Metapatriot 9

Written, Lettered, Flatted & Edited by John B. Lai
Art & Coloring by Rick Lozano
Published by Ultimate Comics Group

In "Bad Medicine", psychopathic Roughcut is given a new set of targets with which to unleash his grievances- the unfortunate staff of the hospital failing to cure his mother. What follows is an all-out war as the murderer slashes away at hospital personnel and Met-Con agents alike, all the while Tommy Starr- the one and only Metapatriot- tries...and fails to stop him?
Lai continues his ongoing tale of the patriotic hero here with a page-turning action bonanza. The plot moves fast as the title character is forced to make on the spot decisions, doing anything and everything to bottle the fury of Roughcut before things get any worse. But what drama could there really be if things did not actually get worse? A quick and easy to follow read, with no real introductions needed for new readers.
Lozano has done work for UCG elsewhere, among other places, although this is in fact his debut full issue effort. He has a very crisp style, easy on the eyes while telling the story well enough visually. Influenced by many of the big 1990's gamut of artists, his own style really shines through in his use of extra-darkened borders and forms. He wants every image to have a full-blown iconic effect, and pulls that off, strangely enough, in the more static and violence-free sequences. It works. And to his credit, his color style especially fits in smoothly with the UCG house look, presenting a nice overall tone that would do well to stick around for as many issues as needed to truly make this book his own. Artwise, the best yet for this title, I think.
Though arguably gory at times, this iss shows how for the most part Metapatriot is still a solid action-adventure book: standard superhero fare, and thankfully more inspired by mainstream comics of the 70's and 80's than the generically bland look and smarmy feel of more modern comics. A pocket dimension of fun for the kind of reader who remembers still when comics were escapist melodrama without misplaced messages being forced fed left and right.
Better than you might believe.