Standstill #2 Review

 

Writer & Colorist: Lee Loughridge

Artist: Andrew Robinson

Designer & Letterer: Rob Tweedie

Cover Artists: Andrew Robinson & Dave Johnson

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 25, 2024

 

A nameless man is using an invention that can stop time to embarrass royal families, kill a murderous motorcycle gang, punish sexual offenders, and damage Burger King restaurants. He travels across the globe to visit a motorcycle club in Pakistan. What business might he conduct with these men who kill their political rivals? And why is he so fixated on motorcycle gangs? Let’s hop on our Hondas, ride into Standstill #2, and find out!

 

Story

The man strides into the bar filled with Pakistani men. While one man wears a suit, most wear traditional Pakistani clothing and head coverings. This evening, the man wears a white suit and a wide-brim hat. As in the Murder City Devils' club, he orders cocktails the establishment is unlikely to provide. Then, the man introduces himself. His name is Ryker Ruel, and this is not a social call.

 

Colin’s monitors glow in his dark basement office. As he struggles to piece together the clues, a former coworker calls. She tells him the director of Project Standstill was found dead in the lab. Her news confirms his fears. Someone has stolen the device they worked on and is using it to accomplish these impossible crimes. Colin wants Kate's help to build another unit and use it to track whoever stole the original.

 

General White sent troops to raid the laboratory and secure the Standstill device. But someone got there first. Perhaps Ryker stole it. Or maybe it was the tough-talking civilian in White's office. In Standstill #2, Lee Loughridge leaves readers much to ponder. He delivers another fast-paced thrill ride as Ryder throws bundles of cash on the table, then dares the men to kill him like they assassinate politicians.

 

Colin believes that the Standstill thief is a psychopath. But Ryker carries out spontaneous acts to protect others while fulfilling the orders of his superiors. Yet, with great power comes a price tag. Despite his ever-present grin, Ryker's actions suggest the cost he is paying for defying the laws of man and physics in Standstill #2.

 

Art

Colin's face looks worn and haggard. His anxiety grows as he rises and presses a hand to his head. In bed, Kate's playful expression suggests she likes having an excuse to call Colin. But all playfulness drains from her face when Colin admits the Standstill device worked. The Pakistani men regard Ryker through narrowed eyes, while Ryker's grin suggests he fell into a vat of chemical waste. Like his BMW, Ryker’s white double-breasted suit and wide-brim hat evoke an earlier era. Colin’s boxy Golf GTI also hails from an earlier decade. Yet Ryker’s stylish BMW rapidly collects bullet holes. The backgrounds fade away as the bike riders pull alongside Ryker. But when blood flies, it’s not Colin who loses his head in Standstill #2.

 

Lee Loughridge paints Colin's dark office in bleached blues while Kate relaxes in her bright yellow bedroom. Her tanned skin suggests that, like Lara, she gets outside far more than Colin. He continues their conversation amid the shadows beneath his covered porch. Then he pulls his dark car out of the dark garage. Colin motors down the road, a shadow inside his dark car while the windows reveal a featureless light green. Red, orange, and yellow dominate Andrew Robinson’s panoramic scenes of Ryker's meeting in Pakistan. The same colors surround him on his breathless flight through the city. Touches of blue and purple show shading and ground the vivid colors in the darkness, while orange and white dominate the final double-page spread.

 

Rob Tweedie dishes out uppercase black letters in white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The letters grow bold for intonation and swell for raised voices. Sound effects fill the restaurant as gunfire erupts across four pages. Engines rev, tires squeal, and bullets bite into glass and steel in the road chase that roars through the final third of Standstill #2. Thanks to Image Comics for providing a copy for review.   

 

Final Thoughts

Ryker's mission takes him to Pakistan in Standstill #2, while Colin races to prevent Ryker from blowing up the world in this fast-paced, popcorn movie thrill ride.

 

Rating 9/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.