The Losers, Vol. 3: Trifecta

The Losers #3

by Andy Diggle, Jock (Illustrator), Nick Dragotta (Illustrator)

It hasn't been easy, but the Losers have finally picked up the scent of their betrayer Max, the man who's seemingly behind every one of the C.I.A.'s worst extralegal activities. Naturally, the trail takes them straight into the hottest of the world's hot spots, the Middle East, where even the relatively peaceful Gulf kingdom of Qatar proves to be full of cloak-and-dagger shenanigans—with AK-47s replacing the daggers. Add a side trip into oil- and corruption-rich Turkmenistan, and you've got the makings of a perfect holiday getaway, at least for disaffected ex-Special Forces types.

Once the deserts have given up their secrets, though, it's back in the air for a long flight to London. And there's no better way to pass the time than by finally hearing the full story of how the Losers were born—in death and fire, high in the Hindu Kush.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comic Book, Espionage, Graphic Novels Comics, Thriller

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2005

About the author

Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on The Losers,Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Adam Strange and Silent Dragon at DC Comics and for his run on Thunderbolts and Daredevil after his move to Marvel.

In 2013 Diggle left writing DC's Action Comics and began working with Dynamite Entertainment, writing a paranormal crime series Uncanny. He is also working on another crime series with his wife titled Control that is set to begin publishing in 2014.

Reviews

[47Time]

I still can't get in the proper vibe to read this comic. The writing is good, the characters are funny and made that much more human in the flashback featured in this volume. Somehow I find it too easy to put the comic down even in the middle of an action scene. I think I'll blame the artwork.

An oil rig in Qatar is the Losers' next target. In exhange for information on Max they work for a sheik against CIA agents. The agents' mission almost gets them killed by the terrorists they were tasked to incite to violence. They get saved by the Losers.

The story of the Losers' betrayal by Max reveals the CIA's involvement with terrorists, drug dealers and human traffickers. Max sends them to their target, a fortress where the terrorist Fadhil is located, to blow it up with an airstrike. At the last second a truck of kids is unloaded, prompting Clay to belay the bombing order and stealthily attack the fortress to free the kids first. They also stumble onto a prisoner who was mutilated for knowing too much about Max and Fadhil's secret dealings. He begs to be killed and Cougar reluctantly does so when the prisoner attacks. Roque triggers the alarm and it all goes south. They barely gets the kids out before the bomb hits.

Clay orders that the kids be put on a transport meant to extract the Losers. The transport is shot down by a Pakistani MIG during what is declared a war exercise - this was meant to silence the Losers. They are declared KIA.

[Tays]

It's nice to finally figure out what the hell happened in Afghanistan. This volume were mostly a compilation of the past events before the present timeline where The Losers are back together. The hunt for Max is still quite the mystery. Aisha finally revealing the reason for her Vendetta. Brilliant. Everything in this volume was brilliantly executed and the art style is as consistent as it ever was.

[Vikas]

I have said it before and I would say again its an action movie on papers... never to be missed .. awesome through and through.

I have always loved comics, and I hope that I will always love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics or Diamond Comics or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on the international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I can. I Love comics to bit, may comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.

[Nick]

The story is better defined, but I am having trouble with how it's going. The back story of why the main characters were thought to be dead mostly works, and the reason why they were in trouble with Max was interesting. Beyond that, though, this volume felt like it was partly filler, which seemed weird. I still don't think Cougar should have survived the one sequence near the end of the book, but I'm willing to overlook it for the cool imagery.

[Andy Haddon]

Provides some meaty back story to the The Losers' revenge mission.
Great writing. The artwork falls somewhere between Paul Pope and Gabriel Ba's work on Casanova; it's gloriously chaotic in places.
I first read The Losers years ago, and avoided watching the movie adaption for the obvious reason there's no way Hollywood come deliver anything close to the comic book.

[Art]

I sort of wish I had gotten to the first two volumes first. I was able to follow it because I saw the movie. I think one day I will go back and get the first two to see how they play out and add to the story.

[Jack Stubblefield]

I hope they bring back The Losers! So well done. If you like men's adventure novels, you'll enjoy this series. Good stuff, Maynard.

[Laurla2]

-i didnt enjoy this one at all. i dont think i care to continue the series.

[Ben Brackett]

The b-stories and art suck in this one but the main story makes up for it.

[Brittany]

I’m happy they did the flashback to show how they “died” but if remains just a forgettable a-team style story that I just have some extra sentimentality for because of my brother.

[Mike]

Starts off with a suitable bang - intrigue, veiled threats and some juicy flawed characters. The art has slipped from the high standard set by Jock - he's handed off his pencils to someone without his stylistic sensibilities, for the first half of the book.

The second half is when it gets down and grubby - breaks open wide the full "origin story" of the Losers, and it's a doozy. Innocence lost, dirty government, bad people tripping over each other. Nobody gets out clean. Great storytelling by Diggle, amazing art by Jock - this story would stand out even without the rest of The Losers series to back it up.

Moral ambiguities, layered characters, bad decisions that everyone has to live with. Makes my life seem sunny by comparison, and makes it feel like this was written by an adult for adults.

[Joseph]

Halfway through the story, it's finally time to get the backstory of the Losers' final mission as part of the U.S. Army and their betrayal by Max. It pretty much lives up to the billing, giving the team a pretty good motivation to hunt down Max.

On the other hand, I don't really buy Max as such a big, powerful bad guy. For the most part, he just seems like one rogue guy, with an unlikely amount of influence. I mean, really, isn't there one other person in the CIA who also is named Max? Don't you need a little something more to your name to really be able to strike fear into the hearts of just about anyone you come across.

But I'm nitpicking. It's a good story, and I'm looking forward to where it's going. Maybe there's more to Max.

[Caroline]

This volume gets into the meat of the Losers' backstory, and also adds a 'Fugitive' type element with a potentially-sympathetic CIA man in pursuit of them.

I was a little wary of the portrayal of Middle Eastern/South Asian bad guys, going into this, but I think Diggle pulls it off, because it seems to come from a clearly developed (pointedly pro-secular) geopolitical view, rather than lumping all the people of a particular nation or group together. Also, Diggle clearly has it in for zealots of all stripes, and the notion of who the bad guys are keeps shifting. There's also a complexity, which I appreciate, in the notions of good and bad. Every character seems to have their own sense of lines they won't cross (or justifications when they do cross those lines).

[Dave]

This issue tells the whole backstory about why the gang is angry and set on the path of revenge. I honestly wasn't sold on this series until this issue but now I can say it's pretty badass. The action is pretty intense, and it reads like and it feels like an action movie.

My problem with the very first issue is that every line in the very beginning seemed like it was an action movie cliche, so I was left with this feeling that the series was going to be a knock-off of all that's been done before. However once the series builds momentum it seems to keep it.

More after I read the next volumes.

[Lauri]

Khuulid agendid tapmas ja tagaajamas, vol. 3. Tapetakse mehemoodi, peamiselt rätiga araablasi kuskil Iraagis või Kataris. Paar pisarakiskujat stseeni ka, näiteks see kuidas helikopter kus pidid olema The Losersid, olid aga 25 seksorjandusest päästetud orvukest, taevast paari raketiga alla tuuakse. Üldiselt ma imestan miks mulle see sari kunagi meeldis, nüüd tundub paras sitt ikka, peale (taas)läbilugemist läheb ilmselt müüki.
Kõige rohkem käibki mulle pinda see khuulitsemine, tabavate onelinerite pildumine tapatöö sekka. Ja see tapatöögi on selline stiilne, nagu Tarantino film.

[Mark]

My same complaints endure from the first two collections - potty-mouth dialogue to substitute for actual coolness, stories that feel like they were set up for movie storyboards rather than a graphic novel... and I'll add that the extended flashback of how the Losers came to be fell a little flat for me.

There's a nice twist near the end of the collection, but it just doesn't have the energy/oomph of the first books.

[Mark Desrosiers]

This here's the backstory, set in Afghanistan circa 1998 (!?). I have to say that, even in comix, I prefer lots of talking to lots of shooting, so the absurdly high ammo:glossa ratio put me off. But, it is also very gruesome in parts. I especially enjoyed the subversive talking corpse who provides the visual climax.

[Stephen]

Definitely the best in the series so far. It works in a couple of great set pieces and then the origin story of how the group ended up on the fringes. The series is fast, slick and shamelessly entertaining. It plays something like The "A Team," if they toned down the camp, amped up the violence, and threw in a little complexity and a healthy dose of intrigue.

[Alan]

With the movie opening in 2 weeks i decided to burn thru the five TPBs that had been loaned to me. Now we find out why The Losers have gone rogue from the CIA and why cougar says so little. We find out why the soldiers have a conscious, and what happened in Afghanistan, and I;m not going to say more and possibly spoil it for those who are planning to see the movie.

[Michael P.]

Solidly told espionage tales, some of which we used in the 2010 film. Some stories are better than others. The storytelling of the artists is not always as clear as it needs to be and the characters within The Losers need to be more distinct, but I cannot fault the plots themselves.

[Sheila]

I really wish I hadn't seen the movie first. The only thing that surprised me by the 'twist' at the end was the fact that I thought we'd already been over that in vol 1. The novels and the movie are all mixed up in my head and I can't remember what I'm already supposed to know and what I'm not.

[Mac]

As the plot moves forward, the conspiracy takes a more defined and less-entertaining (for me, anyway) turn. Sadly, the story had to have an arc, and that is beginning to weigh the series down.