EDITOR's NOTE: High Rollers #3 will be in stores October 8th.

CQ has taken over as head of Trey Loc's gang since the last issue and he is now setting in motion his plans, but the plans are still shaded and unclear although it has something to do with Colombian drug dealers. Seriously, I don't know what's going on and I've re-read the last two issues more then once.

The story seems to be slipping away with every issue released, I was very enthusiastic when the first issue came out, but now I don't know where to stand. Can it make a come back or will it continue to fizzle out? I do like Gary Philips' writing, but the third issue of High Rollers just seems to come off as stiff and wooden. Some of the dialogue is cheesy and just laughable because of the way it is forced from the mouths of characters. Too much seems to be happening with too many people, and the story is approaching maximum occupancy when it comes to characters and plot.

The main character, CQ, was once our anti-hero and is now shady and questionable. You wonder, is this all part of the plan? Is CQ setting himself up as a chump in order to distract, or is he just another jerk drug dealer? CQ was fighting a hard battle to be a likeable character, and right now the fight is not in his favor. As for the other characters, they all seem to be page filler; either nothing interesting is going on with them, or you aren't sure who they are and what purpose they serve.

I still don't like the lettering because it still looks like cut and paste, but I'll ease up on that this time because the art work seems to have downgraded. There are good Photoshop jobs, and bad Photoshop jobs; High Rollers #3 looks like an example of a bad Photoshop job. It stands out too much, and looks like the artist was trying to cut some corners and not put in any real effort. The character figures are starting to lose shape, taking on an amorphous quality. On the whole, it looks sloppy.

At this point in the comic you are really unsure where the whole thing is going. Hopefully, the plot gets clearer or gets back on track, because this could become an unsalvageable train wreck, a giant snowballing wad of "What the Hell." A highlight, however, is the cover work by Brett Weldele, which I hope we can continue to count on.

If you started reading this series and want to see it through, go for it and give it the benefit of the doubt. If you haven't read any of this comic yet, the first issue was pretty good, second was okay, but issue #3 is the beginning of a WTF-athon.

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