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Published by: Image Comics
Released on: Mar. 26, 2014
Writer: Fabrice Sapolsky
Artist: Ariel Olivetti
Cover: Ariel Olivetti
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Richie Reese, former child actor turned Hollywood hit man, has a violent past. Not violence against him at the hands of another, but violence at his own hand against others. Issue #2 tells his back story from his days as a child actor with a failing career to his joining a crime family in Hollywood. We find out more about his days of helping old ladies get their cats out of trees, his obsession with gangster movies like Scarface and The Godfather, and we meet his childhood friend Terrell.
His gangster obsession brings him to the door of Don Marco in his pizza parlor. The Don absolutely loves making pizza for friends and having them sit down to a feast. Just ask Orlando. Richie barges in and talks a big talk and the Don decides to give him a chance, but not until he goes to college. The Don don't want no dummies working for him no more.
Flash forward to present day, Richie is shackled in a hospital and under questioning from a couple of agents. This leads to some undercover work for the psycho back at the old Don's pizza place, which leads to some extra concerns for the two agents. And Richie's mother is paid a visit from an old friend. At least it seems like his mother.
This issue starts to build all the little stories that make up the big story, showing what a shitty little bastard Richie has always been. For those who love origin stories, this one falls into that category, at least for most of the issue. Some new info comes into play, but most of the issue is flashback stuff. The end of the book has a couple of “deleted scenesâ€, which feature SFX artist maestro Stan Winston, which is cool but seems way out of place. So kudos for deleting it.
Sadly, and to great disappointment to this reader, issue two marks the departure of the fantastic artistic contributions of Ariel Olivetti. He's the sole reason for my having picked up the book in the first place and seeing him go before the book really digs its heels in is sad news indeed. The mind is open though, and it should be an interesting new look to the story.
