This week, we’re shaking up the format a bit and focusing on our number one comic and what makes it so great. And this week, that would be Image’s unexpected, all-too-believable noir Violent.
While superheroes are eternally associated with comic books, it’s also a from in which noir thrives. It makes sense: Both noir and comics were born during one of the worst eras of social unrest in America, as crime rates rose, organized crime solidified its grip on cities, and moral toxin leaked in from Germany. And some of the best comics on the shelves in recent years have been noir, from the almost mundane darkness of David Lapham’s Stray Bullets to the stark negative space of Frank Miller’s Sin City.
What makes The Violent so distinct is both a careful sense of place — modern-day Vancouver — and the sharply drawn, powerfully relatable couple at its center. Mason and Becky are working-class ex-cons trying to stay clean and keep their family together. Ed Brisson’s script carefully lays out just how both their own flaws and the society they live in work against those goals, though. Mason, in particular, does some horrible things, but he doesn’t want to : He’s in a trap he was born into and can barely even see is closing inexorably around him, and all he can do is thrash.
Artists Adam Gorham and Michael Garland, meanwhile, give it all a feel of vivid realness. The opening splash page, finding Mason considering doing the unthinkable, has him ready to burst into tears. Gorham’s eye for detail makes everything from a simple conversation to disposing of a corpse realistic yet also heightened, and Garland’s color work adds to the feel; you can sense the texture of paint on a wall or the light playing off a man’s back.
The Violent is wrapping up with issue #5, so now would be the time to get on board. There have been a lot of noir comics, but there’s never really been one quite like this.
Other Comics Worth Reading This Week
Dark Horse: Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In
Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson’s ongoing series of one-shots about neighborhood pets fighting demons and monsters sounds cute on the page, but the series has never held back. Bad things abound on Burden Hill, and this one-shot, focusing on the cats, is about what happens when you ditch your responsibility. Dorkin and co-writer Sarah Dyer write a disturbing, and sometimes tragic, script, but it’s Thompson’s watercolor and expressive art that makes this book a must-buy.
Vertigo: Unfollow #7
Courtney is pretty, blond, rich, and everything pop culture wants out of the butt of a joke, all the better for her, so that she can hide the broken mess that’s her psyche. Rob Williams continues his refusal to play it safe with this thriller and Marguerite Sauvage, known for her airy, pretty art, plays hard against type here too, contrasting the shallowness of Courtney’s beauty with the stark depth of her trauma. It doesn’t work consistently, but it’s something you won’t forget.
Marvel: The Punisher #1
Becky Cloonan takes over as writer and Steve Dillon returns as artist in a book that has Frank Castle doing what he does best. Cloonan wisely doesn’t make Frank the focus of the story, instead following a cast of disgraced former Marines, angry DEA agents, and, of course, psychotic criminals, treating Frank as more of a natural disaster than a character. Still, it works, and if you’re new to the Punisher, it’s a good place to start with Netflix’s next Marvel star.
Dynamite: King’s Quest #1
Ben Acker, Heath Corson, and Dan McDaid take a bunch of old comic-strip stalwarts like The Phantom and Flash Gordon and breathe hilarious new life into them with a joyously frothy adventure book. Everything about this comic is ridiculous, and every page is delightful.
DC Comics: Midnighter #12
Steve Orlando and Aco finish their unapologetic anti-heroic superhero book, and it’s been some of the best 12 issues in recent memory.
Valiant: 4001 AD #1
Valiant’s most ambitious crossover yet picks up where Rai left off, and it melds manga and Western comics in the best possible way.
Dark Circle: The Black Hood #10
Duane Swierczynski and Greg Scott wrap up the second arc of their vigilante noir in an appropriately bleak way: Greg Hettinger may be a hard-ass, but he’s not superhuman. This smart, grounded take on the vigilante breathes new life into old-school superheroics.
BOOM! Studios: Weavers #1
Si Spurrier’s new crime story, about a criminal gang of people infected by alien spiders, has an intriguing premise, especially when paired with Dylan Burnett’s angular, shadowy art. It’s a promising start.
Marvel: Thunderbolts #1
Jim Zub and Jon Malin go back to the ’90s in a hilariously retro team book, complete with a… let’s say it’s a very ’90s twist and leave it at that.