BOOM! Studios has a new miniseries dealing with the life of a hitman. Ed Brisson is teaming up with Lisandro Estherren to look at the life of a retired hitman that is forced back into the life he left behind.
We spoke with Ed to find out more about the series and what we can expect from it.
COMIC VINE: What's THE LAST CONTRACT about?
ED BRISSON: THE LAST CONTRACT is about a way retired hitman, who's pushing 80 and has been out of the life for a couple decades now. The Man (who's never named) moves to a small community on an island in order to just live out his final days quietly. It's just him and his old Bassett Hound, Harv.
Of course, things never go the way we plan them and The Man is pulled back into the life after his old handler is killed and a full account of his past transgressions come to light.
CV: How is it different from other 'hitmen' stories?
BRISSON: I think one of the things that sets it apart is The Man is more or less your typical retiree. He's 80 and dealing with everything that comes along with that. He's not terribly fast or strong, not like he used to be. He has to rely on his wits, but he's also starting to show signs of Alzheimer's, so his wits are not always there to serve him. Also, he's been in a self-imposed exile for more than 20 years and the world has continued on. He only has a passing idea of what the internet is. He's a man out of time.
CV: What more can you tell us about "The Man"?
BRISSON: Beyond what I've already mentioned, I'll add that he's a total grump and often drunk.
CV: How much of his past story is told within the series?
BRISSON: We slowly get snippets of his past and will eventually learn why he left the life and what it is that he's running from. The same thing he's hiding from is, of course, the thing that ultimately drives him throughout the series—although you're going to have to read to find out just what that is.
CV: Will it be revealed what made him become a hitman in the first place?
BRISSON: No, not here. The story touches on why he left, but why he started in the first place isn't something that we really touch on.
CV: Can a hitman ever truly retire?
BRISSON: Apparently not!
CV: How crazy does the action get in this series?
BRISSON: It gets pretty crazy and bloody at times, especially as more people from The Man's past begin to reappear. But, the thing about The Man is that he's NOT a Liam Neeson-style ex-hitman. He's not dropping people with kung fu. He's not chasing people down alleyways. He's got to get in close to do anything and it can get pretty brutal.
CV: What's your favorite thing about this project?
BRISSON: Part of it is the setting. I'll be honest, the germ of the idea, this man retiring and moving to a small island community and living with his dog, is my own fantasy. It's 100% how I picture my wife and I living 40 years from now. So, for me, one of my favourite things was setting a story in my fantasy future life.
Overall though, I really like telling a story with this unlikely protagonist who's beset by all sorts of limitations—his age, failing memory—and making him a hardcore bad-ass who I think readers are really going to love.
CV: Do you think being a comic book writer could be a good cover for a hitman?
BRISSON; I don't know, man. There's this theory floating around online that Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote was actually the murderer in every episode and her writing about the cases was her cover. So, maybe? I guess I could write off any coincidences as research, but I think that I'd make a terrible hitman. Terrible.
Be sure to check out THE LAST CONTRACT #1 from BOOM! Studios, on sale January 6, 2016. Check out this exclusive preview.
