Writer: Neal Holman
Artist: Clayton McCormack
Colors: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Crank!
Publisher: Oni Press
Price: $3.99

I wasn’t expecting for Oni Press’ new title Redline to get me hooked after the first issue. The title feels like it’s grounded in reality with has a sense of camaraderie between the lead protagonist and his crew. You get the sense of them being there for awhile and dealing with the everyday life of living on a colonized mars.

It’s an interesting premise with humans having colonized mars, and living alongside the native aliens. The title comes off like a cop drama which mixes in elements of sci-fi and comedy. This issue follows Coyle and his team investigating a terrorist attack on a C.O.O. of a major corporation. After surviving the ordeal, Coyle interviews the survivors and tries to figure out who the bomber was.  

I like the story Holman is telling, and the way Coyle’s team unravels who the bomber was. We get some good character interactions during the issue, and great banter between his teammates. A couple flashbacks reveal a little about Coyle, and how the alien device comes into play from the previous issue. I’m curious how this device will play out in the story. The dialogue is superb, as it gets to the point, but injects a little bit of dark comedy throughout the issue. Honestly, I was giggling throughout reading this title, and enjoying it. Pacing wise, it was well done, and the story keeps your attention when you’re reading it.

McCormack does a phenomenal job of capturing the dark tone of a war-torn Mars. The characters look fine, and the linework looks solid on the characters themselves. The style has a gritty feel to it with characters have more shadows applied to them. I’m not put off by the style, and it makes the comic look unique. There were a few panels where the characters faces looked weird off. There’s a couple action scenes, and it’s handled well, but expect a big rooster to catch you out of nowhere early on. I didn’t have any problems with the panels at all. Colors are consistent, and the lettering fits really well into each panel.

Redline #2 is overall a great issue and has me excited to see what happens next.

4 Agent Pecks out of 5