The Darkest King No. 4 Tony Scott Astley (Writer), Paul Anderson (Art) WP Comics (July 2017)

The very entertaining and engaging noir crime story continues to unfold in unexpected ways. Kurt King has just found out that the crime lord he was trying to find is his brother Victor who is running for mayor of Coldwood.A severely complicated personal history is given a sharp twist by the revelation. A flashback reveals the devil's bargain that Kurt made to get out of prison, and leads him to realize just how difficult his current position is. Victor also finds his freedom of action constrained by events, until the brothers meet again at a the worst possible moment.
Tony Scott Astley continues to twist the story very nicely, Kurt how finds that he has to take savage action to survive and finds that the unintended consequences are even more savage. Trying to balance what he has done is leading him down a dark spiral to more trouble. Victor, the successful businessman and possible mayor who sees only the results and not the causes of Kurt's actions has reached a final decision. No one is quite whom they seem and the brutal reality that surrounds them lets no one escape.
Paul Anderson's vivid and expressive art captures and expresses all the nuances of the story. The cast are vital and physically solid, they move through their context with power and determination. Moving form a brutal conversation in a prison to a deathbed each scene is captured with tension and barely contained emotion. The forces that are battering away at Kurt, Victor and the supporting cast are revealed in their attitudes and features as much as their words.
The layers of the story are beginning to wrap tightly around each other as the context deepens and widens, the brother's conflict is deeply personal and also has significant consequence beyond themselves. Kurt is emerging as a great noir hero, a wounded romantic who finds his choices vary between hard and harder, opposed by a villain to whom he is bound to in intractable ways. Great crime comics.
Chief Wizard Note: This is a review copy very kindly sent by Tony Scott Astley, to give yourself the deep double pleasure of excellent crime fiction and excellent comics, The Darkest King 4 can be purchased from http://www.wpcomicsltd.com