Hit: 1955

Hit #1

by Bryce Carlson, Vanesa R Del Rey (Illustrator)

The pulpy, noir '50s Los Angeles sleeper hit is finally collected in one volume.

Los Angeles. It's 1955. It's dark; it's sexy. It's dangerous. Everyone has an angle. And while infamous gangster Mickey Cohen rots in a prison cell, Los Angeles ignores the blackest parts of the city's heart...where clandestine groups of LAPD detectives moonlight as sanctioned hitmen knows as "Hit Squads." HIT is a dark crime drama filled with murderers, rapists, and drug lords...and the men who will stop at nothing to bring them to justice. Based on true events. Some of the details of this story and certainly the names have been changed.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Mystery, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2014

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harvey Slater is an LAPD detective and after hours, part of a hit squad that takes care of criminals who beat the system. When an old flame shows up out of the blue, things go sideways in a big way. This is the darkest of noir. There aren't any good guys here, just less shades of bad. If you like James Ellroy or at least, L.A. Confidential, this book is probably for you.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

LA noir in the vein of James Ellroy. The story is a bit hard to follow and the artwork isn't always the best, but it's pretty good on the whole.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A four-part crime noir story set in Los Angeles in 1955, supposedly based on true events. Detective Harvey Slater is a member of a Hit Squad, a group of cops dispensing vigilante justice. He used to be involved with the femme fatale of the piece, Captain Blair's daughter Bonnie. When she shows up needing help, you know there's bound to be trouble.

In just four issues the story takes plenty of twists and turns, and has the requisite amount of sex and violence. Really good stuff, which should appeal to fans of Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips' Criminal series.

Also includes a couple of "The Last Round" articles with the author's commentary, and some fun faux period advertisements that relate to the story.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, a bit of LA Noir.
Typical story nothing really bad with some good art.

[Edwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very grim and violent noir that doesn't quite measure up to it's Ellroy and Brubaker influences. The terrific artwork by Vanessa Del Rey really stands out, and I liked the short story at the end that continues the tale of fem fatale Bonnie a lot too.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ideal for fans of James Ellroy and/or Ed Brubaker.

Because of its setting, time period, and even its plot, this book has more than a couple things in common with L.A. Confidential. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily.

Some - if not all - of the so-called plot twists in this story can be seen a mile away, are in fact staples of the genre and therefore are to be expected. Again: Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily.

Fans of noir will have read something like it before, but then again these same fans of noir know what to expect and will not be surprised by the plot developments in this book. I know I wasn't. Still, and this is the important part, I enjoyed reading this book and will be looking for the next volume, HIT: 1957.

[Bobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and fun noir story set in mid 50s LA. The plot and the characters are very straightforward but the art and story are so well realized that what could be a cast off basic plot is elevated to five stars for me.

[Geoff Sebesta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull collection of noir cliches with nice art.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's noir-y and well drawn, but the characters aren't defined enough or memorable enough, and the story just wanders along.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Los Angeles, 1955, and we have cops doing some wet work on the side, so very L. A. Confidential if you are familiar with that movie. Story moves along crisply and violently. The art is drenched in darkness just like a classic film noir. Ends with an awesome and brutal short story from the femme fatale's point of view. Definitely a different approach by Carlson as there is no art accompanying the story. It's the bridge to the sequel.

[Riddhish Bhalodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
Nice gritty noir fun stuff

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm usually good for Noir stories, but this one is less noir and more just pure unpleasantness. Hit is about a hit squad, cops who kill crooks with 'official' backing. Officer Slater is the primary for LAPD in 1955, and he gets embroiled in even more corruption and death. It's a very dark book, all the more so because it's based on real events. It's got all the elements of noir but never really claims the title, and instead just floats in the dregs and shadows. It made me feel dirty just reading it. If you want your 'heroes' as amoral as they come, then you may enjoy this. For me, it was too deep in the shadows.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this comic noire. Everything works really well together, the characters, storyline and the artwork. I'm usually a Batman kinda gal, but I grabbed this on a whim from whilst I was on a comic spree at Midtown. I had just finished playing LA Noire and was still in the mood for some shady, dark 1940's down and out corrupt LA cop fiction. If this is your thing, you won't be dissapointed.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another of those books where the art and the story get drastically different ratings. The noir atmosphere created by the incredible art gets a five star rating, while the story was a little flat to me and would have received one or two stars. The attempts to add depth to the characters and the story resulted in long-winded dialog that mostly served to trip up the pace of the story, making it almost incomprehensible. Thankfully, the art saved it.

[Nick Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hit? More like Miss.

I wish I could say that this is a story built on film noir cliches, but that would at least be mildly diverting. This is more like a story built on what somebody who has no familiarity with noir thinks are noir cliches, and it ends up as a vapid, muddled mess as a result.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hit was a more or less by-the-numbers 1950s crime noir story. But it was done superbly well! I loved the painted art style. The writing was pretty good. The pacing and everything else was definitely enjoyable. Will read again.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like noir, the you can't go wrong reading Hit: 1955. LA Confidential mixed with The Untouchables crafted by Jim Thompson. Recommended.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cast has many named characters from the get go. Fortunately, only a few are important as several get killed even from the first two issues. The story is dark and there is plenty of mystery to go with the violence. It's still a time of gangsters and shootouts, but the police is determined to do something about it.

The city faces a great deal of violence and corruption. A special LAPD team led by Harvey Slater is quietly handling the criminals who aren't convicted by the justice system. The team of four are no less violent than the criminals they put in the ground, but their actions fix an otherwise broken rule of law. It all starts becoming shaky when someone starts targeting regular cops and Harvey's team too.

Two regular cops end up dead, one of them Harvey's ex-partner. Then Jimmy Gomes, a member of Harvey's team is killed by a bomb right in front of his teammates. Meanwhile Harvey is spending some quality time with Bonnie, his captain's daughter who has had troubles with the law in the past. Now she has upset the wrong gangster and is on the run. One of the men who are after her reveals that captain Blair is in on it too. He has been sending Harvey to kill LA gangsters to make room for New York guys. Harvey goes for Blair, but his teammates turn on him. Fortunately, Harvey's partner and another good cop named Haywood are on his side. They save him and effectively become a new team that intends to clean up the city.

[Randal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. If you thought the cops in James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential were bad, you ain't seen nothing yet. LAPD detective Harvey Slater's real talent isn't solving homicides, it's committing them--at the behest of his captain, Arthur Blair, who wants to take out Mickey Cohen's network of gangsters. The artwork in this graphic novel is a bit (pardon the pun) hit and miss, but the story really packs a wallop. Bonnie Brae, nee Blair (yeah, she's also the captain's daughter), is one of the fatale-est femmes fatale to come along in a good long while. At least she's a girl who knows how to get blood stains out of a carpet, though.

[keyra · Rating 2 out of 5]

i don't have much (or any?) experience with noir but it's got tons of things that i love aesthetically:

smoking, alcohol, suits, guns, and rain.

but i hate cops. like i can't suspend my disbelief in a way that lets me enjoy this. i don't need there to be a Good person in the story, but i have to like someone. and none of the characters here are worth liking. not even really worth thinking about.

once again i love you color artist the vibe of this was perfect even though the actual content was lackluster

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you're a fan of crime and noir, you'll dig this. the art and colours match the tone.

it is well written, full of cliches but done well. I liked it fine. I'm in no rush to read the sequel but I can appreciate that it was done well.

there's a cop squad that kills criminals who get away with crimes. police start getting killed and they uncover a mystery involving rhw police captain, his daughter and mickey Cohen.

[Du · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atmospheric and intriguing

Really fun read. The noir feels like Elroy, and the art has a very real feel with dream aspects to it. The pages fly by and it works really well digitally.

[Elias Garza Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Love the way everything was told, the artwork is great to look at, and the twists and turns kept me going. Can be confusing at first, but everything unfolds as you keep reading and you start connecting the pieces.

[Tom Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you want in a thriller

Fantastic piece of LA noir. I'm a sucker for this stuff. I will be reading the rest of the series, and if you love hard boiled brutes and blondes with perfect bums ... You should too.

Highly recommended!

[wbforeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty solid Noir tale. I really enjoyed the art. It really fit the genre kind of that swirly dream like stasis with a bit of a pinup look to it. I liked the story. Granted, I did get a little lost at times because there’s a lot of characters but had some good twist and turns.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A damn good noir with crooked cops and a wonderful femme fatale. Vanesa's moody art worked beautifully, the story was easy to follow and the dialogue and narration sizzled smoothly. The LA setting was perfect. The short prose piece at the end was great. I look forward to the sequel

[Sugarpunksattack Mick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great action packed gritty crime comic.

[Eli Seibert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can understand the appeal, but dirty LA cops in the fifties just really isn't my cup. I can't invest myself in a story if I don't care about or like any of the characters.

[Marcel Alamán · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un estilo noir muy interesante, una femme fatale, un chico rudo y juegos en los vacíos de la ley. Muy interesante y famosa premisa.

[Brendan Mckillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solidly told LA crime noir that does a fantastic job of scratching a Philip Marlowe itch you might get from time to time.

The books hits with a nice L.A. Confidential / James Ellroy feel.