Button Man - 'The Hitman's Daughter'

[Colin YNWA]

As though doing some re-read stalking of Locustsofdeath I too have just finished reading book 4 of Button Man.
Under normal circumstances there'd be nothing new to say about a Button Man story being absolutely wonderful but with Book 4 so much has changed its worth reflecting on. New art, new central character, new writer for part one, well not really but. Yet this chapter looks and feels as though nothing has changed and its still a wonderful piece of work.

Lets get the art out the way. If you're going to replace Arthur Ranson's realistic, evocative art with anyone's you might as well have Frazer Irving's evocative, realistic art as anyones. Its amazing how two such different styles can still seem almost photo-realistic and that's exactly why he's perfect. He's the same yet utterly different. It gives the series the same down to earth, real world appearance without anybody having to make the mistake of trying to ape the mighty Mr Ranson.

The story carries on exactly as before. No real surprise with John Wagner once again showing there's no-one better at writing a tense, beautifully paced thriller. The shift in the focal character just adds more to the story. Adele is a fantastic addition to the game and her development and 'story arc' as I believe these things are called is just wonderful. Harry ain't for changing so tell the story through the eyes of someone else. Its everything that a Button Man story should be and yet still adds so much more to the party.

Refreshingly the same.

[ming]

I got this from Tharg in exchange for a letter I sent in (a very good deal - thanks, Green Bonce!) and really enjoyed reading it in a single sitting.  It's a great little story and having the main focus away from Harry was a nice change of pace from previous outings.

Much as I love Arthur Ranson's art I also found Frazer a really good fit here and if there's any chance of another book, I'd be thrilled.  Or Thrilled.  Whatever, whether you missed it first time around or just fancy a second look without weekly breaks, this is well worth picking up, folks.

[dweezil2]

The writing was as brilliant as usual.
But oh how I missed Arthur Ranson's glorious artwork-as great as Frazer Irving's was.