Graphic Novel Review: Tyler Cross: Angola

Posted on August 1, 2019 at 10:21 am by Gene Ambaum

Tyler Cross: Angola by Fabien Nury, art by Brüno. Translated by Tom Imber. Titan Comics / Hard Case Crime, 2019. 9781785867316. 104pp. Publisher’s Rating: Suggested for Mature Readers.
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Tyler Cross left his beach house and his chica to help with an insurance scam, and he ended up in Angola. The prison is unforgiving — he has to do hard labor as part of a chain gang, and the Sicilian gang inside puts out a contract on him. After a cop tries to kill him, he needs to form an escape plan. Step 1: Befriend the man who is spending time with the prison Captain’s wife. Step 2: Scoop out someone’s eyes. (It’s not the most straightforward of plans.)
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I’ve enjoyed Brüno’s art in two graphic novels, Nemo (a beautiful adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and a western titled Junk (still only available in French, I think). His drawings always look a bit more cartoony than gritty, but it’s amazing to see the way he makes it work in this noir crime story. His style reminded me of when Darwyn Cooke’s adaptations of Richard Stark’s Parker books, plus Tyler Cross is the same kind of lives-by-a-code bad guy as Parker.