Review: Whisper #1

Whisper #1
Written by Steven Grant
Art by Jean Dzialowski
Published by Boom! Studios. $3.99 USD

This first issue reintroducers readers to the world, if not exactly the character, of Whisper, Steven Grant's '80s series about a female assassin back before there were a ton of them. This time it's not the same woman, but that's okay. It's been a long time and people have moved on. And while that hasn't done Grant's wallet any favors, it does allow him the freedom to tell the kind of story he wants rather than the kind of story he would be expected to do if Whisper had been a bigger hit. Let's face it: Frank Miller could come right out and say he has absolutely nothing left to say about Daredevil, Elektra, or Batman anymore, and the publishers of those characters would still happily pay him buckets of cash to prove it. But Grant can tell the kind of story he wants. I'm not used to his stories being so indirect and deliberate, but not to worry. It's hard to imagine that after all this time he hasn't figured out exactly what he wants to do and how to get there. He does pack a lot of story in here, with plenty of shadowy forces lining up against our internally lost lead female. Dzialowski's art is a pretty good match, though not quite strong enough to pull off the lack of inking, especially in the sections with a preponderance of dull earth tones. This may be the kind of series, like a Queen and Country, where it's wise to switch artists after every story arc to keep it fresh.