Rivers of London Action at a Distance

Published by Titan Comics

Written by Andrew Cartmel

Art by Brian Williamson

Colors by Stefani Renne

An ex Nazi wizard is terrorizing the women of London and is being protected by powerful people because of his work in secret nuclear programs that are essential for national security. It is up to Nightingale who is also skilled in Wizardry to find this villain and bring him to justice, however the authorities keep releasing him due to secret orders from the top.

Rivers of London Action at a distance is a very detective nior story that spans through different time periods and countries. The villain is very brazen and almost out in the open about what he does, so it’s unbelievable that he keeps getting released. Nightingale the wizard detective uses his various associates and even a cool blood hound to track down the villain, but still can’t get justice to stick. The ending to this story was a surprise which I enjoy. It makes a lot of sense given that the powers that be, seemed to want to allow this killer wizard to keep on keeping on, just so he can help with nuclear programs. I say that, because during the course of the story, he is employed by different countries, even to good ole U S of A. As stated, the story transitions from different time periods and locations. This is were my major complaint of the story lies. They do not announce location and time like other comics traditionally do.

The artwork is good. My major complaint is that a lot of panels suffer from over shading. I’m sure the artist is just trying to set the mood, but ultimately, I found it to be unnecessary. There is also a character that does not speak which would make her facial expression very

important, but the artist did not get the memo. Her facial expressions gave me know clue as to what she was thinking. I had to rely on Nightingale to tell me what was going on in her head.

Overall this this comic was hard to follow at times, but I did enjoy the concept. I just felt like the plot device of releasing the villain when he was dead to rights was overused. The ending was cool because I didn’t see it coming and it was well justified. I give Rivers of London Action at a distance 7 capes out of 10. If you like Wizards and detective work, you will enjoy this. If you are not that into low key wizards who are doing detective work, you may want to pass this by.