A gritty, sleazy offering from Dark Horse as writer Chip Mosher’s anti-hero washed-up ex-cop – Conrad is hell bent on revenge and solving a cold case, all while battling his own demons. Set against the backdrop of California’s notorious fire season, ‘Blacking Out’ oozes style, like a Tarantino movie put to paper. As the mustachioed Conrad, drinks and fights his way to the truth, you find yourself wondering if he’s actually going to make it to the end of his book as his addictions take a grip on him. But his old cop instincts haven’t quite left him yet and he’ll have to battle his ex-colleagues, and the victim’s family all whilst applying the most dubious of methods to get answers.

Peter Krause’s vivid artwork really gives this hellish noir road trip life, so much so, you’d swear you can smell the whiskey and despair in the pages, not to mention the smoky blaze, which by the way, provides the perfect backdrop to events. There’s a multitude of elements that give this book its grit. There’s the beautiful girl who’s fate could go any number of ways and of course, there’s the 67 Chevy which Conrad tears across S0-Cal in, instantly giving the book more sex appeal.

Bad guys, blazes, girls, guns, fast cars, fights. A faster, more hell-bent ode to 70’s neo-noir thrillers you could not wish for, ‘Blacking Out’ is one hell of a ride….Chris Andrews