…And Die: Largo Winch Vol. 6 GN
Publisher: Cinebook, Ltd.
Release Date: August 2010
Price: $11.95
Creator: Jean Van Hamme (Writer) and Philippe Francq (Artist)
Format: 48 pgs.; Full-Color
ISBN: 978-1-8491-8032-0
Age Rating: 15+
ICv2 Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

Multiple murders in New York and the kidnapping of a friend in the heart of Venice are all supposed to be part of a terrorist plot but there’s someone behind the crimes who has more of a personal grudge against Largo Winch and his company the W Group.  Winch repeatedly throws himself into harm’s way, proving to be as relentless as his pursuers in his search for the truth.

…And Die is Volume Six (Volume Five was titled See Venice…), the latest in Cinebook’s series of international thrillers whose protagonist Largo Winch is an “anti-establishment, womanizer, wanderer, iconoclast and fighter” who at age 26 inherited a major corporation that’s worth $10 billion.  Though millionaire industrialist is a common enough secret identity for a superhero it’s still a pretty unlikely day job for a two-fisted adventurer but Winch manages to carry it with plenty of panache.

Written Jean Van Hamme and artist Phillippe Francq have crafted a beautifully drawn, rousing real world thriller that’s the comic equivalent of a Robert Ludlum novel.  Francq clearly did a great deal of research to create the detailed backgrounds that really bring the Venetian settings alive.  It’s full of action, beautiful women both dressed and undressed (there is some sexual material and brief nudity but the art has been altered enough from the original European version to earn it Cinebook’s self-imposed 15+ rating) and even a swordfight. ...And Die is guaranteed to appeal to anyone who likes a good old fashioned adventure story.

-- Steve Bennett: