisfaction. The two stars are for the well written story. The negative 3 stars are because of my mid-read snoozing. I'm stating that it is not definate that you will enjoy it or not. It's an aquired taste that I couldn't find within myself. Take what I say as a fair warning, but if you feel confident that you can enjoy a low budget action film in graphic novel form, then more power to you. I wanted to like it, I really did, but I realized that this genre is never going to entertain me in comics. If you're like me, then stick with the superheroes and zombies, skip The Losers.

Im not an avid comic book/graphic novel reader Ill give you that much about me. Basically I like good stories, so nice to read something and be able to understand it and have it be interpreted by the artist. Most of the time reading the "losers" I actually felt like a loser in that the dialouge was boring and flat. The characters were not that attractive the story itself I just could not understand. Everything is so in depth with big words etc its uncomfortable and frustrating to read something that doesnt make sense.(at least to me). What was the selling point for me was the artwork. Jock is an awesome comic book artist, his work is very appealing to the eye, and very stylized. That was pretty much the whole reason why I bought the graphic novel was the artwork and the vivid color palette.Everything else I could care less, its kind of disappointing that someone as talented as jock would be working with an amateur like diggle.I know I cant speak for everyone on this since Im not a total nerd and indulge my life on comic books, but for the casual reader "the losers" is not worth reading.