REVIEW: Miami Vice Remix #4

Writer: Joe Casey
Artist: Jim Mahfood
Colorist: Justin Stewart
Publisher: Lion Forge Comics/IDW Publishing

Miami Vice is classic Americana; sun, sand, and as much wholesome police-drama action as can be fit into a Testarossa. When it premiered as a television show in the eighties, Miami Vice rode a cultural wave all the way to becoming one of the most influential American shows ever created. Miami Vice Remix is not that. Not even a little bit. The characters are there, yes. The setting is there in name. Crocket and Tubbs are still undercover cops (I think?). The tone and execution, however, are a million miles apart. (I think reviewing comics that set fire to your television nostalgia is going to become a thing for me.)

The story of Miami Vice Remix #4 picks up in a hospital, with Crocket and Tubbs looking a little worse for the wear. They“re still attempting to track down the primary proprietor of the half-drug-half-hex “Miami Bath Salts”“ ”“a crime head named “Calderon”“ ”“that are turning the denizens of the sunshine state into Voodoo Zombies (DÃ©jÃ -Vu). The setting of Remix is much more urban than what one would expect from Miami Vice, and the story is fast paced. Also, there“s a samurai at one point, so there“s that.

Mahfood and Stewart“s art is an acid trip, and there“s no other way to describe it. Reading this title feels like watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It“s visually stunning, and very appreciable, but occasionally hard to follow. The lettering, especially, is chaotic and scratchy; and while this adds to the aesthetic, it is sometimes difficult to read at a glance.

All in all, Miami Vice Remix #4 is good, crazy, entertaining fun with its in-your-face style of art and storytelling. Pick up this gory eighties flashback at your earliest convenience for a bit of light reading.

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