[Review] Moonshine a well-watered thriller

This new series marks the return of a duo that had hit very hard with the series 100 bullets: Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. What is this new cycle worth? The first volume of 160 pages which was released on October 27 by Urban comics brings together the six episodes of Moonshine.

A full-bodied cocktail for Moonshine

A New York mafiosi wakes up with a hell of a hangover and wonders what took him to tingle when, for the first time, he is charged alone with a mission. He must negotiate the exclusive delivery of high-quality alcohol in a bled paumé. This mission will prove to be more and more complicated…

This is prohibition seen from the side of a gangster and in the countryside. We find the dark atmosphere and the thriller of 100 Bullets but in a historical genre. We expect a story of action, of struggle between dungeons and mafiosi but the story evolves little by little towards the fantastic. After a first episode of presentation, the action accelerates and the tension continues to rise.

Lou, the main character, is a real success in this story. He continues to accumulate flaws over the course of the story. His bad luck and constant clumsiness become funny. The last episode is a final explosion but late because Lou has again missed the settling of scores. This episode revives the narrative with an unknown killer and a well-felt cliffhanger.

A great visual vintage

Eduardo Risso initially had a style close to the Miller of Sin City. Risso's drawing gradually detaches itself from this overwhelming shadow. He uses less often the strong contrasts between a solid black and a burst of color. Visually, he tries many things and succeeds but without ever making a mess because everything is fluid and related to the story. In the same way, the composition of the pages is complex but the reading is fluid. The design is even more superb with the colors provided by Risso himself.

Urban Comics' editorial work is to be commended. The paper is of very good quality and this brings out the black and the beautiful chiaroscuro. In addition, at the end of the volume there is a nice gallery with the original covers at the end and even limited editions of Jock, Lee Bermejo, Frank Miller and Cliff Chiang.

Moonshine is therefore a well-written and beautifully drawn classic narrative. We spend a very pleasant time reading it and we look forward to the sequel. Will it be a long-term series or shorter? I prefer for the second option because 100 Bullets that had started as a machine gun, had been lost en route.