One of the independent publishers I ran into at this year’s Emerald City Comicon was Triptych Books. I had a couple of great conversation with Kyle Winters and Mike Andersen and one of the things that struck me the most was how much these guys both love comic books just as much as I do. I left with a copy of their first published comic, Trigger Men #1. With the kind of mindset these guys have I expected a comic book both visually exciting and entertaining in the storytelling department. I am happy to say that both criteria were met and then some.
Trigger Men #1 is 48 pages with no ads and contains Chapters 1 and 2 of the ongoing Trigger Men tale. The story concerns two hit men for hire, Matt, who’s retired, and Jason, who isn’t the most competent or organized. Matt has quit the business because his actions led to the death of someone close to him. Jason has taken on his first solo contract and has asked Matt for assistance, partly because he wants to get it right and partly to get Matt back on the horse. The hit goes off not so smoothly, but the job gets done. Unfortunately, things go off the rails from there with Jason being hired to kill the hit man that offed the person he and Matt just killed. The two friends eventually arrive at a solution that involves an impromptu school reunion. And then things get kind of crazy. Truly, you should really read it for yourself.
The dialogue and pacing on this story is pretty amazing, leaving you wanting more at the end. Mike Andersen’s script is a joy to read and he quickly gets you invested in the characters and their world. Speaking of the world built here, it mainly consists of apartments and Chinese buffet restaurants, but it still feels richer and more fully developed than in most other comics. The dialogue flows naturally and we follow the characters easily from place to place. There is never any need for any “meanwhile” or “later at” captions. In fact, there are no captions in the entire book, something that escaped me my first read through. And yes, you will read this issue multiple times, that’s how fun it is.
Of course, the best writing in the world falls apart if there isn’t decent art to back it up. Luckily, Triptych got Heather Brinesh to do the art. If you aren’t aware of who Heather Brinesh is, that’s ok, neither was I until reading this book. But give it another year or two and I expect you’ll be hearing a lot about her. Her art style in Trigger Men #1 is very clean, yet wonderfully dynamic. She uses a black and white pencil style that has a charcoal feel, but the best part of what she does is the expressions the characters have. She gets across a wide range of emotions and really brings the story to life. I’m very interested to see her handle more comics, but, you know, only if she makes Trigger Men her first love.
Trigger Men #1 is a great introduction to a very fun story. Issue two is also out now and you can pick up both books right now at DriveThru Comics. I recommend you go ahead and get both issues and you’ll want to go right into the second issue once you finish the first. My only question is, when does the next issue come out???
