Review by John DeNardo

In Hotwire: Deep Cut #1, tough detective exorcist Alice Hotwire is recalled to duty after a 6-month self-imposed exile that followed a traumatic run-in with the Blues. The Blues are the ghost-like dead that roam the Earth feeding off electromagnetic waste and wreaking havoc amongst the living. Writer Steven Pugh takes this premise he and Warren Ellis created and populates it with interesting characters, particularly Alice, herself a misfit but a super-intelligent girl who sometimes takes intelligence dampeners to either fit in or escape altogether. Although Alice has firsthand experience with the Blues, she questions their true nature claiming that science does not accept the presence of ghosts. The prevailing impression is that Alice is more of a Scully than a Mulder and hopefully future issues will bear this out. For now, it's enough to revel in Pugh's quick-moving story and wonderfully garish illustrations. My Rating:  

Driver for the Dead is a kick-ass Southern fried tale of the undead and the man who hunts them down. That man is Alabaster Graves whose job as a hearse driver takes him to all the right (or wrong) places. Graves fights the undead in various forms, including vampires, witches (are they supposed to undead?) and zombies. The setup for the series (written and created by John Heffernan) is perfect: atmospheric, likable characters, the right amount of world building, and just enough undead-fighting to make you want more. Issue #1 sets the stage for the battle between Graves and Fallow, a zombie straight out of something Joe R. Lansdale might have written. Good stuff all around made even better by Leonardo Manco's spectacular artwork and wonderful coloring by Kinsun Loh and Jerry Choo. The only negative thing I can say is that this series is apparently only slated for a 3-issue run. I already know I'll want more. My Rating:  

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Review by Bone Digger
 

Looks like Alice Hotwire is back!  After living a recluse for 6 months and recovering from her spout with the “blues”, she is needed back on the force to deal with these ramped ghosts and specters. It also seems she has been keeping company with an old boyfriend  “blue” who really is against all she stands for.

Being super smart has been somewhat of a curse for Alice who takes meds to dumb herself down and live a more tranquil and less feisty lifestyle. It’s her duty as Exorcist detective that requires the full version in tact but also releases a darker agitated side to her. With suppressor towers all around, the major work of keeping these blue ghost things at bay is pretty stable, though the Force still has to deal with stronger rougue spirits who are intent on causing trouble and making a mess of things. A new one has shown up that calls Alice back out of hiding to do what she does best. But the force is as uneducated as they are ignorant and seem to cause more harm than good. Alice is arrested for working under the influence and the issues at hand seem to be only beginning.

This issue is one of 3 titled “Hotwire: Deep cut”. Another 3 partner exploring the parallel world of Alice Hotwire and her battles against ghosts and demons. Warren Ellis and Steve Pugh are on hand to bring you this ultra scif fi tale that seems to get better as it progresses. The artwork is slick, detailed and very blue which at times seems to glow off the pages. It’s no surprise as these spirits also seem to carry alot of blue glow to them making it a perfect marriage of style. Alice in some ways mirrors a sci-fi version of the Resident Evil Alice played by Milla Jovovich. It would be great to see them team up on screen. 1 down and 2 more to go, looking forward to the series.

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Check out this video from Elliott Serrano and Jose Melendez where they review Hotwire: Deep Cut #1

You can also comment on their review on their website here.

Review by Bill Janzen

For those of you unfamiliar with Radical Comics it's the relatively new and small publishing house that's making Marvel and DC pale in comparison visually by showing exactly what high quality art should look like on every single title. Just looking through one issue of Hotwire proves that.

For those of you unfamiliar with Hotwire just one look through this issue and that should give you more more than enough reason to pick it up. But Hotwire isn't just pretty pictures. In this age of comic book movies it's truly amazing that this title hasn't been picked up by one of the major studios. With a sci-fi yet grim feel, a grabbing main character, and a story that's like nothing else out there, Hotwire is begging for the big-budget movie treatment.

Hotwire is the story of "Detective Exorcist" Alice Hotwire. In a future where all of the technology and energy fields seem to have made ghosts visible, being called "Blue Lights,” Hotwire is the police expert on them and isn't afraid to let the other officers on the force know it.

Hotwire: Deep Cut #1 is the first issue of this second Hotwire mini-series and focuses on Alice Hotwire's recovery from the traumatic events that concluded the first arc. Although this is a second mini series and story arc, Pugh crafts it in such a way that a new reader can jump right in.

Perhaps that is what is most impressive, that an artist as talented as Steve Pugh could also be so skilled at writing. Pugh's Alice Hotwire is a gripping character whose genius combined with her cutting attitude make her guilty pleasure to read. The character herself was already interesting in the last volume, while already in this first issue Pugh gives more back story which gives us a fuller understanding of Hotwire while staying just as compelling.

The first story arc of Hotwire was phenomenal in itself. The only part of it that seemed less than fantastic to me was the arc's ending, which wasn't bad, but was simply okay. This arc has started out, if possible, even better than the last one, and as long as they can pull off an equally great ending, Hotwire will be a comic I'll be recommending to people for a long long time.

To read the full Comics Bulletin article, click on the image below.

Review by Bill Janzen

For those of you unfamiliar with Radical Comics it's the relatively new and small publishing house that's making Marvel and DC pale in comparison visually by showing exactly what high quality art should look like on every single title. Just looking through one issue of Hotwire proves that.

For those of you unfamiliar with Hotwire just one look through this issue and that should give you more more than enough reason to pick it up. But Hotwire isn't just pretty pictures. In this age of comic book movies it's truly amazing that this title hasn't been picked up by one of the major studios. With a sci-fi yet grim feel, a grabbing main character, and a story that's like nothing else out there, Hotwire is begging for the big-budget movie treatment.

Hotwire is the story of "Detective Exorcist" Alice Hotwire. In a future where all of the technology and energy fields seem to have made ghosts visible, being called "Blue Lights,” Hotwire is the police expert on them and isn't afraid to let the other officers on the force know it.

Hotwire: Deep Cut #1 is the first issue of this second Hotwire mini-series and focuses on Alice Hotwire's recovery from the traumatic events that concluded the first arc. Although this is a second mini series and story arc, Pugh crafts it in such a way that a new reader can jump right in.

Perhaps that is what is most impressive, that an artist as talented as Steve Pugh could also be so skilled at writing. Pugh's Alice Hotwire is a gripping character whose genius combined with her cutting attitude make her guilty pleasure to read. The character herself was already interesting in the last volume, while already in this first issue Pugh gives more back story which gives us a fuller understanding of Hotwire while staying just as compelling.

The first story arc of Hotwire was phenomenal in itself. The only part of it that seemed less than fantastic to me was the arc's ending, which wasn't bad, but was simply okay. This arc has started out, if possible, even better than the last one, and as long as they can pull off an equally great ending, Hotwire will be a comic I'll be recommending to people for a long long time.

To read the full Comics Bulletin article, click on the image below.

By Greg Burgas

Hotwire: Deep Cut #1

Pugh picks up the story six months after the first story ended, with Alice Hotwire, everyone's favorite detective exorcist, still on leave because she's a bit traumatized by the events of the mini-series. In her absence, a doofus named Rantz has been handling the ghosts (okay, blue-lights) his own excessive way - by shooting them with guns that disrupt electrical signals. Unfortunately, his goons use it on a freeway, which disrupts all the remote-controlled cars, causing a big pile-up. Alice decides it's time to come back.

She's been dealing with bad things on her end, though. At the end of the last series, Pugh implied that her dead mother would be haunting her, but he changes it up and haunts her with someone else. We get a flashback to her pre-police, post-adolescent days, when she doped herself to lower her IQ, and we see an incident that probably won't lead to anything good. And Rantz figures out that she's been drinking, so he arrests her. Man, it's a bad day for Alice, ain't it?

Pugh's art remains as stunning as ever. Like most of the Radical comics, he's painting this, but unlike many of them, he uses bright colors to highlight the weirdness of the world he's created and, of course, he's really good, so his painting is a step up from most. His people look like people, and the painting allows his mechanical constructs to look like actual metal, while his ghosts are a creepy mix of skeletons and electrical energy. These comics look great, and they really help immerse in this strange place (I mean, it's London, but it's still strange) where Alice lives.

Time Bomb #1

I've been kind of looking forward to this since Palmiotti told me about it a year ago, and I'm glad it's out, because it's a neat, weird story (involving time travel, which means it should hurt my head, and maybe it still will, but we've just started the time travel in this issue, so it's fine for now!). In 2012, a Berlin construction team finds an underground Nazi citadel, and when the gub'mint sends a group in there to find out what's what, they accidentally shoot off a missile loaded with a super-virus that, when it explodes, instantly starts killing everyone. There's no cure!!!!!! So the "New World Order" (which is an actual group in this book and not a Republicans' worst nightmare ... well, worst nightmare except for those sex dreams about Barbra Streisand - she's so liberal but so hawt!) assembles a team of four (including a man and a woman whose divorce has just been finalized) to ... go back in time! Yes, they've managed to create a time machine that can send the group back a few days, when they can stop the people from going into the Nazi citadel and firing off the missile. Easy-peasy! Except ... the group gets sent back to World War II. Um, yeah, that can't be good. And they're right near a concentration camp. And they decide to start shooting the joint up. Haven't they read Ray Bradbury, damn it?!?!?!?

As this issue is a good chunk of the story, features art you can see and that is actually drawn, and has a good hook, it's the second Radical book I'd look for if you've already picked up Hotwire. Palmiotti and Gray are pretty good at doing the genre thing, and who doesn't love killing Nazis? Other Nazis, that's who! (And they probably secretly enjoy it.)

Click the image below to read the full review

By Greg Burgas

Hotwire: Deep Cut #1

Pugh picks up the story six months after the first story ended, with Alice Hotwire, everyone's favorite detective exorcist, still on leave because she's a bit traumatized by the events of the mini-series. In her absence, a doofus named Rantz has been handling the ghosts (okay, blue-lights) his own excessive way - by shooting them with guns that disrupt electrical signals. Unfortunately, his goons use it on a freeway, which disrupts all the remote-controlled cars, causing a big pile-up. Alice decides it's time to come back.

She's been dealing with bad things on her end, though. At the end of the last series, Pugh implied that her dead mother would be haunting her, but he changes it up and haunts her with someone else. We get a flashback to her pre-police, post-adolescent days, when she doped herself to lower her IQ, and we see an incident that probably won't lead to anything good. And Rantz figures out that she's been drinking, so he arrests her. Man, it's a bad day for Alice, ain't it?

Pugh's art remains as stunning as ever. Like most of the Radical comics, he's painting this, but unlike many of them, he uses bright colors to highlight the weirdness of the world he's created and, of course, he's really good, so his painting is a step up from most. His people look like people, and the painting allows his mechanical constructs to look like actual metal, while his ghosts are a creepy mix of skeletons and electrical energy. These comics look great, and they really help immerse in this strange place (I mean, it's London, but it's still strange) where Alice lives.

Time Bomb #1

I've been kind of looking forward to this since Palmiotti told me about it a year ago, and I'm glad it's out, because it's a neat, weird story (involving time travel, which means it should hurt my head, and maybe it still will, but we've just started the time travel in this issue, so it's fine for now!). In 2012, a Berlin construction team finds an underground Nazi citadel, and when the gub'mint sends a group in there to find out what's what, they accidentally shoot off a missile loaded with a super-virus that, when it explodes, instantly starts killing everyone. There's no cure!!!!!! So the "New World Order" (which is an actual group in this book and not a Republicans' worst nightmare ... well, worst nightmare except for those sex dreams about Barbra Streisand - she's so liberal but so hawt!) assembles a team of four (including a man and a woman whose divorce has just been finalized) to ... go back in time! Yes, they've managed to create a time machine that can send the group back a few days, when they can stop the people from going into the Nazi citadel and firing off the missile. Easy-peasy! Except ... the group gets sent back to World War II. Um, yeah, that can't be good. And they're right near a concentration camp. And they decide to start shooting the joint up. Haven't they read Ray Bradbury, damn it?!?!?!?

As this issue is a good chunk of the story, features art you can see and that is actually drawn, and has a good hook, it's the second Radical book I'd look for if you've already picked up Hotwire. Palmiotti and Gray are pretty good at doing the genre thing, and who doesn't love killing Nazis? Other Nazis, that's who! (And they probably secretly enjoy it.)

Click the image below to read the full review

Review by Kate Sherrod

Review by Kate Sherrod

Review by The Dweller

Continuing the character and story he co-created with Warren Ellis in Requiem for the Dead, Pugh brings us the continuing adventures of Alice Hotwire a police exorcist in a future where ghosts are a powerful and dangerous electromagnetic phenomenon requiring high technology to fight.

The art is beautiful and the story retains the inventiveness of Ellis with perhaps a little less of the horrible cynical bastard pose that is his trademark.

Still enough of a futuristic Ghostbusters with a hungover bad attitude to make a very entertaining read.

To read the full review, click on the image below.

Review by The Dweller

Continuing the character and story he co-created with Warren Ellis in Requiem for the Dead, Pugh brings us the continuing adventures of Alice Hotwire a police exorcist in a future where ghosts are a powerful and dangerous electromagnetic phenomenon requiring high technology to fight.

The art is beautiful and the story retains the inventiveness of Ellis with perhaps a little less of the horrible cynical bastard pose that is his trademark.

Still enough of a futuristic Ghostbusters with a hungover bad attitude to make a very entertaining read.

To read the full review, click on the image below.

Review by Gilbert Short

She’s back! Alice Hotwire, everyone’s favorite police officer/exorcist has returned to active duty to placate the dead, reducing the threat they pose to the people around the city. Published by Radical Publishing, a company that specializes in unique titles such as this one, the book promises to be a worthy follow up to the first series. Was it? Check it out!

This is clearly Steve Pugh’s baby. It was conceived by himself and Multiversity favorite Warren Ellis, but this is all Pugh. He wrote the script, he drew the panels, he did the cover, and he even lettered it. It’s truly a work of his own, and I don’t think anyone can dispute that.

Truth be told, I like this book, and the main character. She’s deeply flawed, and far from perfect, but she’s quite likable and to a certain extent one of the more relatable female leads in the indie market. Her supporting cast is one of the more interesting and fleshed out casts in comics, with a new addition that’s as creepy as he is see-through. The relationship they had before his death was especially tragic, from the details of their destructive relationship to the circumstances surrounding his demise. It gives a clear motivation to her character to do exactly what she does.

The story itself is a lot of set up. We see what happened to her after the previous series; including her recovery and just how she has a brand spanking new arm instead of just a stump. From there we jump right on in to another adventure, and one that was ill-conceived (on her part, not Pugh’s). She races to take care of some new Blues (slang term for ghosts) who have popped up following a grisly car wreck on the high way. But she’s not back on the force for 5 minutes before getting into a lot of trouble once again (Once and anti-hero, always an anti-hero). It’s a wonderful set up that doesn’t drag in the slightest. As a matter of fact, this book moves at breakneck speed, making you feel like you’ve got whiplash by issue’s end. And I couldn’t be happier. The book seems to benefit from shortening the series by one issue, from four issues to three. My only real complaints from the previous issue was the pacing which could drag a bit; and the length of time it took for issue four to come out, so maybe without that issue to worry about, Hotwire: Deep Cut will finish promptly without any lengthy wait.

Pugh’s art was also quite fantastic. Everyone has a distinct look to them, and you can tell Steve is English because everyone LOOKS English. Alice could have been a generic white girl, but his renderings give her a distinct look and personality; one that’s unmistakably British. I’m totally not being racist either. This actually makes it surprisingly easy for a future casting post, one that will be coming up in the near future, you can be sure of that.

One of my favorite things about the series, however, was the lettering. Lettering is something I genuinely don’t notice unless it’s spectacularly bad (see David’s Twilight review). But in this case, it’s very noticeable, and even furthers cements the personalities of each character. It’s a brilliant move.

The questions you should be asking are: do you like unique characters and plots? Do you like brilliant and engaging art that is unlike anything else out there? If you do, then you should check out this book. You won’t be sorry.

Final Verdict: 8.0 - Buy

To read the full review, click on the image below.

Review by Gilbert Short

She’s back! Alice Hotwire, everyone’s favorite police officer/exorcist has returned to active duty to placate the dead, reducing the threat they pose to the people around the city. Published by Radical Publishing, a company that specializes in unique titles such as this one, the book promises to be a worthy follow up to the first series. Was it? Check it out!

This is clearly Steve Pugh’s baby. It was conceived by himself and Multiversity favorite Warren Ellis, but this is all Pugh. He wrote the script, he drew the panels, he did the cover, and he even lettered it. It’s truly a work of his own, and I don’t think anyone can dispute that.

Truth be told, I like this book, and the main character. She’s deeply flawed, and far from perfect, but she’s quite likable and to a certain extent one of the more relatable female leads in the indie market. Her supporting cast is one of the more interesting and fleshed out casts in comics, with a new addition that’s as creepy as he is see-through. The relationship they had before his death was especially tragic, from the details of their destructive relationship to the circumstances surrounding his demise. It gives a clear motivation to her character to do exactly what she does.

The story itself is a lot of set up. We see what happened to her after the previous series; including her recovery and just how she has a brand spanking new arm instead of just a stump. From there we jump right on in to another adventure, and one that was ill-conceived (on her part, not Pugh’s). She races to take care of some new Blues (slang term for ghosts) who have popped up following a grisly car wreck on the high way. But she’s not back on the force for 5 minutes before getting into a lot of trouble once again (Once and anti-hero, always an anti-hero). It’s a wonderful set up that doesn’t drag in the slightest. As a matter of fact, this book moves at breakneck speed, making you feel like you’ve got whiplash by issue’s end. And I couldn’t be happier. The book seems to benefit from shortening the series by one issue, from four issues to three. My only real complaints from the previous issue was the pacing which could drag a bit; and the length of time it took for issue four to come out, so maybe without that issue to worry about, Hotwire: Deep Cut will finish promptly without any lengthy wait.

Pugh’s art was also quite fantastic. Everyone has a distinct look to them, and you can tell Steve is English because everyone LOOKS English. Alice could have been a generic white girl, but his renderings give her a distinct look and personality; one that’s unmistakably British. I’m totally not being racist either. This actually makes it surprisingly easy for a future casting post, one that will be coming up in the near future, you can be sure of that.

One of my favorite things about the series, however, was the lettering. Lettering is something I genuinely don’t notice unless it’s spectacularly bad (see David’s Twilight review). But in this case, it’s very noticeable, and even furthers cements the personalities of each character. It’s a brilliant move.

The questions you should be asking are: do you like unique characters and plots? Do you like brilliant and engaging art that is unlike anything else out there? If you do, then you should check out this book. You won’t be sorry.

Final Verdict: 8.0 - Buy

To read the full review, click on the image below.

Hotwire: Deep Cut is the sequel to the Steve Pugh and Warren Ellis created Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead. Deep Cut, also written and illustrated by Pugh, features Alice Hotwire, a Metro Police Detective Exorcist. Even if you did not read Requiem, Deep Cut #1 capably stands alone due to its heroine. Alice Hotwire is as infectiously engrossing a character as any we have witnessed in recent years. The brilliant, young, but incredibly damaged Hotwire is charged with keeping the peace between the living and the “blue-lights.” In the world created by Pugh and Ellis, the dead are no longer peacefully departing. Instead, the dead are taking up permanent residence in the world by feeding off of the electromagnetic residue from human technology. New technology was created to keep these ghosts separated from humans, but occasionally the ghosts are sufficiently powerful enough to disrupt the peace in society.

Deep Cut follows Hotwire six months after Requiem, as she has recovered from the injuries sustained in that story. Here we learn more about how Hotwire came to be an MPD Exorcist. After losing her mother as a teenager, Hotwire turns to drugs that numb her intellect and allow her to uninhibitedly mingle with “bad dogs.” As the title of issue #1 suggests, “Bad dogs get the wrench,” a deadly encounter with a blue-light ends this chapter in her life and she quickly rises through the ranks of MPD to Exorcist. Now, we realize that perhaps Hotwire has not outgrown her past indiscretions, and may be having trouble reconciling all the terrible things she has gone through in her young life. Pugh’s Hotwire is highly entertaining and complex-enough not to fall into a stereotyped brash, anti-authoritarian brat. Rather, Pugh skillfully injecting elements of melancholy and pain with conviction and self-confidence.

Hotwire’s narrative is entirely engrossing without the Deep Cut plot. However, this story is just as interesting in revealing evidence that blue-lights are evolving or interfacing with technology - granting them similar physical abilities to that of humans: kind of like ghost cyborgs. Moreover, Hotwire’s recent sabbatical has allowed ascension of a police faction that prefers more aggressive tactics against the blue-lights. Although publically reassuring, the “shoot-first” attitude is preventing scientists from examining blue-lighters, their evolution, and the potential future hazard to the living.

Hotwire: Deep Cut promises to be just as fun as its predecessor, Requiem. Alice Hotwire plays well to the Radical style of publishing miniseries. However, depending on your taste, you may find it difficult to sustain interest in this world after a few stories. Nevertheless, Hotwire: Deep Cut is hitting the ground running and appears to be a top-notch arsenal in Radical’s summer blitz.

To read the full review, click on the image below.

Hotwire: Deep Cut is the sequel to the Steve Pugh and Warren Ellis created Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead. Deep Cut, also written and illustrated by Pugh, features Alice Hotwire, a Metro Police Detective Exorcist. Even if you did not read Requiem, Deep Cut #1 capably stands alone due to its heroine. Alice Hotwire is as infectiously engrossing a character as any we have witnessed in recent years. The brilliant, young, but incredibly damaged Hotwire is charged with keeping the peace between the living and the “blue-lights.” In the world created by Pugh and Ellis, the dead are no longer peacefully departing. Instead, the dead are taking up permanent residence in the world by feeding off of the electromagnetic residue from human technology. New technology was created to keep these ghosts separated from humans, but occasionally the ghosts are sufficiently powerful enough to disrupt the peace in society.

Deep Cut follows Hotwire six months after Requiem, as she has recovered from the injuries sustained in that story. Here we learn more about how Hotwire came to be an MPD Exorcist. After losing her mother as a teenager, Hotwire turns to drugs that numb her intellect and allow her to uninhibitedly mingle with “bad dogs.” As the title of issue #1 suggests, “Bad dogs get the wrench,” a deadly encounter with a blue-light ends this chapter in her life and she quickly rises through the ranks of MPD to Exorcist. Now, we realize that perhaps Hotwire has not outgrown her past indiscretions, and may be having trouble reconciling all the terrible things she has gone through in her young life. Pugh’s Hotwire is highly entertaining and complex-enough not to fall into a stereotyped brash, anti-authoritarian brat. Rather, Pugh skillfully injecting elements of melancholy and pain with conviction and self-confidence.

Hotwire’s narrative is entirely engrossing without the Deep Cut plot. However, this story is just as interesting in revealing evidence that blue-lights are evolving or interfacing with technology - granting them similar physical abilities to that of humans: kind of like ghost cyborgs. Moreover, Hotwire’s recent sabbatical has allowed ascension of a police faction that prefers more aggressive tactics against the blue-lights. Although publically reassuring, the “shoot-first” attitude is preventing scientists from examining blue-lighters, their evolution, and the potential future hazard to the living.

Hotwire: Deep Cut promises to be just as fun as its predecessor, Requiem. Alice Hotwire plays well to the Radical style of publishing miniseries. However, depending on your taste, you may find it difficult to sustain interest in this world after a few stories. Nevertheless, Hotwire: Deep Cut is hitting the ground running and appears to be a top-notch arsenal in Radical’s summer blitz.

To read the full review, click on the image below.

by Jason Rosas

Hotwire: Deep Cut is the sequel to the Steve Pugh and Warren Ellis created Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead. Deep Cut, also written and illustrated by Pugh, features Alice Hotwire, a Metro Police Detective Exorcist. Even if you did not read Requiem, Deep Cut #1 capably stands alone due to its heroine. Alice Hotwire is as infectiously engrossing a character as any we have witnessed in recent years. The brilliant, young, but incredibly damaged Hotwire is charged with keeping the peace between the living and the “blue-lights.” In the world created by Pugh and Ellis, the dead are no longer peacefully departing. Instead, the dead are taking up permanent residence in the world by feeding off of the electromagnetic residue from human technology. New technology was created to keep these ghosts separated from humans, but occasionally the ghosts are sufficiently powerful enough to disrupt the peace in society.

Deep Cut follows Hotwire six months after Requiem, as she has recovered from the injuries sustained in that story. Here we learn more about how Hotwire came to be an MPD Exorcist. After losing her mother as a teenager, Hotwire turns to drugs that numb her intellect and allow her to uninhibitedly mingle with “bad dogs.” As the title of issue #1 suggests, “Bad dogs get the wrench,” a deadly encounter with a blue-light ends this chapter in her life and she quickly rises through the ranks of MPD to Exorcist. Now, we realize that perhaps Hotwire has not outgrown her past indiscretions, and may be having trouble reconciling all the terrible things she has gone through in her young life. Pugh’s Hotwire is highly entertaining and complex-enough not to fall into a stereotyped brash, anti-authoritarian brat. Rather, Pugh skillfully injecting elements of melancholy and pain with conviction and self-confidence.

Hotwire’s narrative is entirely engrossing without the Deep Cut plot. However, this story is just as interesting in revealing evidence that blue-lights are evolving or interfacing with technology - granting them similar physical abilities to that of humans: kind of like ghost cyborgs. Moreover, Hotwire’s recent sabbatical has allowed ascension of a police faction that prefers more aggressive tactics against the blue-lights. Although publically reassuring, the “shoot-first” attitude is preventing scientists from examining blue-lighters, their evolution, and the potential future hazard to the living.

Hotwire: Deep Cut promises to be just as fun as its predecessor, Requiem. Alice Hotwire plays well to the Radical style of publishing miniseries. However, depending on your taste, you may find it difficult to sustain interest in this world after a few stories. Nevertheless, Hotwire: Deep Cut is hitting the ground running and appears to be a top-notch arsenal in Radical’s summer blitz.

Check out the Buzz Focus review by clicking the image below

by Jason Rosas

Hotwire: Deep Cut is the sequel to the Steve Pugh and Warren Ellis created Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead. Deep Cut, also written and illustrated by Pugh, features Alice Hotwire, a Metro Police Detective Exorcist. Even if you did not read Requiem, Deep Cut #1 capably stands alone due to its heroine. Alice Hotwire is as infectiously engrossing a character as any we have witnessed in recent years. The brilliant, young, but incredibly damaged Hotwire is charged with keeping the peace between the living and the “blue-lights.” In the world created by Pugh and Ellis, the dead are no longer peacefully departing. Instead, the dead are taking up permanent residence in the world by feeding off of the electromagnetic residue from human technology. New technology was created to keep these ghosts separated from humans, but occasionally the ghosts are sufficiently powerful enough to disrupt the peace in society.

Deep Cut follows Hotwire six months after Requiem, as she has recovered from the injuries sustained in that story. Here we learn more about how Hotwire came to be an MPD Exorcist. After losing her mother as a teenager, Hotwire turns to drugs that numb her intellect and allow her to uninhibitedly mingle with “bad dogs.” As the title of issue #1 suggests, “Bad dogs get the wrench,” a deadly encounter with a blue-light ends this chapter in her life and she quickly rises through the ranks of MPD to Exorcist. Now, we realize that perhaps Hotwire has not outgrown her past indiscretions, and may be having trouble reconciling all the terrible things she has gone through in her young life. Pugh’s Hotwire is highly entertaining and complex-enough not to fall into a stereotyped brash, anti-authoritarian brat. Rather, Pugh skillfully injecting elements of melancholy and pain with conviction and self-confidence.

Hotwire’s narrative is entirely engrossing without the Deep Cut plot. However, this story is just as interesting in revealing evidence that blue-lights are evolving or interfacing with technology - granting them similar physical abilities to that of humans: kind of like ghost cyborgs. Moreover, Hotwire’s recent sabbatical has allowed ascension of a police faction that prefers more aggressive tactics against the blue-lights. Although publically reassuring, the “shoot-first” attitude is preventing scientists from examining blue-lighters, their evolution, and the potential future hazard to the living.

Hotwire: Deep Cut promises to be just as fun as its predecessor, Requiem. Alice Hotwire plays well to the Radical style of publishing miniseries. However, depending on your taste, you may find it difficult to sustain interest in this world after a few stories. Nevertheless, Hotwire: Deep Cut is hitting the ground running and appears to be a top-notch arsenal in Radical’s summer blitz.

Check out the Buzz Focus review by clicking the image below

By Ray Tate

Alice Hotwire is a genius Detective Exorcist for the Metro PD. She accepts science. She does not believe in the supernatural. The "ghosts" that haunt the city are merely electromagnetic blue-lights that have yet to be fully explained. Although, she has already deduced patterns of behavior. It's not really the supernatural that's her worst enemy. It's politics.

This issue picks up from the last. Alice saved Metro City from total destruction at the cost of her right arm. Fortunately, technology is such that she can grow a new one. Needless to say, somebody should shunt Babs Gordon to Metro City immediately.

The scene in which she grows a new arm occurs in a flashback that also introduces her partner Mobey's wife Cassie and daughter Molly. The writing in this scene neatly divides the generations. Hotwire is in a class by herself, but Mobey's daughter thinks the new partially formed arm is wicked cool. It's implied that Cassie was horrified and already catalogued Hotwire as a bad influence on her daughter's maturation. Mobey, of course, is in the middle.

Because of the new arm, part of Hotwire's recuperation demands her play video games--hand-eye-coordination, but she hibernated in her room well past the recommended time. With a new powerful "ghost" on the loose, the MPD needs Alice back on duty. Eventually, Mobey gets through to her, but Hotwire isn't a simple police procedural with jaw dropping painted artwork and "ghosts."

Pugh brings in a competing force. Whereas the MPD genuinely want to keep the peace and learn about the blue-lights, the corporate contractors, similar in behavior to Blackwater, creates chaos and makes every situation worse. When Hotwire clashes with these security forces, the fun really begins. The incompetence of the group is stunning. If not for examples of ineptitude from their real life counterparts, their actions wouldn't be remotely believable.

Pugh furthermore embraces a different universe, not just bits of it. He meshes advanced technology, with the blunder of heavily armored cowboys and the mind of Alice Hotwire. He uses the environment he and Warren Ellis created to the fullest for a fantastic science-fiction adventure, funky cat helmet included.

Check out the review on Comics Bulletin by clicking on the image below.

By Ray Tate

Alice Hotwire is a genius Detective Exorcist for the Metro PD. She accepts science. She does not believe in the supernatural. The "ghosts" that haunt the city are merely electromagnetic blue-lights that have yet to be fully explained. Although, she has already deduced patterns of behavior. It's not really the supernatural that's her worst enemy. It's politics.

This issue picks up from the last. Alice saved Metro City from total destruction at the cost of her right arm. Fortunately, technology is such that she can grow a new one. Needless to say, somebody should shunt Babs Gordon to Metro City immediately.

The scene in which she grows a new arm occurs in a flashback that also introduces her partner Mobey's wife Cassie and daughter Molly. The writing in this scene neatly divides the generations. Hotwire is in a class by herself, but Mobey's daughter thinks the new partially formed arm is wicked cool. It's implied that Cassie was horrified and already catalogued Hotwire as a bad influence on her daughter's maturation. Mobey, of course, is in the middle.

Because of the new arm, part of Hotwire's recuperation demands her play video games--hand-eye-coordination, but she hibernated in her room well past the recommended time. With a new powerful "ghost" on the loose, the MPD needs Alice back on duty. Eventually, Mobey gets through to her, but Hotwire isn't a simple police procedural with jaw dropping painted artwork and "ghosts."

Pugh brings in a competing force. Whereas the MPD genuinely want to keep the peace and learn about the blue-lights, the corporate contractors, similar in behavior to Blackwater, creates chaos and makes every situation worse. When Hotwire clashes with these security forces, the fun really begins. The incompetence of the group is stunning. If not for examples of ineptitude from their real life counterparts, their actions wouldn't be remotely believable.

Pugh furthermore embraces a different universe, not just bits of it. He meshes advanced technology, with the blunder of heavily armored cowboys and the mind of Alice Hotwire. He uses the environment he and Warren Ellis created to the fullest for a fantastic science-fiction adventure, funky cat helmet included.

Check out the review on Comics Bulletin by clicking on the image below.