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Cole Cash receives a call from John Lynch, his old friend when they were members of Team 7. They meet at a super-hero bar, where Lynch asks for his help in a covert operation. Together they bust up


Quote1 It wasn't about revenge, it was about justice... it was about honor and obligation. You didn't leave a man behind, and you didn't let someone take him down without paying the price. That was the world that Lynch and I had lived in, that was the only thing I knew... I was sorry for the kid, and what he had lost... but it wasn't going to stop me from finding out the truth. Quote2
Cole Cash src

Point Blank is a noir-style story in the Wildstorm Universe, written by Ed Brubaker with illustrations by Colin Wilson. The story focuses on an adventure of Cole Cash, although he does not wear his Grifter costume. This mini-series leads into Brubaker's next project, an ongoing series titled Sleeper.

Synopsis

Cole Cash receives a call from John Lynch, his old friend when they were members of Team 7. They meet at a super-hero bar, where Lynch asks for his help in a covert operation. Together they bust up criminal operations around town, as Lynch searches for a man named Holden Carver. Lynch tortures suspects for information, then wipes their memories with his powers. When Lynch doesn't show up one night, Cash leaves without him. He finds John Lynch on the street, shot in the head but still alive.[1] Cash visits Lynch in the hospital, where he's comatose. Marc Slayton arrives with Department PSI, and explains that Lynch had been looking into The Faction. He also reveals that Lynch had been doing tests to enhance his Gen-Active powers, although he was known to despise them. Lynch's son Bobby Lane of Gen 13 visits him in the hospital, and tells Cash not to look for revenge. Cash catches a man tailing him home, and tries to torture him for information. The man dies when they're attacked by a clean-up hitman, but Cash learns that Tao is involved.[2] Cash decides his best option for intel on Tao is to contact the Authority. He visits Midnighter at a gay bar, who directs him to Jack Hawksmoor in San Francisco. Hawksmoor explains that they believe Tao is the most intelligent criminal mastermind on the planet. Tao is in charge of the Syndicate, an international conglomerate of small-time crooks. They are the largest criminal organization in the world, but they have stayed below the radar by never attracting attention to themselves. Returning to New York, he realizes Slayton was lying and pays him another visit. Slayton reveals at gunpoint that he was ordered to remove Cole from the situation. It's explained that Holden Carver was Lynch's greatest student at I.O.. They believe Carver turned traitor and began working with the Syndicate. Cash is unsure of who to go after next, until he receives an anonymous tip in his hotel room.[3] The tip leads him to a super-villain bar, where he follows his old teammate Savant and a villain named Nicky Zapp. Zapp rapes Savant, and Cash beats him up then throws him to his death. Savant is furious, and she explains that they were simply role-playing. Despite this, she agrees to help Cash track his anonymous tip. They learn that it was placed at the bar where he was meeting Lynch. Cash investigates and finds out that the phone has been broken for days. He goes home, unable to shake the feeling that something is literally messing with his mind. In his apartment, Tao and Carver are waiting for him. Tao congratulates him on getting further than he should have. Carver and his partner Marcov take Cash to a garbage dump so they can execute him.[4] Cash hears a gunshot while blind-folded, but it turns out Carver shot his partner. Carver reveals that he is an undercover agent, and only Lynch knew the truth. Carver asks Cash to shoot him so he doesn't break his cover, then leave before back-up arrives. Cash decides to make a final desperate run against Tao. He assaults Tao's boat, gunning down every guard with a silenced pistol. When he makes it to Tao's room, Tao is waiting for him. Tao explains that he used his mental powers to push Cash into shooting Lynch himself. Cash angrily decides to shoot Tao on the spot, but Tao reveals that his murder weapon will be sent to the authorities if he does so. Tao decides to wipe Cash's memory of the entire affair. Cole wakes up in the bar where he met Lynch, completely wasted. Carver approaches him for help outside, but Cash does not recognize him. Leaving the bar, Cash mutters that maybe he should check up on his friend Lynch since people seem to be so concerned.[5]

Issues

Notes

  • Ed Brubaker explains the continuity of this series in a text section, at the end of the first issue. The story takes place in the downtime between the end of the second Wildcats volume and Wildcats Version 3.0. It takes place prior to the final issue of Gen 13.[1]

Recommended Reading

Links and References

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