Bloodhound Vol. 1: Brass Knuckle Psychology TPPublisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: July 2, 2013
Price: $19.99
Creators: Dan Jolley, Leonard Kirk, Robin Riggs
Format: 232 pgs., Full-Color, Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-9853-1674-7
ICv2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Back before ex-cop Travis "Clev" Clevenger killed his partner he was considered the best at tracking down superhuman criminals. Now as he serves a twenty year prison sentence, FBI agent Saffron Bell tries to enlist his help in catching a powerful serial killer whose next target is his dead partner's daughter.
Bloodhound collects the 2004 DC Comics series by Dan Jolley, Leonard Kirk, and Robin Riggs, a slightly ahead of its time comic that combined elements of superhero comics and pulp fiction with a touch of The X-Files. The result is a very bloody crime comic, but while it's overwhelmingly dark and brutal the violence is never gratuitous.
It also helps that it has a protagonist like Clev who unlike a lot of today's would-be "hardmen" balances out his ability to provide savage beatdowns with smarts. He has a genius for reading people, something that you'd expect from Batman though with Clev it seems to come more from gut instinct than through Sherlockian observation.
Bloodhound Volume 1: Brass Knuckle Psychology is a solid superhero procedural and while the writing is certainly strong for me the main selling point is the always excellent artwork of Leonard Kirk. Sadly there are not enough artists working today who share his working knowledge of anatomy (while incredibly well muscled as drawn, Clev's build is theoretically possible) or ability to depict everyday people and places. Very few artists could make something this ugly look so pretty.
--Steve Bennett: Writer and retail services consultant.
