Royals #3 // Review
Paul and Castor are waking-up in a hotel room that’s been paid for. It’s not a very pleasant situation, though. The room has been paid for by Daeshim of the Bloody Cocks: Seoul’s most feared criminal organization. So Castor is ordering room service. Paul’s a bit concerned about Castor’s lack of concern. They only have less than 24 hours (22 hours, in fact) to save the life of a girl. They’re being asked to steal something from a church to save her life in Royals #3. Writer Derek Kirk Kim continues a crime action serial with artist Jacob Perez.
Castor only wants Paul to relax. They’re not going to burglarize a church in broad daylight anyway. They need to lay low before they do that job that they’re being coerced into doing. So naturally it’s a bit upsetting to find out that the church in question has bingo on the evening in question. The place is packed. So it’s going to be tricky sneaking around and getting the priest to give them the combination to the safe in order to get the artifact that will allow them to save the life of the girl. Of course...even THAT is going to be difficult once things start to go sideways...
Kim how's things structured in a way that move along the plot in a way that adds interesting additional elements with each scene. The stress increases. The mystery deepens. And things get more and more complicated. Through it all of the relationship between the two brothers seems to be developing under pressure. The challenge in a situation like this lies in keeping the dynamic between is two characters moving without betraying the fact that their two guys have known each other their whole lives. Oh thanks to Kim's scripting Castor and Paul seem genuinely quite familiar with each other while also managing to surprise each other in unbelievable ways throughout the issue.
So much of being a successful artist in this sort of a circumstance is dependent on delivering the right amount of detail to the page. Perez’s line work, cleverly establishes mood and tone with just enough detail to deliver the basic elements of the story without overpowering the action and the drama that need to inhabit the page. It's a sharp stuff that continues to feel fresh and dynamic throughout the entire run of the third issue of the series.
It's quite a pair of interesting developments that hit the page at the end of the issue. And then there's that cliffhanger ending. Kim and Perez take Paul and Castor through quite a journey. This is particularly impressive as it is the case that the entire issue takes place in only a few different locations on the same city block. Kim's ability to make a story feel white and expensive while working on a tiny conceptual canvas could prove to be a huge asset to Paul and Castor...particularly if they’re fortunate enough to have a long life on the comics rack. Judging from the first three issues of the series, it would be a long life that would be well deserved.
