Comics Review: “Renato Jones: The One %” #1

- by Ninja Ross, 5 May 2016

Everyone loves a good murder mystery story, especially when it's set in a small town. And a murder mystery written by Grant Morrison is always going to be a little bit more interesting than your average "Columbo" episode.

Renato Jones: The One Percent, is written, drawn and coloured by Kaare Andrews, so we know he's the only one to blame for the title. But this is also his first creator owned book. For someone with such a unique style, it seems impossible that only now in his career is he releasing something like this.
 
With such a varied, impressive career, there's a lot of high expectations here. Andrews is a well-known, highly regarded artist so you'd expect his very first book at Image to be something real special.
 
Renato Jones: The 1% follows the titular character as he lives the high life, with plenty of cash and nights out on big boats. He seems the typical rich business man, looking to make himself richer. But as the issue progresses, we learn more about Jones' history and how he came to have so much money.

But, more importantly than an interesting tragic back story, Jones is also a masked vigilante by the name of The Freelancer.
 
Jones has a very specific target audience in mind, though: The 1%. The super rich! Evil money hungry fat cats! A justifiable target, especially considering the rape and murder going on at these fancy boat meetings.​

Probably the most respect anybody's ever given to a freelancer.

Andrews is clearly very upset with the 1% and it really shows here. But this book isn't bogged down by speeches or lengthy scenes recapping recessions and poverty. The dialogue is natural and always relevant to the situation, helping things to flow evenly.
 
There's more to it than that, he's not just shooting guys in suits. There's plenty of over the top action in the book, with the bad guys being harder targets than you'd expect.

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Drama.

While the story and dialogue are very cool, it's his art that is the book's best feature. It's a simplistic, cartoon style that sets the tone for the book. It's stylish and colourful, occasionally shifting to a lot of black and white for the more dramatic scenes. Andrews has clearly put a lot of effort into this book and that really shows.
 
Despite it's stupid, ridiculous title, Renato Jones: The 1percent is an incredibly stylish book. It has an action movie feel, with a nice noir vibe to it. It's well worth checking out.



So, other than the stupid name, how did YOU like this comic? Let us know below!

Tagged: comics, Reviews.

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