Vince Locke

This is a topical read for me. Vijay’s new movie, Leo, directed by Lokesh is getting released this week. The talk is that the movie is inspired from this graphic novel. So I was curious about this as all people around me are excited about this movie.

This is a simple but punchy revenge story. Quite gory and a short novel. It follows the story of an ordinary person running a coffee shop getting into an extraordinary situation, how he handles it, what happens to his family and what is his mysterious past. Anything more will be a spoiler. The illustrations are vivid and reminded me of Sin City. I felt it was gorgeous in depicting the gory and violence.

If you are a graphic novel fan and want to enjoy a nice thrilling revenge saga, give it a shot, you may like it.… (meer)

#ThrowbackThursday - Back in the '90s, I used to write comic book reviews for the website of a now-defunct comic book retailer called Rockem Sockem Comics. From the May 1997 edition with a theme of "Offered Again" Comics:

FROM THE BACKLIST

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (DC Comics/Paradox Press)

My expectations were low when I bought A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE earlier this year. Previous books published under the Paradox Graphic Mystery imprint of DC Comics have been rather generic crime/mystery thrillers lacking in thrills and mystery. Maybe it was those lowered expectations that allowed A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE to blow me away. Or maybe it was the fact that this is a well-written, well-drawn thrill ride. Regardless, this book packs a wallop.

Tom McKenna is just a typical guy. He owns a little diner. He's got a loving family. Then a thwarted hold-up gives him instant fame, and his cozy little world is shattered. Suddenly, mafia hitmen are following Tom around. They seem to think Tom is a man who killed and stole from the mob years before and disappeared. Is this a case of mistaken identity, or does Tom have a secret (and several bodies) buried in his past? And when the mafia men decide to err on the side of vengeance, will Tom and his family survive?

John Wagner spins one heck of an intense yarn. It's better than most of the mafia movie thrillers I've seen in the last five years. I think of movies because Wagner's dialogue and Vince Locke's layouts are so cinematic. This book could easily be transferred to film. Wagner's scripts on the JUDGE DREDD comics just did not prepare me for this level of workmanship. Locke, meanwhile, continues to draw in the raw, sketchy style that won me over in SANDMAN and SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATER.

Only one farfetched twist near the end detracts from -- but does not ruin -- this nearly flawless work. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is one of the few books deserving to be called a "graphic novel." Don't miss it!

Grade: A-… (meer)