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Loose Ends #1-4
Loose Ends
No one seemed to notice Sonny Gibson as he stepped back into “The Hideaway,” a dusty little honky-tonk nestled off the Carolina highway. But before the night was over, Sonny would be on the run―from the law, from the criminals, even from himself. LOOSE ENDS is a gritty, slow-cooked, Southern crime romance that follows a winding trail down Tobacco Road, through the war-torn streets of Baghdad, and into the bright lights and bloody gutters of South Florida. From JASON LATOUR, co-creator of Eisner-winning SOUTHERN BASTARDS and the writer of Spider-Gwen, CHRIS BRUNNER (SOUTHERN BASTARDS, Legends of the Dark Knight), and RICO RENZI (Spider-Gwen, Squirrel Girl). Collects LOOSE ENDS #1-4.
128 pages, Paperback
First published July 13, 2011
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About the author
Jason Latour
353 books113 followersDavid Jason Latour (b. 1977) is an American comic book artist and writer known for his work for Image, Dark Horse, Marvel and DC comics on titles such as Wolverine, Winter Soldier, Southern Bastards and Spider-Gwen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
May 11, 2017
The first issue of the four-part miniseries Loose Ends was published in 2007 and the fourth issue was finally published this week, ten years later! Was it worth the wait? Sorta…
Billed as a “Southern crime romance”, Loose Ends is about a drug runner and a waitress who hit the road ahead of gangsters the drug runner ripped off who want them dead.
Because the story came together over such long intervals in between issues, you can see Jason Latour change as a writer. Weirdly though, he starts off good and gets worse as the story progresses instead of the other way around!
The first issue is great. You get a strong sense of life in a dead-end small Southern town, the dive bar and its clientele - it’s like Latour foreshadowing his later, better work with Jason Aaron on their similarly-themed series, Southern Bastards. The issue sets up a potentially exciting storyline well, throwing in a couple of shockingly violent scenes too.
Then the second issue, published some time later, is ok but a bit meandering and feels like it doesn’t know where to go after such a solid, explosive opener. The third issue, published some more time later, is better, building on the drug-running storyline more, and then the fourth and final chapter, published years later, is a crapshoot - rushed, messy, barely coherent. It’s like it was written by a completely different writer from the first issue, which, in a way, it was, considering Jason Latour’s success with Marvel and Image in the intervening years.
The problem is that the storyline is too vague. Something about drug-smuggling which hearkens back to the Second Gulf War, our main character’s ripped off some gangsters, his army buddy is being forced to bring him in, and some nutter is just being a crazy nutter. The girl, despite being on all the covers, is incidental - it’s not really clear why she threw her lot in with the guy. Why not, I guess? It’s not the most compelling plot and not at all a convincing romance.
The characters are equally underwritten. Sonny is a dirtbag but he’s apparently the hero we’re meant to care about for some reason while the girl - whose name I had to look up, she was so unmemorable! - Cheri, is never more than a cipher, and the others are just there.
I liked Chris Brunner’s art especially the flashback scenes to the US Military in the Middle-East and Rico Renzi’s colours were beautiful and vibrant - Loose Ends has a pretty cool trippy look to it as a result.
After such a strong first issue, I was disappointed with how the book played out as a whole. The rest of the book has some good scenes sporadically as well as interesting visuals but Loose Ends shows why stories should be realised within a much tighter timeframe than a decade(!) - wait too long and you wind up with a tonally inconsistent, somewhat confused end product. Still, it’ll serve as a decent stopgap until the next volume of Southern Bastards.
Billed as a “Southern crime romance”, Loose Ends is about a drug runner and a waitress who hit the road ahead of gangsters the drug runner ripped off who want them dead.
Because the story came together over such long intervals in between issues, you can see Jason Latour change as a writer. Weirdly though, he starts off good and gets worse as the story progresses instead of the other way around!
The first issue is great. You get a strong sense of life in a dead-end small Southern town, the dive bar and its clientele - it’s like Latour foreshadowing his later, better work with Jason Aaron on their similarly-themed series, Southern Bastards. The issue sets up a potentially exciting storyline well, throwing in a couple of shockingly violent scenes too.
Then the second issue, published some time later, is ok but a bit meandering and feels like it doesn’t know where to go after such a solid, explosive opener. The third issue, published some more time later, is better, building on the drug-running storyline more, and then the fourth and final chapter, published years later, is a crapshoot - rushed, messy, barely coherent. It’s like it was written by a completely different writer from the first issue, which, in a way, it was, considering Jason Latour’s success with Marvel and Image in the intervening years.
The problem is that the storyline is too vague. Something about drug-smuggling which hearkens back to the Second Gulf War, our main character’s ripped off some gangsters, his army buddy is being forced to bring him in, and some nutter is just being a crazy nutter. The girl, despite being on all the covers, is incidental - it’s not really clear why she threw her lot in with the guy. Why not, I guess? It’s not the most compelling plot and not at all a convincing romance.
The characters are equally underwritten. Sonny is a dirtbag but he’s apparently the hero we’re meant to care about for some reason while the girl - whose name I had to look up, she was so unmemorable! - Cheri, is never more than a cipher, and the others are just there.
I liked Chris Brunner’s art especially the flashback scenes to the US Military in the Middle-East and Rico Renzi’s colours were beautiful and vibrant - Loose Ends has a pretty cool trippy look to it as a result.
After such a strong first issue, I was disappointed with how the book played out as a whole. The rest of the book has some good scenes sporadically as well as interesting visuals but Loose Ends shows why stories should be realised within a much tighter timeframe than a decade(!) - wait too long and you wind up with a tonally inconsistent, somewhat confused end product. Still, it’ll serve as a decent stopgap until the next volume of Southern Bastards.
February 6, 2017
Jason Latour, Chris Brunner and Rico Renzi started their four-issue miniseries Loose Ends in 2007, managed to publish three issues and then stopped indefinitely. This year Image will publish the complete run including the previously unpublished fourth and final issue – the creative team finally tying up this… loose end? Ohohoho, I amuse myself…
Billed as a “Southern crime romance”, the first issue opens at a dive bar near Charlotte, North Carolina, where drug-runner Sonny is parked with his car boot filled with cash. He’s there to see his estranged partner Kim after he did something desperate and stupid. Meanwhile in the bar, things get rowdy among the dirtbag regulars and the guns come out…
What a great first issue! In tone and style Loose Ends reminds me of Jason Aaron’s Scalped, which began the same year, as well as Southern Bastards, which Latour co-created with Aaron, and, surprisingly, it’s equally as good as both. It’s a dark, tense, violent story about modern-day outlaws and it’s beguiling from the start, becoming increasingly more compelling as it goes on.
I had to check to see if Latour didn’t also illustrate this comic as Chris Brunner’s art style looks really similar to Latour’s, particularly the male figures. Rico Renzi’s colours are a revelation – grungy, neon, unusual choices light up the pages, turning the everyday mundane into a surreal wonderland; really beautiful work.
Looking at the cover, you’d be forgiven in thinking that the woman is the main character except in this issue she’s in a supporting role with Sonny getting most of the attention. But while we get a vague idea of where Sonny’s coming from, the woman is totally undeveloped, to the point where I can’t even recall her name, let alone her motivations!
Still, Loose Ends #1 is definitely a triumph, made all the more impressive considering the creators’ lack of experience at the time, and I was quickly hooked, enjoying this sordid and dark story. I’m in for the whole run and heartily recommend this series to fans of comics like Scalped, Southern Bastards and Criminal.
Billed as a “Southern crime romance”, the first issue opens at a dive bar near Charlotte, North Carolina, where drug-runner Sonny is parked with his car boot filled with cash. He’s there to see his estranged partner Kim after he did something desperate and stupid. Meanwhile in the bar, things get rowdy among the dirtbag regulars and the guns come out…
What a great first issue! In tone and style Loose Ends reminds me of Jason Aaron’s Scalped, which began the same year, as well as Southern Bastards, which Latour co-created with Aaron, and, surprisingly, it’s equally as good as both. It’s a dark, tense, violent story about modern-day outlaws and it’s beguiling from the start, becoming increasingly more compelling as it goes on.
I had to check to see if Latour didn’t also illustrate this comic as Chris Brunner’s art style looks really similar to Latour’s, particularly the male figures. Rico Renzi’s colours are a revelation – grungy, neon, unusual choices light up the pages, turning the everyday mundane into a surreal wonderland; really beautiful work.
Looking at the cover, you’d be forgiven in thinking that the woman is the main character except in this issue she’s in a supporting role with Sonny getting most of the attention. But while we get a vague idea of where Sonny’s coming from, the woman is totally undeveloped, to the point where I can’t even recall her name, let alone her motivations!
Still, Loose Ends #1 is definitely a triumph, made all the more impressive considering the creators’ lack of experience at the time, and I was quickly hooked, enjoying this sordid and dark story. I’m in for the whole run and heartily recommend this series to fans of comics like Scalped, Southern Bastards and Criminal.
July 16, 2017
Neon noir. While the story isn't new, it's a fresh approach to the old crime genre. Especially with this crazy artwork.
Girl gets in trouble, down-and-out man aids her, and they lam it. That's Loose Ends in a nutshell. But there's far more to it than that.
Like Southern Bastards several years later, the characters, at least in the beginning, are small town. Sonny and Cheri (actually I'm just realizing what that sounds like) met at a high school party and connected over being outcasts. Years later, Cheri waitresses and Sonny is still up to no good. Through an almost unsurprising turn of events, they are reunited on a journey of chaos and ultra-violence. While they aren't the deepest characters ever, they're captivating for four issues, and we at least get flashbacks on several characters for added development.
Awesome things that stood out to me: a thick black woman as a co-protagonist, social commentary, arcade games, and the Looney Tunes character moods via cartoon symbols spinning around characters' heads. Those aren't really typical things you'd see in a crime comic, which was refreshing.
But seriously, the artwork. Jesus Christ this stuff is psychedelic amazing. Chris Brunner on illustrations, Rico Renzi on colors. Who are these guys?? Best comparison would be Cliff Chiang/Matt Hollingsworth (Paper Girls) or Wes Craig/Lee Loughridge (Deadly Class). Worth reading for the artwork alone, but in a crime comic? Brilliant.
A fast and violent read full of deplorable characters in a neon noir, drug-crazed Southern America. What's not to love?
January 28, 2018
Art was A+ so thoughtful, beautiful. Story felt too vague, disjointed.
December 13, 2018
It's got some trippy, creative, psychedelic art that's great to look at, but the story here left a lot to be desired. I forgot all about it almost immediately after finishing it.
May 12, 2019
After a quite good first issue the book goes down the drain one issue after another.
For some reason a girl is embarked with a guy who conned some drug dealers of their shit. Except issue one lets you think it would go somewhere totally different! A different subplot pops out and takes precedence, the promised romance never shines and confusion reigns over it all.
The characters are totally non-existent, faces without personality whatsoever, and I just never cared for any of them. Add a poorly constructed and barely coherent plot and you're light years from an Eisner award. Or any other for that matter.
The final issue is the worst, rushed-up and messy with a corny conclusion, it certainly doesn't tie up any loose end.
It would be a total disappointment if not for the dynamic art and the flashy colors of Brunner and Renzi. It's still a poor story but at least visually interesting.
For some reason a girl is embarked with a guy who conned some drug dealers of their shit. Except issue one lets you think it would go somewhere totally different! A different subplot pops out and takes precedence, the promised romance never shines and confusion reigns over it all.
The characters are totally non-existent, faces without personality whatsoever, and I just never cared for any of them. Add a poorly constructed and barely coherent plot and you're light years from an Eisner award. Or any other for that matter.
The final issue is the worst, rushed-up and messy with a corny conclusion, it certainly doesn't tie up any loose end.
It would be a total disappointment if not for the dynamic art and the flashy colors of Brunner and Renzi. It's still a poor story but at least visually interesting.
June 10, 2017
Sonny Gibson already has a tough past when he turns up at his old favorite honky-tonk, "The Hideaway." He spent time in Iraq during the war, and he's had some shady connections both over there and since he's been back.
But he's been out of sight for a while.
Now he's turned up again, and some old connections have some old business they want to discuss. A gunfight and a death start a crime spree that runs from the Carolinas down to Florida.
The art is good. I believe in these people physically, how they look and how they move. I also believe in them as people; there are certainly people like them, making up a good part of the crime-committing population. They're violent, impulsive, not overly smart, not much inclined to think things through even after the fact.
Some of them are veterans, too. The military doesn't make everyone stronger and more disciplined; some people are wrecked by it, and not just physically.
So, yes, these people exist.
With a stronger story, I could potentially have enjoyed this. These aren't attractive characters I wont to spend lots of time with, but there are certainly strong stories to be told about them. With good art and good characterization, a strong story would give it a good shot at "not what I like, but I like it anyway.
Sadly, I found the story disjointed and incoherent.
This definitely did not work for me, and I can't recommend it. but bear in mind that doesn't mean it won't work for you, if your tastes run differently than mine.
Not recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
But he's been out of sight for a while.
Now he's turned up again, and some old connections have some old business they want to discuss. A gunfight and a death start a crime spree that runs from the Carolinas down to Florida.
The art is good. I believe in these people physically, how they look and how they move. I also believe in them as people; there are certainly people like them, making up a good part of the crime-committing population. They're violent, impulsive, not overly smart, not much inclined to think things through even after the fact.
Some of them are veterans, too. The military doesn't make everyone stronger and more disciplined; some people are wrecked by it, and not just physically.
So, yes, these people exist.
With a stronger story, I could potentially have enjoyed this. These aren't attractive characters I wont to spend lots of time with, but there are certainly strong stories to be told about them. With good art and good characterization, a strong story would give it a good shot at "not what I like, but I like it anyway.
Sadly, I found the story disjointed and incoherent.
This definitely did not work for me, and I can't recommend it. but bear in mind that doesn't mean it won't work for you, if your tastes run differently than mine.
Not recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
September 24, 2017
Early work for all the creators involved, and I think it shows. It's a little rough in parts and I found it a bit hard to follow. Not terrible, not great
March 5, 2018
Welp that was not what I was expecting. Pretty pictures though.
June 15, 2022
A disjointed hot mess.
December 25, 2018
Trippin' on crime noir
September 30, 2017
Jason Latour - writer
Chris Brunner - illustrator
A nasty Southern crime noir from expert storyteller Latour. The art by Brunner is breathtaking, and both writer and illustrator make interesting and unusual storytelling choices. I understand the individual issues of this volume were published several years apart - this book really benefits from being collected in a single volume. Highly recommended for fans of adults graphic novels.
5/5
Chris Brunner - illustrator
A nasty Southern crime noir from expert storyteller Latour. The art by Brunner is breathtaking, and both writer and illustrator make interesting and unusual storytelling choices. I understand the individual issues of this volume were published several years apart - this book really benefits from being collected in a single volume. Highly recommended for fans of adults graphic novels.
5/5
September 2, 2018
Loose Ends is a brutal comic, filled with crappy people doing crappy things. Not sure why this is called a southern romance when it's definitely not got anything close to a love story. Despite my enjoyment of fairly graphic noir stuff, this was definitely not a story that I liked, from the artwork to the narrative. It felt too purposeless. Stuck on exploring how crappy the world can be which is already well-trod ground.
February 28, 2022
Wow, I really liked this! A standard gritty crime story (which is already something I like), but the art style was distinctive and seemed very innovative.
8/10
8/10
February 13, 2017
Holy moly, the colouring for this is insane.
I have genuinely never ever seen colouring as gorgeous as this in any comic I've ever read, so hats off to Rico Renzi. Describing it as a dark neon probably doesn't make any sense, but at least for me it was totally giving off a neo-noir vibe.
Loose Ends is dubbed a four-part southern crime romance, and this issue is crammed with action and characters. There might be a bit too much going on, but the art was such a delight that I honestly didn't care. I could read 500 pages of this and not get bored.
The characters are a little underdeveloped at the moment because there was that much action going on, but I trust that we'll get into them a bit more in the next issue.
Seriously, this comic is an artistic masterpiece, and just thanks to Image for finally putting out the full run after 10 years.
I have genuinely never ever seen colouring as gorgeous as this in any comic I've ever read, so hats off to Rico Renzi. Describing it as a dark neon probably doesn't make any sense, but at least for me it was totally giving off a neo-noir vibe.
Loose Ends is dubbed a four-part southern crime romance, and this issue is crammed with action and characters. There might be a bit too much going on, but the art was such a delight that I honestly didn't care. I could read 500 pages of this and not get bored.
The characters are a little underdeveloped at the moment because there was that much action going on, but I trust that we'll get into them a bit more in the next issue.
Seriously, this comic is an artistic masterpiece, and just thanks to Image for finally putting out the full run after 10 years.
April 16, 2017
Overall, I enjoyed this comic, though there were a few places I found it a little weak. I like what its trying to do, can't say it always succeeds. The covers drew me in, and I like the output of 12 Gauge, but this one, the art is problematic for me. Everyone looks too similar, I have a hard time following the action because the characters aren't distinctive enough. The story is decent, but starts out fragmented, and I didn't find all the (loose) ends were drawn together very tightly in the first two issues. Its not a happy world to visit this one. I hope it all starts to come together in issue three. I am reading the reprints from Image, as I missed this one the first time around. I will have to re-read this as a whole and give it a bit more effort, I think I will be rewarded. If you like noir-ish storytelling, than this is worth your time, but you have to put in the work.
May 28, 2017
The plot was difficult to follow. There were flashbacks and lots of characters. It could've been longer than 4 issues.
March 9, 2017
A Review in Five Words.
Visually stunning, infinitely confusing plot.
Visually stunning, infinitely confusing plot.
September 27, 2017
I really like the art and the use of color. Although I'm not in love with the story, it was intriguing enough that I wouldn't mind checking out the other 3 issues.
April 13, 2018
I still really don’t know what happened and why it had to happen the way it did.
Oh well.
Oh well.
August 30, 2018
Jason Latour can weave a mean story, but he's undone in Loose Ends by the artwork. It's a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors and symbols, hard to follow, sometimes hard to see (depending on the flat color choice overpowering the scene), and often overblown and cartoonish. That's not the say the art is not good - it's actually quite beautiful in its own way. It simply doesn't serve the story other than to make the whole thing read like a bad trip.
Which it is, I guess. Two Iraq vets - one permanently stoned, one in too deep - get in trouble with bad cops and drug smugglers. I think. The "southern romance" suggested in the subtitle is about the only discernible plotline here, although it's not terribly romantic (very southern, though). The stoned vet and his bartender love head to Miami, where a lot of time in a short, four-issue series is spent getting very high and partying. Cool! The first issue is the most coherent, followed by a relatively sane flashback to high school, and then it's all downhill. Makes sense that the first issue was written in 2006, the rest just this year. That kind of gap can't help a writer.
Which it is, I guess. Two Iraq vets - one permanently stoned, one in too deep - get in trouble with bad cops and drug smugglers. I think. The "southern romance" suggested in the subtitle is about the only discernible plotline here, although it's not terribly romantic (very southern, though). The stoned vet and his bartender love head to Miami, where a lot of time in a short, four-issue series is spent getting very high and partying. Cool! The first issue is the most coherent, followed by a relatively sane flashback to high school, and then it's all downhill. Makes sense that the first issue was written in 2006, the rest just this year. That kind of gap can't help a writer.
May 23, 2019
The artwork is creative and manages to contribute to the story in unexpected ways, while at the same time retaining some shock value. Unfortunately, the story felt way too vague. It scratches the surface of some deep insight into poverty, violence, crime, war, and other nuanced topics, but I don't think that the creators were able to fully bring their vision to fruition. The writing, artwork, and coloring worked well together to bring an unusual element to their storytelling, I'm just not sure if the vision was fully realized. Also, despite being described as a crime romance, there is very little to no romance aspect in it. Overall a solid idea, I'm just not too sold on the execution of it.
August 2, 2017
The neon soaked artwork is, mostly, very good. The story on the other hand comes further apart with each issue. A strong first issue is followed by an OK second that gives leads one to believe the miniseries will give history to these characters but it is barely even attempted. The final two issues are more plot forward and suffer for it - incoherence, generic crime beats, an almost comical conclusion, characters seem to only get less developed, and there is no real cause or reasoning for anything to happen.
September 5, 2020
I loved the stylistic, idiosyncratic "neon noir" art-style and how the comic purposely plays with time by compressing/decompressing the visual narrative. The latter has drawbacks though. The comic feels very disjointed all the way through, which in of itself wouldn't have been a problem, but with the underdeveloped backstories and personalities of the numerous characters made the plot too confusing, even after rereading the issues/chapters numerous times. But I believe the final confrontation and resolution would still have been underwhelming even if I had internalized all the necessary details. I'd have given this volume two stars if not for Rico Renzi, whose coloring/texture work is absolutely astonishing here.
July 7, 2017
Reminiscent of a lot of current comic collections around at present, this four-issue collection deals with crime in the Southern states, including murder, corruption, attempted rape, drug dealing etc..
It's quite good stuff but not particularly original. the characters are reasonably well-defined as is the action but it's far too colourful and there are no endearing characters.
Recommended to anyone who enjoys violent crime comics but don't expect too much.
It's quite good stuff but not particularly original. the characters are reasonably well-defined as is the action but it's far too colourful and there are no endearing characters.
Recommended to anyone who enjoys violent crime comics but don't expect too much.
July 20, 2025
Seldom have I found myself racing to the end of a book faster than with Loose Ends—and I don’t mean that as a compliment.
I could go into details and pick apart exactly why and what I didn’t like about this book, but I honestly don’t think it’s worth the energy.
The fact that a 4 issue arc took over ten years to write should tell you everything you need to know about this poor, disjointed, and boring attempt at storytelling.
I could go into details and pick apart exactly why and what I didn’t like about this book, but I honestly don’t think it’s worth the energy.
The fact that a 4 issue arc took over ten years to write should tell you everything you need to know about this poor, disjointed, and boring attempt at storytelling.
January 4, 2019
The only thing I think I liked about this was the lettering.
No idea what happened, story was incoherent and add that with the illegible southern accent text you can barely understand what you’re reading either. Art wasn’t even able to string the story along, felt like you were stuck on Moron Mountain in space jam
Too bad, I’ve like Latour in his other ventures
No idea what happened, story was incoherent and add that with the illegible southern accent text you can barely understand what you’re reading either. Art wasn’t even able to string the story along, felt like you were stuck on Moron Mountain in space jam
Too bad, I’ve like Latour in his other ventures
January 17, 2023
Yeah this was not good. The art was so thoughtful but the writing wasn’t at all. What a let down. Also spoiler, but there is no romance and though the woman on the cover is the face of the story, she pretty much inconsequential to the plot. I can’t believe these four issues came out over the course of like 10 years…what a waste.
August 9, 2017
I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway and I apologize to the author and publisher as this turned out to be reading material that I usually read. I gave it 3 stars out of ignorance for this genre. Please accept my apologies.
September 1, 2017
I loved the art work and the energy it created for the story, which mostly made up for the fact that I didn't really get involved in the story of it all. It might simply have not been exactly the right meeting of minds to be as great as it feels like it could be at times.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews