Bang!Tango

Before the gay marriage tipping point, before transwoman Laverne Cox appeared on the cover of Time magazine, there was Bang!Tango, first published by Vertigo in 2009. Having screwed up big time as a mobster hit man in New York, Vincente Ponticello hides from pursuers by reinventing himself as a San Francisco tango dancer. He's cuddling regularly with beautiful dance partner Melina but privately he yearns for yet despises Autumn, a sultry transsexual who cons him into robbing his sadistic former boss so she can finance getting her boyish bits feminized. This irresistible noir thriller gets its charge from sex, violence, and flashy, kinetic art by Argentinian Sibar (Batgirl) that remasters the full-color originals into murky gray tones with judicious, thematic color hues and incorporates musical lines and lyrics floating beguilingly over the dance sequences. Some panels have been redrawn for stronger impact and the script is updated a bit.