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helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
2.0
The premise is a good one, but...think of this like a heist movie.
In a heist movie, how far in should we have our team assembled and be ready to do a thing? I'd say 25% at most. Fair? Because then you have to make some plans, do a runthrough that doesn't go well, probably throw a romantic subplot in there for no reason, and if it's the heist book I wrote, someone has to eat a piece of human feces.
Ahem.
Bang!'s team is assembled probably something like 75% of the way through, and as fun as that portion is, I think the payoff of team assembly is the thing the team does, and we get to it a mite too late here.
My other issue is that we get an initial explanation of what's going on, and cool, I'm in. But then we go through the process of explaining this three more times with three other characters. I quite like the characters, especially the weird John McClane with magic inhalers. That shit was cool. I liked seeing them do stuff. But all the questions they have or unknowns they wrestle with are knowns to me, the reader, so it's a little like if you took the movie Inception but instead of explaining how it works once, Leo had to explain it to every character involved in the plot.
This is better than a 2-star book, but I subtracted one star for including novel pages that are just solid walls of text, probably not necessary, and that had occasional damage to them like blood splatters and such, which make reading a bit more of a chore and slow down this otherwise speedy book quite a bit.
In a heist movie, how far in should we have our team assembled and be ready to do a thing? I'd say 25% at most. Fair? Because then you have to make some plans, do a runthrough that doesn't go well, probably throw a romantic subplot in there for no reason, and if it's the heist book I wrote, someone has to eat a piece of human feces.
Ahem.
Bang!'s team is assembled probably something like 75% of the way through, and as fun as that portion is, I think the payoff of team assembly is the thing the team does, and we get to it a mite too late here.
My other issue is that we get an initial explanation of what's going on, and cool, I'm in. But then we go through the process of explaining this three more times with three other characters. I quite like the characters, especially the weird John McClane with magic inhalers. That shit was cool. I liked seeing them do stuff. But all the questions they have or unknowns they wrestle with are knowns to me, the reader, so it's a little like if you took the movie Inception but instead of explaining how it works once, Leo had to explain it to every character involved in the plot.
This is better than a 2-star book, but I subtracted one star for including novel pages that are just solid walls of text, probably not necessary, and that had occasional damage to them like blood splatters and such, which make reading a bit more of a chore and slow down this otherwise speedy book quite a bit.
crashmore's review against another edition
4.0
Another book I read for the IRCB 2021 challenge. Moves this up in the list as I wanted to read fear case a recent comic by the same author and I heard there was at least an Easter egg of a connection between the two. This book features a team up of popular hero type twisted and pushed just shy of parody. We have a James Bond type character and a John McClain\Die Hard type even some Knight Rider thrown in for good measure. Sounds crazy but it works in a fun way. Add in a doomsday cult and a sci-fi writer who may be more than he seems and it adds up to a fun ride. Looking forward to reading more and checking out more from Matt Kindt.
ecote525's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would; mostly for the characters and their backstories rather than the main plot. But I was wondering the whole time...why does John Shaw look EXACTLY like young Bruce Willis? (Not that I'm complaining)
ramsfan1963's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
4.0
One of my favorite tropes in comic books is Getting The Gang Together, when a group of heroes who may or may not have a shared history must decide whether or not to team up and become The Avengers or The Justice League, or Planetary, or the BPRD. Often, the gathering of the team can end up being more exciting than the adventures the team has once assembled.
In this book, a group of tropey heroes (an espionage agent, a generic action star, the secret genius action star, the Agatha Christie detective, and a possibly magical pulp writer are all set to cross paths to take down an evil company intent on destroying the world.
Maybe the next volume will be terrible (though Kindt rarely fails to deliver on a premise) but I found myself fully engaged with all of the characters, satisfied by their mini-narrative journeys as they were drawn into the overarching plot, and very much intrigued to see where the series goes from here.
If you've ever looked for a [b:Black Science, Vol. 1: How to Fall Forever|20881139|Black Science, Vol. 1 How to Fall Forever|Rick Remender|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1410031362l/20881139._SY75_.jpg|40221511] meets [b:The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1|297627|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1|Alan Moore|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552295653l/297627._SY75_.jpg|797], you're going to love this book. And if you've enjoyed Kindt's work on [b:MIND MGMT, Volume One: The Manager|16255052|MIND MGMT, Volume One The Manager|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406391108l/16255052._SY75_.jpg|22298040], [b:Dept. H, Volume 1: Pressure|30208534|Dept. H, Volume 1 Pressure|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485469841l/30208534._SY75_.jpg|50658271], and [b:Super Spy|589072|Super Spy|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347452045l/589072._SX50_.jpg|575856], I don't believe this book will disappoint you.
In this book, a group of tropey heroes (an espionage agent, a generic action star, the secret genius action star, the Agatha Christie detective, and a possibly magical pulp writer are all set to cross paths to take down an evil company intent on destroying the world.
Maybe the next volume will be terrible (though Kindt rarely fails to deliver on a premise) but I found myself fully engaged with all of the characters, satisfied by their mini-narrative journeys as they were drawn into the overarching plot, and very much intrigued to see where the series goes from here.
If you've ever looked for a [b:Black Science, Vol. 1: How to Fall Forever|20881139|Black Science, Vol. 1 How to Fall Forever|Rick Remender|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1410031362l/20881139._SY75_.jpg|40221511] meets [b:The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1|297627|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1|Alan Moore|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552295653l/297627._SY75_.jpg|797], you're going to love this book. And if you've enjoyed Kindt's work on [b:MIND MGMT, Volume One: The Manager|16255052|MIND MGMT, Volume One The Manager|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406391108l/16255052._SY75_.jpg|22298040], [b:Dept. H, Volume 1: Pressure|30208534|Dept. H, Volume 1 Pressure|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485469841l/30208534._SY75_.jpg|50658271], and [b:Super Spy|589072|Super Spy|Matt Kindt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347452045l/589072._SX50_.jpg|575856], I don't believe this book will disappoint you.
andrewgraphics's review against another edition
3.0
This was...fine..?
Kindt is a sort of one-note writer, where everything relies on a secret and hidden agenda by some ultimately faceless person/group, and that is the only thing that drives the plot.
Tried this because I was told it was his best book to date, but unimpressed.
Kindt is a sort of one-note writer, where everything relies on a secret and hidden agenda by some ultimately faceless person/group, and that is the only thing that drives the plot.
Tried this because I was told it was his best book to date, but unimpressed.
jhstack's review against another edition
3.0
An enjoyable meta mashup of detective, spy, and action tropes (think McClane, Bond, Knight Rider, and Poirot/Marple) all knitted together by a sci-fi writer who has already written their stories.
jmbz38's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
cobwebjr's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.0
I need to learn my lesson and stop reading comics written by men 💀
graypeape's review against another edition
5.0
This was fun, and I really enjoyed it. The meta flows pretty strongly through this, which amused the hell out of me, and the story was so pulpy and wild- what if Philip K. Dick had written James Bond, John McClane, a female version of Iron Man, and a French-Korean Miss Marple/Jessica Fletcher hybrid? You'd get Bang!, that's what. Throw in an evil organization, Goldmaze, out to destroy the world for reasons that are not clear, and you've got yourself an "I know some kids, got a barn, let's put on a show!" happening. I'm not going to describe the plot, that'll just spoil things, I'll leave it at this was an action-adventure-y good time!