Want to be a successful criminal in America today? Be a cop! The public think you’re a hero, you have access to contraband and all sorts of equipment, contacts and info, and hell, these days you can even kill a black man over nothing ON CAMERA and you’ll get a paid vacation and be back on the streets in no time with zero repercussions!
In The Fix, Roy and Mac are two crooked LA cops who’re in deep with a local mob boss and need to get something through LAX for him. The only thing standing in their way? A sniffer dog called Pretzels.
Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber, the creative team behind the Marvel sleeper hit Superior Foes of Spider-Man, reunite for a new Image series, The Fix – and it’s damn good! Kudos to the guys for the concept behind the series, reframing cops as among the most successful criminals in America, because I’d never thought of them as that before but they’re so right! Bent cops, bankers, and politicians – hang them all!
The Fix really does read like the next unwritten Superior Foes book, minus the Marvel characters obviously. The light humorous tone and style is exactly the same as is the crime caper subject matter. Now that they’re at Image though Spencer and Lieber can do adult material, which they take full advantage of!
The perverted movie producer who wants to make a movie on Roy and Mac was hilarious and crazy, as was Josh the mob boss who’s driving everything in the book. He’s an ordinary-looking dude, a doting new father, a loving husband, socially-conscious and progressive who adopts stray dogs – and a complete psychopath! I loved how Lieber switched the perspectives on him, showing him doing something nice in one panel and then torturing someone in the next, etc. – all while smiling! So funny.
While Mac’s off trying to become Pretzels’ new partner (who’s an adorable-looking beagle), Roy’s trying to get a sweet gig guarding a hot movie actress. Spencer cheerfully mocks the fucked up Disney Channel kids who go off the rails once they turn 18 which gets really dark, turning into an interesting storyline of its own.
The first couple issues are a bit slow-going as Spencer – whose comics are always word-heavy – sets up the characters, their world, and the plot, but once it gets going, it REALLY gets going! Which is a shame too because just when you don’t want the book to end, it ends! Hurry up with the second book, guys!
If you liked Superior Foes and want more, or just want to read a quality crime comic with lots of adult humour, get your Fix here!
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