Review: Thief of Thieves #1

Who doesn’t like a good con-artist thief story with all its twists, turns and surprises?  I know I do and that's why I read this book. I also enjoy a good thief story like Oceans 11 and Italian Job and such; and just like those movies, Thief of Thieves feels just like those great movies do.

Prologue: Staring at a picture frame our man Redmond receives a call. Chapter One: In the middle of a job, Redmond is stuck hanging from a rope requesting some help from his team. With no luck he ends up surrendering. The Countess has been alerted that there is a thief and goes to the safe where her jewels are being held and of course they are missing.  She questions Redmond about where her pearl is while her strongman takes several swings at him. The captain of the boat instructs her that Redmond cannot be tortured because it’s a US ship. At this point she says he’s coming to her country where the laws are less complicated. 

This all of course is a play; The Countess is just a character on Redmond’s team to steal something else hidden below the safety deposit box.  The story flashback to when Celia and Redmond met for the first time as she attempts to steal his car. He then shows her the easiest and best cars to steal for a quick turnaround.  At this point she insists to become his apprentice because she’ll work hard, listen, learns fast and has no moral compass.  Back to the present Redmond and Celia are heading to his office talking about the usual jobs, work and sexual tension between the two of them.  But it all goes back to the Venice job that we know nothing about yet.  Redmond explains he needs more time to work out some details but things are already set in motion by the others involved.

I enjoyed the story; the pacing made sure that it moved ahead well.  I did like that it didn’t sit on how Celia and Redmond met and her training to be his apprentice and actually moved into the real story. It also used the flashback easily to keep the story moving and set a simple background for one of the characters.  The use of relevant media (youtube) may or may not keep it from being a classic story but it’s pretty minimal. Now I did have one question about how the Venice job may pertain to the prologue of the story. This story does have a good start for the series and can play out very well. What can I say I enjoy a good thief against thief story.

The art is very detailed giving each character their own distinct look. The colors play well with shadows and setting the mood. Mainly with the use of red and orange blends for the dark areas below the ship to give it a dark look, but still full of detail. It works well and nothing pops out as if it were out of place.

Overall this is worth reading. It has a good story that's worth telling and is different from other comics on the market. Personally I’m picking up #2 to see where this leads.

Score: 4/5

Story: Robert Kirkman

Writer: Nick Spencer

Artist: Shawn Martinbrough

Publisher: Image Comics/Skybound

Price: $2.99

Release Date: 2/8/2012

Check out the 9-page First Look for the issue as well