The Good
Joe, who was hired to find Debbie's sister, Sarah, who joined the cult of Divine Will. Joe finds a lot more than he bargained for on his search in this HELLBLAZER meets Pulp Detective series.
I really enjoyed the quick origin of how Johnny got his ability to see things the rest of us humans can't, and also how he lost his sight. It's brief, but doesn't get in the way of the overall story, and Johnny is a very cool character.
I love me some Ben Templesmith. I loved his work on 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and his more recent work on LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT. On TEN GRAND, his work ranges from eerily grotesque to disturbing to awe inspiring. I feel like we get to see a different side to his art here. Sure, it's the same style he's known for in all of his other books, but that last page, while still looking far different from anything else you'd see in anything from the "Big Two," shows that Templesmith has the ability to adapt to other styles. His line work on that reveal page is incredibly cool, just like him... the classiest man at every convention. I loved the two pages of Joe meeting back up with Laura. Templesmith's set-up, for these pages were beautiful and really heightened the emotion between these two characters.
I really like what J. Michael Straczynski is doing with this book, the mixture of pulp detective and the occult seems like an odd one, but it really works on the page. I find myself very intrigued with Joe, the main character, and I love his connection to Laura. The idea of being able to see the love of your life, who is also dead, for 5 minutes, every time Joe dies, is my favorite thing about this book, and I love the was JMS and Templesmith paced those pages out. More people should be reading this book.
The Bad
For me, it's a bit hard to get used to the contrasting styles of this book. JMS writes this as a very solid pulp book, with heavy inner-monologue and an occult feel and Ben Templesmith's art is, at least for me, always part of the horror genre. It takes a little getting used to, which is weird since there is this occult overlap.
The Verdict
TEN GRAND 2 is a great read and this is a series you need to jump onto. JMS and Templesmith are onto something amazing here, and you need to get on this book, before it's too late. By the way, there's a second printing of issue 1 this week, so there's no excuse to pick both up. JMS has developed a really cool story here with some amazing art from Templesmith. While it may be a tad tough to get used to the contrasting styles of pulp writing and more horror-stylized art, you'll be a fan, no doubt.
Overall, I highly recommend this issue.