Headlocked: The Hard Way

Headlocked 4 The Hard Way by Mike Kingston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Who is the Painkiller and what secrets is he hiding under the hood? Meanwhile, a reporter is digging into Mike Hartman's past...

I've been a fan of both comics and wrestling most of my life so I was all too eager to plunk down some money for the Headlocked kickstarter. It took a little longer to get to me than I would have liked but it was well worth the wait.

The Painkiller is an angry young rookie, hiding under a hood to try to escape his mysterious past but it turns out he's not the only one hiding under a mask. Headlocked is the story of the masks people show the world, keeping their true selves hidden. It's also about the ass-kicking world of professional wrestling!

I couldn't be happier with the art in Headlocked. Michel Mulipola and Douglas Hills powerbombed the shit out of the pencils and inks and the colorists more than held up their end. Legendary wrestler Jerry Lawler did the cover. While the Lawler's art is good, the cover is actually my least favorite part of the book.

The story is told in two separate threads. I wasn't sure how they would converge exactly but Kingston wrapped it up nicely at the end. As for the characters, most of the classic wrestling archetypes were represented, from the fake Nazi to the angry English shooter.

Aside from the mystery of The Painkiller and the reporter digging into Hartman's past, there were some great character moments, like the lonely wrestling funeral and one wrestler revealing the dark secret that made him leave the business. The bonus stories were great but the one co-written by Ric Flair was easily the best, Platinum Prescott giving his daughter his blessing before she starts her wrestling career.

Headlocked: The Hard Way hits like a DDT on the ring apron. Four out of five broken light tubes.

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