Noir meets post-apocalyptic sci-fi in The Big Shakedown, a high concept series from Jordan Blum, Tim Seeley, Scott Koblish, and Hi-Fi. The book opens with an earthquake destroying Los Angeles, who is then abandoned by the right wing religious fanatic president of the United States. Without federal aid, the City of Angels turns into a shitshow governed by big tech/drone companies and local gangs and protection rackets. Cop-turned-PI-turned TV show consultant-turned odd-job-working survivor Ester is our entry into this dark world as a simple missing persons case turns very complicated. Blum, Seeley, and Koblish use this first issue to establish the world of The Big Shakedown, but there are plenty of mysteries around the corner, especially towards the end of this installment.
Ester is really a near perfect POV character. She’s flawed, but likable with plenty of demons to exorcise. However, she also has a great sense of humor and has a working class charm. Jordan Blum and Tim Seeley’s captions for her add a lot of personality to The Big Shakedown and keep the story moving. I love that she watches old Lakers game on her VCR to find a semblance of normalcy in this crazy world because I totally watched CPU teams duke it out on NBA 2K when all the sports leagues shutdown due to COVID in 2020. (The 2018-2019 season though, oof ; at least, there was LeBron.) Also, Ester is a total badass improvising her way out of several violent scraps so she can have the money to get what she wants, which is probably out of L.A.
Scott Koblish uses his background in superhero comics to amp up the action sequences in The Big Shakedown with Hi-Fi adding splashes of intense colors like when Ester fights off bill collectors with steaming hot pot of pozole. There is something primal about the way Ester beats the crap out of folks trying to rip her off or take her hard-earned money that hints at a darker past beyond helping a TV star learn how to realistically hold a gun and then sleep with him. Although, she is five years sober, Ester is still prone to impulsive decisions that sometimes make this book feel like watching a car accident in slow motion. But that’s better than the alternative: a boring trope salad, which The Big Shakedown is far from being.
The element that draws me most to The Big Shakedown is that it’s a working class struggle story clothed in heightened genre trappings. Ester really just wants to pay the bills, but the system around her is beyond broken so she has to claw and fight for every last dollar, which is more relatable than an upper middle class white guy with a scotch and cigar sitting behind the desk. It also feels like Jordan Blum, Tim Seeley, and Scott Koblish are drawing on both experiences with the global pandemic and even the L.A. wildfires to show how traumatic events change folks, and that although we might have the same skillsets on both sides of the tragedy, we’re vastly different people. After the quake in The Big Shakedown, folks aren’t shelling out money to hire consultants for cop shows, they’re trying to eke out a living by selling batteries and avocadoes because Southern California still has great weather. Ester has changed as a person in the past five years, and it looks like this comic will go into those changes while also exploring the usual procedural elements of the crime genre.
The Big Shakedown #1 lives up to the hype of its high concept premise of a detective story set in a post-major seismic event L.A. nightmare. Blum and Seeley craft an anti-hero that Emmy-thirsty cable execs would die for, and Koblish and Hi-Fi bring a frenetic energy and a contemporary update on that West Coast noir palette that keeps the story moving and me looking forward to the next blood, guts, sunshine, and snark-filled issue.
Story: Jordan Blum and Tim Seeley Art: Scott Koblish
Colors: Hi-Fi Letters: Nate Piekos
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.2 Overall: 8.1 Recommendation: Buy
Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
