REVIEW: Art Ops #2

Written by Shaun Simon, art by Michael Allred & Matt Brundage, published by Vertigo

Erm…well it gets rave reviews from other sites, must be good.

See it’s a bit off-putting when your comic has plastered reviews on it, you either see it as a challenge to put more holes in it than the plot of a Zack Snyder movie or stick your tongue up its bum like an Olympic rimmer.

The basic concept is art can come to life, there’s Art Ops policing it, the Mona Lisa is under protection. Sounds cool, looks cool, tries too hard to be Phonogram, which was already trying to be The Invisibles. But where Phonogram found its own story, Art Ops finds it but still doesn’t feel happy about it.

The story is good, the characters while being visually distinctive all feel the same, the dialogue sparkles but when everyone has a mouth full of diamonds you yearn for a block of gold.

Allred’s art is ideally suited to the concept, having the art house look down pat, everyone looks like they’re wearing a beret even when they’re not, and you just KNOW they smoke Galways.

The story and concept are great, it has its own voice, but it insists on doing John Wayne impressions and just sounds like more like Yosemite Sam.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]