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Reckless #2
Friend of the Devil
The next book in the red-hot Reckless series is here!
Bestselling crime noir masters Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are back with another new original graphic novel featuring troublemaker-for-hire Ethan Reckless.
It's 1985 and things in Ethan's life are going pretty well... until a missing woman shows up in the background of an old B-movie, and Ethan is drawn into Hollywood's secret occult underbelly as he hunts for her among the wreckage of the wild days of the '70s.
"No one does crime fic like Brubaker and Phillips, and their collaboration has never felt more new. Explosive. Vital. And yes... reckless." - Damon Lindelof (LOST, HBO's WATCHMEN)
Another hit graphic novel from the award-winning creators of PULP, MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES, CRIMINAL, and KILL OR BE KILLED -- a must-have for all Brubaker and Phillips fans!
And look for the next standalone book in the Reckless series in October!
Bestselling crime noir masters Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are back with another new original graphic novel featuring troublemaker-for-hire Ethan Reckless.
It's 1985 and things in Ethan's life are going pretty well... until a missing woman shows up in the background of an old B-movie, and Ethan is drawn into Hollywood's secret occult underbelly as he hunts for her among the wreckage of the wild days of the '70s.
"No one does crime fic like Brubaker and Phillips, and their collaboration has never felt more new. Explosive. Vital. And yes... reckless." - Damon Lindelof (LOST, HBO's WATCHMEN)
Another hit graphic novel from the award-winning creators of PULP, MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES, CRIMINAL, and KILL OR BE KILLED -- a must-have for all Brubaker and Phillips fans!
And look for the next standalone book in the Reckless series in October!
134 pages, Hardcover
First published May 4, 2021
36 people are currently reading
917 people want to read
About the author
Ed Brubaker
1,798 books3,026 followersEd Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews
October 4, 2023
Ethan Reckless goes to the library.
He makes friends (with benefits) with a sassy librarian and all is right in his world.
Until he agrees to help her find her long-missing stepsister and everything goes tits up again for him.
This arc was a lot of fun to read because I'm always intrigued by stories of all the crazy Satanic cults that popped up in the 70s. I don't for a minute believe that they were able to summon demons, but the idea that there was this little era in time where there seemed to be so many people interested in cosplaying this kind of dark occult stuff is just wild.
Ethan uses his unique skill set to jog memories and unearth secrets that might be better left buried.
As he traces this girl's journey to Hollywood's graveyard of dreams it soon becomes crystal clear that with the hinky shit she was involved in, there won't be a happy ending for any of them.
Man, this is good stuff. I'm trying to slow down and not gobble these books up so fast but it's hard!
Recommended.
He makes friends (with benefits) with a sassy librarian and all is right in his world.
Until he agrees to help her find her long-missing stepsister and everything goes tits up again for him.
This arc was a lot of fun to read because I'm always intrigued by stories of all the crazy Satanic cults that popped up in the 70s. I don't for a minute believe that they were able to summon demons, but the idea that there was this little era in time where there seemed to be so many people interested in cosplaying this kind of dark occult stuff is just wild.
Ethan uses his unique skill set to jog memories and unearth secrets that might be better left buried.
As he traces this girl's journey to Hollywood's graveyard of dreams it soon becomes crystal clear that with the hinky shit she was involved in, there won't be a happy ending for any of them.
Man, this is good stuff. I'm trying to slow down and not gobble these books up so fast but it's hard!
Recommended.
March 28, 2021
Brubaker and Phillips tackle the Satanic Panic of the 70's and 80's. Brubaker taps into the zeitgeist fueled by Helter Skelter, Rosemary's Baby. and Son of Sam, when I was growing up and it was always lurking in the back of your brain that there could be a Satanic cult out to get you. Ethan Reckless is back looking into the missing sister of his Vietnamese girlfriend. If you like your noir sun-soaked by the California sun, then this is the book for you.
Received a review copy from Image and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
Received a review copy from Image and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
October 17, 2021
"And I almost think I'm going to get away without being spotted . . . But, as you already know, I don't get that lucky." -- Ethan Reckless, attempting a getaway in the villain's Datsun 280Z, while shotgun rounds pepper the rear fender
I really admired Brubaker and Phillips' initial Reckless graphic (and that's accent on the graphic part, as in the violence) novel five months ago, and they now serve up a bruised and battered noir-like crime story sequel featuring that uniquely-monikered "one part repo man, one part private eye, and one part wrecking ball," per the fairly accurate rear cover blurb. This time around the deep cover fed-turned-hired gun problem solver Ethan Reckless stumbles onto starting an investigation via the pleasant librarian he begins dating after a 'meet cute' scene of sorts in the opening pages. Touching on everything from the 'snuff film' intrigue of the 70's to the 'satanic panic' in the 80's (although the broad references that the sprawling entertainment business in La-La Land is run by some morally questionable types remains a firm and timeless conspiracy theory, don't you think?), Reckless attempts to track down the librarian's long-missing sister after she is briefly spotted in a forgotten low budget horror movie. How it all shakes out is some pretty grim stuff, of course, but damned if the gumption-minded Reckless isn't going to see this through to get some ****ing answers. One noticeable change in this volume is that the titular character less resembles a 70's-era Robert Redford, but now seems to mirror the late wildlife expert Steve Irwin (crikey!, indeed) in the illustrations. Well . . . whatever, mate. This was another invigorating burst of some rough justice.
I really admired Brubaker and Phillips' initial Reckless graphic (and that's accent on the graphic part, as in the violence) novel five months ago, and they now serve up a bruised and battered noir-like crime story sequel featuring that uniquely-monikered "one part repo man, one part private eye, and one part wrecking ball," per the fairly accurate rear cover blurb. This time around the deep cover fed-turned-hired gun problem solver Ethan Reckless stumbles onto starting an investigation via the pleasant librarian he begins dating after a 'meet cute' scene of sorts in the opening pages. Touching on everything from the 'snuff film' intrigue of the 70's to the 'satanic panic' in the 80's (although the broad references that the sprawling entertainment business in La-La Land is run by some morally questionable types remains a firm and timeless conspiracy theory, don't you think?), Reckless attempts to track down the librarian's long-missing sister after she is briefly spotted in a forgotten low budget horror movie. How it all shakes out is some pretty grim stuff, of course, but damned if the gumption-minded Reckless isn't going to see this through to get some ****ing answers. One noticeable change in this volume is that the titular character less resembles a 70's-era Robert Redford, but now seems to mirror the late wildlife expert Steve Irwin (crikey!, indeed) in the illustrations. Well . . . whatever, mate. This was another invigorating burst of some rough justice.
March 7, 2021
It’s 1985, Satanic panic is in the Californian air and Ethan Reckless has a new case: find the missing step-sister of a librarian - but is it too late?
Friend of the Devil is Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ second Reckless book and it’s much less exciting than the first one unfortunately. That’s my biggest complaint: barely anything interesting happens for nearly 2/3rds of the book! The story is mostly a dull procedural as we watch Reckless slowly putting the pieces of the mystery together.
The case itself is unremarkable with aspects such as cliched Hollywood sleaze and stock Satanists with the usual dumb agenda. Still, it was informative in highlighting the influx of Vietnamese immigrants that arrived in America following the fall of Saigon, and the action finale isn’t bad.
As expected, given that this is by Brubaker/Phillips, Friend of the Devil is competently written and drawn, and it has its moments - it’s not a bad comic - but it’s just not as fun as the first book and is quite a forgettable story. Hopefully the third book, Destroy All Monsters, out later this year, will be more of a barnstormer.
Friend of the Devil is Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ second Reckless book and it’s much less exciting than the first one unfortunately. That’s my biggest complaint: barely anything interesting happens for nearly 2/3rds of the book! The story is mostly a dull procedural as we watch Reckless slowly putting the pieces of the mystery together.
The case itself is unremarkable with aspects such as cliched Hollywood sleaze and stock Satanists with the usual dumb agenda. Still, it was informative in highlighting the influx of Vietnamese immigrants that arrived in America following the fall of Saigon, and the action finale isn’t bad.
As expected, given that this is by Brubaker/Phillips, Friend of the Devil is competently written and drawn, and it has its moments - it’s not a bad comic - but it’s just not as fun as the first book and is quite a forgettable story. Hopefully the third book, Destroy All Monsters, out later this year, will be more of a barnstormer.
December 24, 2021
In the second volume of this new series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, is unlicensed “private investigator” Ethan Reckless. . . reckless? Hell, yes, he is, that is what we’re paying for, right? Reckless narrates as we learn from the first chapter title that “1985 Was a Bad Year,” but every year in every Criminal volume including the new Reckless series is a bad year for everyone, always, so ha ha. So it's 1985, and Reckless is doing a few favors for friends, not going anywhere, but he is in the library researching the disappearance of some guy, Richard Fuller, when he meets librarian Linh Tran, the daughter of a Vietnamese refugee and a Viet Nam vet. It’s a decade after the arrival of the Vietnamese immigrants post-war, the “boat people” (some of whom that I first met in Holland, Michigan when I taught there).
Reckless finds Richard Fuller, who faked his own suicide to start a new family, trying to get emotionally connected to the good parts of his own past. Reckless, too, is disconnected, lost in old films and tv shows, until Linh, who never talks about her past, discovers her missing sister, Maggie, in a film they watch.
This leads Reckless to try and find what happened to Maggie for Linh’s sake. Thus commences the sort of detective procedural that is familiar to readers of mystery/noir, taking us into the paranoia of the time in LA/Hollywood: Satanic Cults, where hippies are seen as turning from flower children to sex cult mass murderers ala Charlie Manson in Helter Skelter; Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and so much else in the news during those days.
*I love the artwork as always.
*I love the dialogue.
*I love the way Brubaker weaves the threads and themes of his tale, including the way these cults of the sixties are similar to the violet neo-Nazi skinheads and their anti-refugee hatred.
You know the title is a reference to the Grateful Dead song, but Brubaker is so widely and deeply read in the history of pop culture that you can revel in his references throughout. “On the Carousel of Time”??! Joni Mitchell' "Circle Game" in a brutal noir crime comic?! But Brubaker is a “literary” noir writer, or sub-textual writer, just as Sean Phillips is that kind of artist. And this is an example, too, of Brubaker being entertaining, expanding the horizon of what we can expect in a crime story in a playful way.
This may not be at the very highest level of everything this team has done, since the story is kind of straightforward there for a while, but this is still head and shoulders better than anything else out there in crime comics.
Reckless finds Richard Fuller, who faked his own suicide to start a new family, trying to get emotionally connected to the good parts of his own past. Reckless, too, is disconnected, lost in old films and tv shows, until Linh, who never talks about her past, discovers her missing sister, Maggie, in a film they watch.
This leads Reckless to try and find what happened to Maggie for Linh’s sake. Thus commences the sort of detective procedural that is familiar to readers of mystery/noir, taking us into the paranoia of the time in LA/Hollywood: Satanic Cults, where hippies are seen as turning from flower children to sex cult mass murderers ala Charlie Manson in Helter Skelter; Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and so much else in the news during those days.
*I love the artwork as always.
*I love the dialogue.
*I love the way Brubaker weaves the threads and themes of his tale, including the way these cults of the sixties are similar to the violet neo-Nazi skinheads and their anti-refugee hatred.
You know the title is a reference to the Grateful Dead song, but Brubaker is so widely and deeply read in the history of pop culture that you can revel in his references throughout. “On the Carousel of Time”??! Joni Mitchell' "Circle Game" in a brutal noir crime comic?! But Brubaker is a “literary” noir writer, or sub-textual writer, just as Sean Phillips is that kind of artist. And this is an example, too, of Brubaker being entertaining, expanding the horizon of what we can expect in a crime story in a playful way.
This may not be at the very highest level of everything this team has done, since the story is kind of straightforward there for a while, but this is still head and shoulders better than anything else out there in crime comics.
March 9, 2021
We haven't had a new Brubaker/Phillips book for two months or so, so here's the second Ethan Reckless book! And it's better than the first one. More pulp themes - druggy cults, Nazis, skinheads. It all ticks over nicely, and there's s nice sense of dread, building in the story.
The only thing missing is that certain pain, that ache they seem to always get right in the Criminal series.
Phillips' art is sublime, as always.
(Picked up an ARC through Edelweiss)
The only thing missing is that certain pain, that ache they seem to always get right in the Criminal series.
Phillips' art is sublime, as always.
(Picked up an ARC through Edelweiss)
November 24, 2022
Another great crime comic from Brubaker. Nobody does it better.
October 24, 2024
Brubaker makes writing stories of this quality seem effortless. His narration is precise, with each word chosen carefully. Every piece of text is perfectly integrated into the panels, all crafted to offer the reader the best possible experience—and he succeeds brilliantly.
The stories themselves are straightforward, classic crime noir, perhaps familiar in some form or another, but they remain captivating nonetheless.
And, of course, Phillips's artwork complements Brubaker’s writing flawlessly. It's no surprise they've collaborated on so many books over the years.
The stories themselves are straightforward, classic crime noir, perhaps familiar in some form or another, but they remain captivating nonetheless.
And, of course, Phillips's artwork complements Brubaker’s writing flawlessly. It's no surprise they've collaborated on so many books over the years.
July 21, 2023
I've been trying on-and-off to get back into comics, and the signals this cover was sending me- cults, 70s, Satan, Hollywood- as well as the general Goodreads approbation around the series made it seem promising. Eh. I guess it's not bad, but I did find it awfully tame- not just in terms of content, but in the story's straightforwardness and comfort with its cliches. A good-looking woman who heads to Hollywood wanting to act but ends up getting exploited by a Satanic cult is a story as old as ti- well, as old as Hollywood, anyway- and this one didn't bring anything new to the table. Nor were the head Satanist's Anton LaVey-isms particularly impressive or frightening. And sure, I enjoy the cliches to a certain extent as well, but sometimes the writer can get so comfortable with their rhythms that he stops paying attention to their content. Take the first page, when the main character is remembering events that happened in the 80s:
...music I never thought we'd be stuck listening to for the rest of our lives. Bands with big hair and loud keyboards. Drum machines. Depeche Mode, Duran Duran...the music of cocaine and empty promises.
It sounds cool, but is Depeche Mode really "the music of cocaine and empty promises?" Maybe the guys in the band did do cocaine, but their music definitely doesn't sound like it. And what empty promises did Depeche Mode ever make? It's more like the music of total disillusionment with empty promises. I know, I'm being pedantic, but right there on the first page it immediately made the main character's noir tough-guy interior monologue seem less authentic to me.
That said, I had an entertaining enough time with this on a Saturday night when I had nothing else to do. I'd try another, if anyone has a recommendation. It just didn't blow me away.
May 13, 2021
I had some reservations about the first book in this series, but this dark adventure is pretty flawless when it comes to tough-guy crime thrillers. It knows what it wants to do and gets its knuckles bloody getting there. Here's hoping the third book this fall continues the upward trend.
May 1, 2021
Brubaker and Philips present another book with Ethan as he is investigating into the disappearance of a man named Richard Fuller and his whereabouts where he meets this woman named Linh Tran a Vietnamese and we follow their love story until we learn of her sister and Ethan being the guy he is starts investigating into her disappearance and he follows the clues of old Hollywood and the rise of the late 70s satanish cults and we follow him as he finds about her roommates, producers and weird things and mysteries and suspense until its eventual conclusion.
Its a great mystery and a good 80s detective noir-ish tale and has good pop culture references but nothing like the first one, the mystery is cool but there is not a lot of action but good hook with what maggie was actually up to and the conclusion was as expected. Its a good one time read and reminds you of Magnum PI episodes but yeah good and fun one and Sean Phillips again is the highlight of this one!
Its a great mystery and a good 80s detective noir-ish tale and has good pop culture references but nothing like the first one, the mystery is cool but there is not a lot of action but good hook with what maggie was actually up to and the conclusion was as expected. Its a good one time read and reminds you of Magnum PI episodes but yeah good and fun one and Sean Phillips again is the highlight of this one!
December 22, 2021
I liked, but didn't love, the first Reckless volume. It did a fine job of introducing the character and his world, but the mystery was predictable and bleak. It felt more like classic Brubaker noir with a grumbling anti-hero than something new and fresh.
Fortunately, Friend of the Devil has arrived with that newness and freshness. Having introduced the character already, we no longer need the convoluted backstory to understand his motivations: Ethan Reckless can just get on with the investigation. And it's a good one here: Ethan meets a librarian, falls for her, discovers her tragic past, and begins to investigate that tragedy. Naturally, affairs spiral, but Ethan's narration keeps the plot flowing smoothly, even through the darker moments.
Friend of the Devil isn't a particularly complex mystery, and the conclusion doesn't seem to change anything in Ethan's life, but it's such a simple, pure read that I had to upgrade the star rating. This thing just flowssss. I guarantee you'll read it in one sitting, completely entranced the entire way through.
Fortunately, Friend of the Devil has arrived with that newness and freshness. Having introduced the character already, we no longer need the convoluted backstory to understand his motivations: Ethan Reckless can just get on with the investigation. And it's a good one here: Ethan meets a librarian, falls for her, discovers her tragic past, and begins to investigate that tragedy. Naturally, affairs spiral, but Ethan's narration keeps the plot flowing smoothly, even through the darker moments.
Friend of the Devil isn't a particularly complex mystery, and the conclusion doesn't seem to change anything in Ethan's life, but it's such a simple, pure read that I had to upgrade the star rating. This thing just flowssss. I guarantee you'll read it in one sitting, completely entranced the entire way through.
November 10, 2021
Brubaker and Phillips continue telling the tales of the haunted 1980’s problem solver Ethan Reckless in his second graphic novel. This one is noticeably better than the first book, with a missing girl mystery filled with Vietnam refugees, z-grade exploitation flicks, Satanic cults, and Nazi skinheads. This book has great characters and a real sense of time and place. And in Ethan Reckless, the creators continue to flesh out an enduring, memorable anti-hero character in the same vein of Travis McGee and Jack Reacher.
When you do what I do, a lot of the job is just about staying on the path as it starts to get twisted… or knowing which way to go when it splits in two.
July 5, 2022
Another great adventure with Ethan as he just wants to live his life watching movies at his theater.
But then he meets a girl.
And tries to find her missing sister. Going deep into the seedy underbelly of the criminal world of filming. We're talking about a cult here people. And it only gets darker every path Ethan takes. Every single time he gains a new clue or a new path towards the truth it gets worse till eventually we involve skinheads.
And fuck skinheads.
Fast paced, yet respectable to the slowburn feel of detective work. Excellent art as always. The only negative maybe is how fast it wrapped up. But overall, I read this in one sitting and really enjoyed it.
A 4 out of 5.
But then he meets a girl.
And tries to find her missing sister. Going deep into the seedy underbelly of the criminal world of filming. We're talking about a cult here people. And it only gets darker every path Ethan takes. Every single time he gains a new clue or a new path towards the truth it gets worse till eventually we involve skinheads.
And fuck skinheads.
Fast paced, yet respectable to the slowburn feel of detective work. Excellent art as always. The only negative maybe is how fast it wrapped up. But overall, I read this in one sitting and really enjoyed it.
A 4 out of 5.
October 4, 2023
An absolute home run by Brubaker and Phillips. It’s crazy how good they are at pulling you in a story and having you eager in anticipation of what will happen next even when all that is happening is a conversation or internal dialogue. I really felt as if I was investigating this case right alongside Ethan Reckless. Beautiful book all around!
May 12, 2024
This was the kind of level I was expecting the first volume to be and lived up to the hype of the series for me. It was such a good crime mystery story that had me hooked and was good look into what weird stuff was happening at this time. Still loved Ethan in this. I like him a lot as a character, probably what makes me want to read more of these books.
October 19, 2021
Pulp antihero Ethan Reckless is back for another dark tale of the sordid California of the 80's. This time it's a look at the film industry and acid destroying lives, with some substantial twists and deeper mysteries to keep you hooked.
I shouldn't have to go any farther than saying "Brubaker and Phillips made this", but for those who haven't read the first Reckless book I can say you don't have to read that first for this to make sense. You will get better character introductions, but this can stand on it's own. Also PLEASE read the Brubaker afterword's in these books, they are super short and always illuminating about how these stories come about.
I shouldn't have to go any farther than saying "Brubaker and Phillips made this", but for those who haven't read the first Reckless book I can say you don't have to read that first for this to make sense. You will get better character introductions, but this can stand on it's own. Also PLEASE read the Brubaker afterword's in these books, they are super short and always illuminating about how these stories come about.
May 1, 2021
Not quite as action packed as the first Reckless book, though that jump kill at the end was pretty cool. Also I feel like any fiction that delves into Mansonesque territory these days needs to do a better job of taking in the revelations from Tom O'Neill's CHAOS, especially the likelihood that the Manson cult wasn't a cult so much as it was some kind of op. Although maybe this book was in the can before then. Even so, a mid-tier work from Brubaker and Philips stands high above pretty much anything else on my comics list these days.
June 30, 2022
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL gets bogged down a bit with detective procedural issues, but it's fascinating to learn how the mind of Ethan Reckless (a problem-solver and a fixer, but not a bonafide private investigator) pulls at the thinnest of threads and works his way eventually to the whole ball of yarn.
Like a Michael Connelly police procedural Bosch novel, you just keep reading because you know the payoff will be worth it. This one really sticks the landing.
Brubaker focuses on some obsessive issues of the 1970's and 1980's, snuff films and satanic cults, and weaves them into his story of a determined Reckless trying to find the whereabouts or status (living or dead) of his new girlfriend's older foster sister, who went to Hollywood for stardom and disappeared eight years prior.
Like Connelly's Bosch, Brubaker's Ethan Reckless is a character that fascinates me. I relate to much of his attitude (except his take on dispensing justice) and appreciate the quirkiness of the character (living in an abandoned movie house and watching reels of '60's sitcoms and b-movies).
It's easy to overlook the contributions of artist Sean Phillips - - so I won't. He's worked together with Brubaker on so many creative crime fiction comics that he's like a shadow or an overcoat. He knows exactly how to illustrate the cinematic scenes that Brubaker details, and his mastery of expressions and body language is so important to conveying the feeling and mood of the story as it plays out.
Reckless thoughts after completing the case: "when you do what I do, a lot of the job is just about staying on the path as it starts to get twisted . . . Or knowing which way to go when it splits in two. I've always been lucky that way. Sometimes it feels like the path is finding me . . . And I'm never afraid to follow it, no matter where it goes . . . Even when I know it's only going to leave me alone with nothing but memories." Brilliant.
Like a Michael Connelly police procedural Bosch novel, you just keep reading because you know the payoff will be worth it. This one really sticks the landing.
Brubaker focuses on some obsessive issues of the 1970's and 1980's, snuff films and satanic cults, and weaves them into his story of a determined Reckless trying to find the whereabouts or status (living or dead) of his new girlfriend's older foster sister, who went to Hollywood for stardom and disappeared eight years prior.
Like Connelly's Bosch, Brubaker's Ethan Reckless is a character that fascinates me. I relate to much of his attitude (except his take on dispensing justice) and appreciate the quirkiness of the character (living in an abandoned movie house and watching reels of '60's sitcoms and b-movies).
It's easy to overlook the contributions of artist Sean Phillips - - so I won't. He's worked together with Brubaker on so many creative crime fiction comics that he's like a shadow or an overcoat. He knows exactly how to illustrate the cinematic scenes that Brubaker details, and his mastery of expressions and body language is so important to conveying the feeling and mood of the story as it plays out.
Reckless thoughts after completing the case: "when you do what I do, a lot of the job is just about staying on the path as it starts to get twisted . . . Or knowing which way to go when it splits in two. I've always been lucky that way. Sometimes it feels like the path is finding me . . . And I'm never afraid to follow it, no matter where it goes . . . Even when I know it's only going to leave me alone with nothing but memories." Brilliant.
July 29, 2024
I probably would've been more impressed by this competent graphic novel detective story had I not just seen Ti West's far better movie MAXXXINE, which also happens to be set on the mean streets of Hollywood in 1985, just a few blocks from where I moved in six years later.
It's a movie where literally every detail is a wink, nod, or homage to every poorly-shot, synth-scored slasher flick ground out between 1978 and 1984, and well worth the price of admission just for Kevin Bacon's gleeful turn as a greasy Texas dick Peckinpah might have cast straight outta the drunk tank.
It's a movie where literally every detail is a wink, nod, or homage to every poorly-shot, synth-scored slasher flick ground out between 1978 and 1984, and well worth the price of admission just for Kevin Bacon's gleeful turn as a greasy Texas dick Peckinpah might have cast straight outta the drunk tank.
July 25, 2021
The second volume of Reckless is almost as amazing as the first.
Once again, it feels very personal, once again it reveals great characters. But what I really loved about this volume was how well it depicted the Satanic Panic — and the actual Satanic organizations that helped to kick it off. This feels very much like a letter in a bottle from 1985, and in Brubaker's rough, realistic form.
Wonderful!
Once again, it feels very personal, once again it reveals great characters. But what I really loved about this volume was how well it depicted the Satanic Panic — and the actual Satanic organizations that helped to kick it off. This feels very much like a letter in a bottle from 1985, and in Brubaker's rough, realistic form.
Wonderful!
May 3, 2021
Béčkové filmy, náckovia, hipíci, kulty. Brubaker zachytil ducha doby až kinematograficky presvedčivo - pri čítaní som sa miestami cítil ako pri sledovaní filmu. Mne neostáva nič iné, než tlieskať ďalšej detektívke s Ethanom Recklessom a za mňa ešte o chlp lepšie ako prvý diel.
April 23, 2022
Reckless 02: Friend of the Devil, by Ed Brubaker (Script), Sean Phillips (Art), and Jacob Phillips (Coloring) is the second part of a new modern crime noir series.
1985 Was a Bad Year.
(No shit!)
It's 1985 and things in Ethan's life are going pretty well... until a missing woman shows up in the background of an old B-movie, and Ethan is drawn into Hollywood's secret occult underbelly as he hunts for her among the wreckage of the wild days of the '70s.
Yeah, bring it on. More sublime pulp with an occult sex cult, a missing B-movie starlet, Nazis, skinheads, rich men with dirty secrets. Fantastic artwork.
Themes: 1985 Los Angeles, Satanic Panic.
5 Stars
1985 Was a Bad Year.
(No shit!)
It's 1985 and things in Ethan's life are going pretty well... until a missing woman shows up in the background of an old B-movie, and Ethan is drawn into Hollywood's secret occult underbelly as he hunts for her among the wreckage of the wild days of the '70s.
Yeah, bring it on. More sublime pulp with an occult sex cult, a missing B-movie starlet, Nazis, skinheads, rich men with dirty secrets. Fantastic artwork.
Themes: 1985 Los Angeles, Satanic Panic.
5 Stars
October 15, 2022
Segunda historieta del personaje y segunda propuesta para película de la serie; competente, bien tramada y con una parte sentimental muy elocuente pero carece de la grandeza de las mejores historias del equipo creativo. Amigo del Diablo queda un poco como una lectura criminal simplificada de Fatale en la intersección con el mundillo de las snuff movies. Ojalá les salga bien y puedan asaltar de una vez la bolsa de las plataformas de streaming, pero no deja de ser frustrante ver el talento de Brubaker y Phillips entregado al altar del estereotipo.
July 2, 2025
3.5*
April 9, 2022
Not bad, might even be 3.5 stars. It is more Detective Noir but the story is better less disjointed than volume one. Oh and for a main character that goes on and on and on about not feeling emotions or only having emotions observed from a distance he sure has all the emotions on display.
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June 22, 2023Protagonistas investigadores trazem um desafio para seus autores: como introduzir a trama a ser investigada sem esgotar o recurso de "um cliente entra no escritório"? Aqui Ed Brubaker usa um colecionador de filmes antigos e a presença inesperada de uma atriz que muitos julgavam estar morta. A trama escrita durante a pandemia vai encaixando pistas, bons mentirosos e deduções detetivescas num ritmo ligeiro enquanto, no pano de fundo, comenta também as mudanças políticas nos EUA ao longo das décadas. As cutucadas no complexo estadunidense de heróis do mundo são pregação pros convertidos sempre bem-vindas e um bom jeito de construir o caráter do protagonista Ethan Reckless.
January 3, 2023
I liked this second novel in the series better than the first because it's free to focus on the story rather than introducing us to the Ethan Reckless character. Deep dive into (now) vintage exploitation films with a good mystery to solve and plenty of action as Reckless takes on a cult and skinheads. The narrative strategy is tight with Brubaker handling the voiceover from Reckless's perspective and letting Phillips artwork deliver on the action.
September 30, 2021
I didn't know this existed till past midnight, devoured it in an hour rather than sleeping, and can hardly wait the three weeks till the next installment hits.
March 3, 2021
Phew. I really was puzzled by the first book to feature the stupidly-named Ethan Reckless, or more specifically why so many big names were calling it a big title when it did so little. I'd even dared call it out as the opener of a series I would not have continued with were it not for the creative team billed. But we're back on firmer ground here, and this is back to being a success. Ethan has got through one of those sort-of-PI jobs he does, and come out of it very well – on the arm of someone who helped him out. This is Linh Tran, a winsome Vietnamese librarian, and therefore already someone able to break down some stereotypical walls, but her past has a secret. When this stumbles out, with the help of Ethan's rundown cinema home and some old 16mm film reels, he's sent on a helter skelter into darkness. Again.
So it's actually some chunk of the way through this book that you see the pattern the trilogy is making (although we're promised something very different later 2021 when the third part comes out). We're once more taking a historical look at an American cult, and once again in among the verbose comments from our main guide we're looking back at a specific time and seeing how the American dream soured. In the first book that aspect seemed tacked on – I knew there was a cause for the historical setting, but I never felt it essential, or even particularly relevant. Here, now we readers have a firmer grip on the steering wheel of this series we can judge which way the camber is taking us, and can go with the flow down the 'ooh, weren't the 80s dodgy? Drugs, hmm? Bad...' road more easily.
And it helps too that the search for the solution is darker, more gripping, a bit fresher (well, unless you read specific kinds of books), and all told more engaging. No, it's not perfect – the final reveal about the baddy is a bit ripe, and the paid-by-the-word style is still a bit too much at times – but this to me was more of the quality I expect from a Brubaker product. Still, people generally loved Book One, so either they'll find this outstanding, or just swing in the other direction to me, and find it meh. And while I know how surprised I was to find these creators go that way last time, I am convinced that this fine book is most certainly not meh.
So it's actually some chunk of the way through this book that you see the pattern the trilogy is making (although we're promised something very different later 2021 when the third part comes out). We're once more taking a historical look at an American cult, and once again in among the verbose comments from our main guide we're looking back at a specific time and seeing how the American dream soured. In the first book that aspect seemed tacked on – I knew there was a cause for the historical setting, but I never felt it essential, or even particularly relevant. Here, now we readers have a firmer grip on the steering wheel of this series we can judge which way the camber is taking us, and can go with the flow down the 'ooh, weren't the 80s dodgy? Drugs, hmm? Bad...' road more easily.
And it helps too that the search for the solution is darker, more gripping, a bit fresher (well, unless you read specific kinds of books), and all told more engaging. No, it's not perfect – the final reveal about the baddy is a bit ripe, and the paid-by-the-word style is still a bit too much at times – but this to me was more of the quality I expect from a Brubaker product. Still, people generally loved Book One, so either they'll find this outstanding, or just swing in the other direction to me, and find it meh. And while I know how surprised I was to find these creators go that way last time, I am convinced that this fine book is most certainly not meh.
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