Button Man: The Hitman's Daughter

Button Man #4

by John Wagner, Frazer Irving (Illustrator)

Harry Exton was a Button Man, a player in the lethal Killing Game, where modern-day gladiators fought for the pleasure of the mysterious Voices, the rich backers who set up the contests. But Harry quit, leaving the country and the slaughter behind him - only to find out that no one walks away from the Game and lives.

Genres: Comics

96 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2010

About the author

John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since. He is best known for his work on 2000 AD, for which he created Judge Dredd. He is noted for his taut, violent thrillers and his black humour. Among his pseudonyms are The best known are John Howard, T.B. Grover, Mike Stott, Keef Ripley, Rick Clark and Brian Skuter. (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Eamonn Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

At a lonely cottage on Loch Ness, Ronnie Cotter spends some quality time with his little girl, Adele. There is a noise outside so he pushes Adele in the cupboard and goes out to be shot. Minto, Maltese Joe, Billy Blades and Harry X are button men. They kill for money.

Ronnie Cotter had been a button man himself. He managed to incriminate Minto by a bit of pre-planning, having a glass with his fingerprints on at the cottage, so that scoundrel is arrested. The others get away with it. Adele is traumatised and can tell the police nothing. Kindly Uncle Max sends her off to a nice school where she learns martial arts. Years later she tracks down Minto and finds out that the others, apart from Harry X, are dead. Button men do not live long and Minto only survived because he was in jail. Adele wants to get the men who ordered her father’s killing. There then unfolds a film noir story of double-dealing, treachery and ruthlessness with just a dash of sentiment, like yeast in a good loaf.

The art by Frazer Irving serves the writing pretty well. He is good with expressions and it is always clear what’s happening. That sounds trivial but some artists get so carried away with style and poster making that they forget they’re meant to be telling a story.

Like ‘A History of Violence’ this gangster yarn would make a good film, or at least a good two-part ITV drama. Of course, John Wagner wrote ‘A History of Violence’ so he’s good at this sort of thing. I thought it was a brilliant film but I’m not sure it was a box office success.

This is a good read but a short one. You get about an hours entertainment for your money and by the nature of the story, of this type of tale, once you know the ending there is no point in reading it again. As with films like ‘Jagged Edge‘, ‘The Usual Suspects’ and ‘Sixth Sense,’ it’s a one ride pony. I guess that can’t be helped. On the bright side, if you enjoyed the ride there are several other books in the Button Man Graphic Novel range and you can seek them out.

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daughter of one of the Button Man is on a revenge path. Her father was killed because he broke the rules of the Game (you are never to talk about the Game) when she was little and she is now searching for all of the Button Man involved in order to avenge her father.

In a process Harry Ex is forced out of his pension only to teach his enemies same lesson again - he is not to be underestimated .... ever.

Fast paced with some great art. Keep in mind this is newer book and art is very different than in original volumes.

Highly recommended to all fans of action thrillers

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the story wasn't needed as one the Button Man storys; yet once read I thought the story was worth the the read, and though the artwork was also differnt; I still felt it was done brilliantly in its own right.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad, not too good. Not enough action, too much talking and deffinetely not enough Harry Ex.