Review by C.J. Bunce

Hard Case Crime’s latest graphic novel is writer Dave Dwonch and artist Travis Hymel’s The Loose End, now available at comic shops and here at Amazon.  Collecting the four individual issues of the series, this trade format comic takes readers for a spin with a pair of friends on a bad trip… to Mexico.  The more innocent of the friends is Steven Hollis, unlikely pal to Diedrich Ryan, a popular actor everyone must stop to take a selfie with.  When Diedrich invites Steven on a trip to Mexico, Steven isn’t interested… until the local mob boss threatens his life.  It turns out Steven is going to Mexico after all.

Steven’s gambling debt has been acquired by the local kingpin, and now Steven must kill one of the guys going on the trip–the so-called “Benny’s Bevins’ Bachelor Party.”  Only Steven isn’t a killer.  It’s a little bit Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, a little bit Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, a little bit Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn (minus the supernatural), and not so much Weekend at Bernie’s. 

The kingpin wants Benny dead because he raped his youngest daughter on a casting call.  So far it doens’t sound like this should be too hard to rationalize for Steven, adding in the fact that the kingpin is going to wash away his debt for doing it.  Only, again, Steven isn’t a killer.

Devoid of the sex and nudity you’d find in the typical pulp crime tale, this is all about drugs and finding out which band of criminals is the dumbest.  Who knows what’s going to happen once the guns start firing and the blood gushing?

The Loose End graphic novel collects issues #1-4 of the series.  It features several pages of variant cover art in the back.  Dwonch’s story is straightforward, full of the Tarantino brand of wall-to-wall dialogue, and Hymel’s artwork keeps the characters straight with good color support by Geraldo Filho.  Add The Loose End to your pull list at Elite Comics or grab your copy here at Amazon.  It’s available now.