Desperate actions lead to disaster…

Stiletto #1
Writer: Palle Schmidt
Artist: Palle Schmidt
Inks: Andworld Design
Letters: Sean Konot
Editor: Greg Tumbarello
Lion Forge

Palle Schmidt’s crime drama, Stiletto #1, begins and ends with an ill-advised shooting. One is premeditated, yet poorly planned. The other…well. You’ll see.

In Stiletto we meet two detectives, Maynard and Alphonse (for those who know Schmidt’s previous work they may seem familiar), whose approaches to the investigation they’ve become embroiled are very, very different. Maynard is an old soldier, not handling a lot of things well, but specifically his daughters and wife’s very different lives and expectations. As for Alphonse, he’s laid back as all hell but he’s also extremely smart and it’s that which makes things interesting.

Schmidt has written a clever and dark first chapter of Stiletto and though I guessed a few things, the cliffhanger ending genuinely blew me away. Between the truly intriguing storyline and the side characters who I definitely want to know more about, I’m here for the next chapter, if for no other reason than to see how our intrepid duo get out of the mess they’re in.

Schmidt also does a great job with the artwork, setting up scene after scene with a film storyboard level of precision. His work on the background characters is wonderful, giving visual clues that tell you things are not what the seem with anyone.  When he says in the afterword he was heavily influenced by Bill Sienkiewicz I immediately went, ‘Yup, that makes sense’.

Overall, I’m here for this storyline and want to see how things progress.

4 Shotguns out of 5