REVIEW: 'Sins of the Salton Sea' #1 Ed Brisson and C. P. Smith

 

SINS OF THE SALTON SEA #1

Writer: Ed Brisson

Artist: C. P. Smith

Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Publisher: AWA

Release Date: June 7, 2023

Cover Price: $3.99

Wyatt, a professional thief living off the grid, is recruited by his brother for one last job. Their target: an armored car traveling down a desolate stretch of California highway. But when it turns out that their target is carrying not gold bars but human cargo, Wyatt is plunged into a conflict between warring factions of a doomsday cult. The cult claims that it is their solemn duty to save the world by means of human sacrifice. Will Wyatt protect the boy who has come into his charge? Or will he be swayed by the cult's increasingly convincing claims that the end of the world is fast approaching?

Score:

★★★★☆ (4/5)

QUICK REVIEW: Ed Brisson and C. P. Smith take the familiar heist trope of "one last job" in 'Sins of the Salton Sea' and make a well-executed crime thriller with drama and action that build all the way to the end. Two brothers form a crew for what is supposed to be an easy score and get more than they bargained for. It's the perfect set-up that results in one of the best action set pieces in a comic in a long time. The violent confrontation at the heart of the heist is magnificently choreographed by Smith and worthy of the genre. Brisson's dialogue and plotting follow familiar territory but his style adds authenticity and conviction to the characters' voices. If you like gritty crime thrillers, this is your wheelhouse. 

'Sins of the Salton Sea' is a notable addition to the heist caper genre with compelling characters and cinematic violence.