If you’re into graphic art that depicts graphic violence, Clandestino is the book for you. The story occurs in Tairona, where in 1973 a kid named Niko ran away from soldiers after a military coup because the incoming government apparently didn’t like kids. The kid grows up to be Clandestino, a name he takes after joining a group of armed revolutionaries to battle the military dictatorship. In other words, an ordinary life.

In the present, Clandestino is the badass leader of a rebel group called the Koyam, but the story turns to rescuing a hot revolutionary. She exists only to be captured so that Clandestino can rescue her. Fortunately, Clandestino has what appears to be a flying car, so he’s able to take on an entire military base by himself. Anyway, he has a lot of guns and explosives, so the fight is fun even if it doesn’t go as well as a rebel might hope.

When Clandestino seems to be out of the rebel game, a group of women prove that women can be just as badass as men. They spend issue 4 proving their rebellious chops. Clandestino is back in issue 5, although with no more Koyam to lead, his future is uncertain. By issue 6, the women are at war, with one of the leaders fighting in the skimpiest bare midriff costume she could find, because of course soldiers always prefer to fight half naked. Meanwhile, Clandestino is riding a horse into battle because, well, horses are fun.

I like the fact that Clandestino tells an unusual story, and of course I like the violence and gore. And I like the fact that the female rebels take time out to do some belly-dancing, because after all that training to be badass rebels, they naturally want to show off their abs and seduce Clandestino, who has also worked hard on his abs. The characters don’t have great depth, but they have enough to carry the story, which is mostly about violence and sex rather than depth. The art conveys both of those themes quite nicely, and even indulges in some phallic and vaginal imagery. But mostly it indulges in gore, so I heartily recommend Clandestino for blood and guts fans (particularly those who want to see guts spilling out of bodies).

'Clandestino Complete Collection' by Amancay Nahuelpan tells the story of a fictional country run by a dictator, and the one man that might be able to change things.

The South American country of Tairona has been overrun by a cruel dictator willing to torture and kill to maintain his version of order. When the coup happened in 1973, a young boy escaped with his life. He changed his name to Clandestino and taught himself the kind of violence he needed to survive. When we meet him, he is taking on thugs robbing a convenience store. Throughout the story, we get his life in flashbacks: the girl he grew up with, the boy who he left behind and now holds a grudge. It all builds to a final chance to overthrow the dictator, but Clandestino is feared dead. Can the people rise to overcome this hated leader?

I felt like the story lost something in translation. There were things I really liked, like the art. The problem is that the story goes from hyper-grotesque violence on the part of the protagonists, to a condemnation of violence on behalf of the villains. I felt like this diluted the message a bit, but perhaps extreme violence can only be fought with extreme violence. Also, this book feels like it's taking place in the 1980s, even though it takes the story up to 2016. There is a deus ex machina in the final chapter that is straight out of science fiction, that I found completely unbelievable. It's there to make the final fight more bombastic, but it adds an unrealistic element to a story that wasn't told that way up to this point. High marks for art, but the story had things that bothered me.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Black Mask Studios, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Rebels try and overthrow South American country run by a dictatorship. This could have used an editor. There are multiple cases of poor grammar. It feels like English is his second language. The story lacks focus and direction. The art is pretty good, the action scenes feel dynamic and kinetic. However, illustrating battles escape the artist. It was more a collection of random war images than telling the progress of an actual battle.

Hmmm... this looks more than reasonable, as befits a book from a lady who's already illustrated a graphic novel before now. But I might suggest she refrain from doing the writing in future. Bad grammar, and awful amounts of both exposition and repetition, all made me wonder if something was being very poorly translated. Beyond that, there are also wild mood swings, as we go from ultraviolence (unlikely shots of bullet exit holes, eyeballs popping out of skulls, etc) and more reflective moments, where rebels tell other rebels what it means to be a rebel. I didn't completely dislike any of it - it's a straightforward entertainment - but it could have been a lot better.

The text was good. But there were no images at all...