Grifter Vol. 1, Issue #2

Grifter Vol. 1 was the first solo series WildStorm launched for Cole Cash, the WildC.A.T.s member known as Grifter. Published by WildStorm Productions under Image Comics from May 1995 through March 1996, it ran for ten issues. This volume is issue #2 of that series and picks up after the "WildStorm Rising" crossover: the WildC.A.T.s flew their craft into space during that universe-wide showdown and were left missing, presumed dead, so Grifter, stripped of both teammates and organization, has to make his own way. He takes money from Jackson Dane and decides to find his own way out of Nicaragua. On the way he is ambushed by an armored unit of the Nicaraguan secret police; Neo, an arms dealer, shoots him in the back and takes his gun. Still wounded, Cash follows Neo onto a flight to Taipei, looks up his old lover Yim to recover, and strikes a bargain with Yim's current partner. He then infiltrates Neo's stronghold to recover his weapon, only to run into Neo's client, the heavily armored superhuman Diabolik, and a brutal fight breaks out. This issue continues the series' hard-boiled, realistic espionage-action approach, putting the "hero" back in a position with no teammates and no backup, and lays groundwork for the later "City of Angels" storyline.