The Good: A nice, accurate look at Jason's character! Plenty of action and moody scenes. Should make most G-2 fans happy.
The Bad: Weak spots in the story, abrupt transitions and shifting points-of-view make plot points unclear. Fight scenes unclear.
Fannish Snit: Jason does not look like Jan Michael Vincent.
This one-shot surprised me because after the rocky beginning Jason has had in the Top Cow BotP universe, this one-shot is far from the train wreck I expected. It does not have the problems of the other BotP stories: he wasn't spouting movie lines or high school vulgarities or riding token blondes or revelling in bloodshed. He was the correct balance of nasty business with a little bit of smartass and a little bit of human vulnerability. The story had just enough angst without going overboard. In other words, Jason's characterization was spot on.
Other problems from the book and the Mark one-shot were missing as well. There were relatively few cliches unless you know your gangster movies or have seen The Mechanic. (Which I haven't; movie fans may or may not appreciate the references.) Jason is a man of fewer words than Mark, so there was no expository babble, and with the exception of one Devil Star's banter, there wasn't any nerdy slang. There weren't even any naughty words, though they would have been appropriate in spots. There were only two footnotes. Interestingly enough, there were some corrections made from the preview shown in the Mark issue, where some slang and footnotes have gone away.
The story: The commercial summary of the one-shot is this: "Jason takes up a false identity to get close to an arms dealer. What he doesn't count on however is running into a band of masked female killers called Devil Star." That is about the easiest way to explain what on earth is going on with this story except that Jason wants to run into the Devil Stars--he wants them dead. Problem is, they pop in when he least expects it. In the meantime Jason is running around and kicking butt for two different employers, and the scenes and POV dialogues shift with little to no warning. I spent a good amount of time during the first and second reads flailing for some sense of clear understanding.
There are two gimmicks that lead the reader astray: Jason's battle against the purchasers of black market weapons and Jason's induction into the League of Assassins (it may just be me, but doesn't registering assassins make them vulnerable if the database falls into the wrong hands?). His assigned hit was little more than an angst generator unless there is any planned use for the "Stone" (aka Chuck Bronson) character in the two remaining issues of BotP. What this story says, in its convoluted way, is that Jason wants revenge against the Devil Stars. Stressing his anxiety to attain his goal just a little more would have made this more clear. In any case, Jason gets that revenge, but he loses an uncle and he learns something nasty about his father, a la the original Condor Joe.
The art: Edwin David does another admirable job with this one-shot, although he periodically has difficulties with the perspectives on Jason's face. And Jason could have done with a little less hair--he seemed pretty "fluffy." The biggest problem are the fight scenes, which are vague. In the final battle pitting Jason against the Devil Stars, it's unclear exactly what the adversaries are doing to each other. In one panel, I had to check twice to confirm Jason was being shot.
I do have to give kudos where they're due: Edwin David gave Jason a wonderfully expressive face, from worried to sheepish to penitent to savage (Yes, Virginia, Jason does have facial expressions). Also, if Jason is to follow the original Condor Joe's footsteps, the team at Top Cow did pick the right visual references for his family, and I have a good idea what episode they got them from.
The cover: Alex Ross features Jason in profile.
The bottom line: Worth a read.
Other Reviews of This Title:
http://cherokee.thmedia.net/~zenterta/comicreviews.php?op=showcontent&id=956
The Good: A nice, accurate look at Jason's character! Plenty of action and moody scenes. Should make most G-2 fans happy.