A decent trade that’s worth picking up for any fan of DC Comics.

I was disappointed when I came to the end of this first volume, because I wanted to know what happens next. You can't really give a comic much stronger praise than that, can you? I tried to read a galley of this a while back, but it just didn't keep me going. So when I got my hands on a paperback collection, I wasn't really expecting much. But I enjoyed the story, about an American military contractor looking into the death of one of his Iraqi policeman trainees. The situation in Iraq, post-Gulf War II, is a very complicated one, and to pursue a murder investigation is more than a little quixotic, but King does a great job of investing us in this, showing us the investigation from multiple angles. In addition to the American, Chris, we've also got two other protagonists--Nassir, a former Iraq policeman, and Sofia/Saffiya, an Americanized Iraqi woman who has returned to help in the rebuilding effort and who seems to have people from all walks of life owing her favors. This isn't slam-bang action, but more of a slow burn, and it's starting to look as if the solution to this crime is going to go deep into secret political maneuverings. Loved the artwork by Mitch Gerads, which is both realistic and cinematic. Looking forward to more of this story.