Review by Frank Plowright

Firstly, be warned that almost 50% of Two-Step is process material, the back of the book featuring the script Warren Ellis provided for the opening chapter, accompanied page by page by the resulting inked art from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti before Paul Mounts added colour. That said, it’s also an object lesson in how much a creative artist can bring to a project, with every one of Conner’s pages lively and imaginative.

Not too far in the future the garishly dressed Rosi is almost terminally bored with London despite the art showing a multitude of wonders, in the case of the opening scene, Street Bollywood. She calls herself a cam girl, but that’s not in the current understanding of the term in selling sex. She livestreams what she sees via three cameras accompanied by her bored commentary. Her evening livens considerably, though, when her path crosses that of Tony Ling who’s chasing a gangster. He’s stepped straight out of Reservoir Dogs in his black suit, and reads about zen problems, so quite the contrast to Rosi.

What develops is a frantic chase scene in which Ellis dives deep into Viz-style smut, but which is brought to life by Conner’s glorious art. It’s character-driven, but from the faux renaissance fair to the maniac shagging a car all drawn with a good sense of humour, yet also elegantly composed.

Two-Step was originally published as comics in 2004, but not collected until 2011, which gives Ellis a whole lot more credit for originality in predicting the future than now seems the case. In other ways it’s an updated amalgamation of the 1990s. Don’t expect more than chases interrupted by comical violence and great art and you’ll be happy with Two-Step.