Out now from Europe Comics, an interesting crime caper with Mafia, Russians, Royalty and more in D.O.W.: the Wings Of The Wolf.
The south of France: playground of the rich, and a paradise for artists. But where there is money, there is also crime. Alexandre Marni, aka Aliocha, is in the midst of it all as a tattoo artist for VIPs and leaders of the Russian mafia. And he has his own claim to high society: the descendant of a Russian royal family that sought refuge in the Riviera during the revolution of 1917, he wants to take back what was stolen from them. To this end, he will don a new identity to infiltrate the world of organized crime and set things right, whatever the cost.
Script by Thilde Barboni – Art by Gabor
On the face of it, this seems to be a simple art/vigilante story. A tattoo artist by day, spends his nights pointing the police to criminals and crime scenes.
But as you dig deeper there is something more.
Set in the South of France, where there is organised crime bosses on yachts and in villas, this is a well planned out book.
There is the chance meeting with a doctor which puts us on the road to this story. Crime bosses and history is the order of the day here. There are some excellent links to the second world war, and to the Russian purges. As we move on there is a lot more to discover.
This story has some amazing set pieces. To simple dialogue pieces to the action of gun battles, explosions and to the graffiti around town. The scenes where we get to look over Nice, bathed in light are excellent. There is a lot of figuring out to do as well. There are battles, and tight situations, with betrayals and secrets. Some of these are yet to be discovered, or confirmed – and I hope to see those in later issues.
Nevertheless, there is enough in this issue to keep you guessing and entertained.
As I mentioned above, I enjoyed the art work – the use of the yellow night in the day time was well done, with the night scenes being suitably shadowy.
