Ah, the five minute read. Nothing like the five minute read.

For a five minute read, this comic isn’t bad. It’s got beautiful Sean Phillips art and it’s not a terrible all action issue. But it’s really light and really boring. Brubaker’s pacing here is for effect, everything is hurried to get the reader anxious.

It also made me remember I have read this arc; there’s really not much to it. It left me then, like it is in the process of doing now, with very little impression.

The arc either takes place entirely at night or inside the protagonist’s house. And his house is dark. The concept–a guy taken hostage and forced to aid in a criminal’s plot–could have been done in a single issue. It doesn’t need four, especially since it’s clear it’s not going anywhere special.

Maybe I’m wrong and it turns around, but I’m not hopeful.