by Ales Kot, Michael Walsh, Tradd Moore, Mateus Santolouco, Morgan Jeske, Will Tempest, and Jordie Bellaire; Image Comics
We've been taught by our dumb culture that spies and special operations soldiers are people with glamorous, cool jobs. But the reality isn't White Knights in Armani or swashbuckling, parkour enthusiast assassins. No, the reality is that people trained and conditioned to spy and steal and murder for governments or institutions are fucking scary and their professions are fucking grim business. Zero: An Emergency is a comic that for me captures the sheer brutality and transgression of covert operations in a really interesting and arresting way. In the comic, Edward Zero, an aging, retired special operative, conditioned from childhood to ruthlessly carry out the orders of The Agency, recounts the story of his life to the young agent-in-training sent to murder him as a test. The anecdotes Zero recounts are tales of assassinations and murder and deception filled with horrific violence, startlingly beautiful moments, and a parade of surprising Holy Fuck events. Zero is a comic that just grabs you and slams you into some unexpected places as it hints at a larger overarching mystery. Zero is also a perfect example of why I love reading less mainstream comics: I've found a great writer, learned about some talented artists, and read a stories that I genuinely couldn't predict the endings of. An Emergency is more than anything, a breath of fresh, terrifying air.
Word count: 223
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