Thief of Thieves is a new property for Image Comics from the minds of Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and Nick Spencer (Morning Glories). The same power story weaving that both writers are known for comes in loud and clear in this new outing.
Thief of Thieves centers around Conrad Paulson, a master thief who goes by Redmond. According to Paulson, every great thief needs to be a brand not just a name. When we first meet up with Redmond he is performing his latest job and it has a very Ocean’s 11 feel to it. To be honest, most of the comic does (only issues 1 and 2 are currently available). The slick dialogue and well dressed thieves gives you the feeling of a Steven Soderbergh flick. The general story seems very common; we have seen this story before. However, the way its executed you still want to find out how they get to the next step. The end of the first issue leaves us with a new revelation from Redmond about his future plans. When the last page is revealed I immediately wanted the next issue. This is the sign of a good book and Thief of Thieves #1 delivered as expected.
The second issue of Thief of Thieves gives us more of a look at who Redmond was and his relationship with his ex-wife. She plays a seemingly large role in who he is trying to become, however, its very apparent she had little to do with who he was. Redmond’s interaction with his partner-in-crime and the intersecting lines between friends/fellow thieves and family is gearing up for some excellent conflict in future issues.
Overall, the series is only in its second book so its too early to tell if we have another Walking Dead or Invincible on our hands. However, so far the series has been enjoyable and well written. I am certainly enjoying Shawn Martinbrough illustrations. He plays heavily with shadows to make our not yet fully revealed characters more mysterious. I highly doubt this is by accident. So at this point I would suggest picking up Thief of Thieves and giving it a solid chance. This could be the next great crime series, and with Kirkman and Spencer at the helm we should expect nothing less.