3 Guns

Trench was a deep-cover DEA agent. Steadman was an undercover Naval Intelligence officer. Now, after racing headlong across the Southwest, desperately outrunning Feds and mobsters while trying to clear their names, Trench and Steadman are pulled into another impossible situation: brokering gun deals between the Russians and anti-government revolutionaries…from opposite sides. And little do they know, a Third Gun has her eyes set on the ultimate prize—and she won’t go down without a fight.

Yeah, this trade throws you right into the middle of things and that’s something I’m not particularly fond of.  No real back story to any of the characters, or as to how we got to where we are, just a whole lot of shooting and chasing.  Once you get past the initial burst of action, the story itself isn’t too bad.  The focus is on a thief with the alias of “Bobby Beans”.  Now mind you, there’s more to this thief than meets the eye, but suffice to say, he gets dragged into a whole ordeal with American thugs and Russian mobsters.  However, when an old acquaintance shows up as well, the two are at each other’s throats until finally coming up with a plan to swindle the Americans, and Russians.  What they don’t realize is that the sexy, “Ukranian” girl with the Russians, also has her eyes on the prize.

The series reads a lot like an action movie from the 90’s (I guess is as close of a comparison as I can get), but after awhile, I kind of just wanted it to be over and done with.  Maybe if the story was read in the individual issue format, the pace may have felt a little quicker, but when you’ve gotta go through it in one shot, it drags.  Other times however, it seemed like the dialogue was a bit rushed.  Like I said before, the story itself wasn’t bad, it’s just that Steven Grant needs to work on his pacing and background check, before the story is in our hands.  Things weren’t all bad though.  The artistic stylings of Emilio Laiso really draw the eye and can provide a nice distraction when things start to slow down.  In my honest opinion, this story would work a lot better on screen as opposed to on paper.  It just gets a little hard to follow at times and with all of the different characters that are just thrust upon you from the start, hearing the voices and seeing it all in action would make it flow that much smoother.

If you’re looking for a one off action series, or even if you’re a fan of Steven Grant, then 3 Guns is definitely the book for you. Otherwise, the series might grow a bit tedious for the more traditional comic reader. In any case, pick this one up at your own discretion. Who knows? It could become your favorite series. For more info on where to find this book, visit the Boom! Studios website, or the Boom! Studios Facebook page.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.