On The Cheap: Get All Of ‘The Losers’ For Ten Bucks in Vertigo Sale
This week, Comixology launched a pretty big sale on Vertigo books, and as you might expect, the usual suspects are really well represented. Classics like Preacher and Transmetropolitan, long runs like Y The Last Man and 100 Bullets, a pretty huge chunk of Hellblazer, and even more recent hits like American Vampire and Coffin Hill are all well represented, and really? If you don't have Preacher, then getting the entire series for under thirty bucks is a pretty solid deal.
But way down at the bottom of the list, buried near the end of the "More Great Hits!" section, is an even better one: 32 darn-near perfect issues of Andy Diggle and Jock's The Losers, one of the best action adventure comics of this century, for ten bucks.
Make no mistake: The Losers is, at heart, an action-adventure comic fueled by explosions, gunfights and amazing set pieces; but it's also one of the smartest, sharpest takes on espionage action that I've ever read.
As the story builds, the simple, familiar setup of a special ops team being framed for a crime they didn't commit --- something that didn't do the story any favors when the actually quite good film adaptation was released alongside the equally over-the-top A-Team movie --- becomes a complex and layered story about international politics and a seemingly mythical mastermind who's been controlling and manipulating the situation since the first page. It's the kind of comic where you never quite know if one of the cast is going to betray the others, and even when you're on edge from expecting it, it's always done in a shocking, surprising way when it happens.
Even though it might not have the longer runs of some of its peers, The Losers tells a fantastic, complete story by two creators who are absolutely at the top of their game. If you've read and enjoyed Diggle's Green Arrow: Year One, then you owe it to yourself to pick these up, especially at a price that low.
The 'Vertigo 101' sale runs through October 19.