Thief of Thieves #2 Review

Conrad Paulson has given up his life of crime in hopes to recapture what is truly important, but will he learn it’s too late? It’s time to review Robert Kirkman and Nick Spencer’s Thief of Thieves #2.

Thief of Thieves #2

Celia begs “Redmond” to not give up his current life. In more than one way, she’s throwing herself at the man she not-so-secretly loves, and most definitely expresses her disappointment that he’s giving this up for his ex-wife Audrey. We flash back to a jewel heist that Conrad and Audrey’s brother James pulls. It was the night James discovered that Audrey is pregnant with Conrad’s son, and the same night Conrad proposes to Audrey. In the present, Conrad has come to tell her that he’s finally leaving the thieving game. However, after years of pleading with him to leave the life, Audrey has moved on telling him that he should explain all this to his son. Later, Conrad goes to a storage facility and unwraps a picture of that son from happier times. A time he will not ever recapture.

One of the things I like about this particular issue a little more than the first issue is the time shifts from present to past and back. You learn more about the man Conrad was. You can see how he went from an almost happy-go-lucky con to an aged and almost sad casualty of that life he was so attracted to. Perhaps Conrad’s biggest crime early in his career led to his proposal to Audrey and what appeared to be happy times ahead. Through the flashbacks you can really get a feel for how he was and all he had going for him. In the present, you get the idea that he buried his grief over the failure of his marriage and the implied death of his son by refusing to leave “the life”. As whip-smart as issue #1 was with its dialog and pacing, this issue not only delves deeper into the star of this series, but also cranks up an emotional element that gives this issue a ton of heart. You’re left not just feeling sorry for Conrad, but for all the characters involved. That is definitely something Spencer excels at and why I really do enjoy reading his books.

I really love how Shawn Martinbrough draws these characters. It is almost textbook in how he ages his characters. Celia and Audrey are smooth faced, youthful, and gorgeous as much as they are complete opposites. Celia’s dark and tough while Audrey is blonde and elegantly soft. On the other side, Conrad is drawn with nicks and scars of a hard life. We see him in those early days with the same smooth texture on his face (obviously depicting him as younger), but in the present, there is only one shot of when we don’t see a shadow over his face – the very last page. The entire book shows half of his face or more in the shadow. It makes him mysterious, but also plays to the whole emotion of the issue. He’s half the master thief he became over the years and half a man trying to leave that life and recapture the good times with his ex-wife. With the book visually emotional, it definitely helps drive the point home of Kirkman and Spencer’s story.

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Tags: Image Comics Nick Spencer Robert Kirkman Thief of Thieves