Pick of the Week
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Size: pages
Price: 3.50
Sometimes having no expectations is the best way to enjoy something. I had never heard of this book, from Jim Valentino’s Shadowline division of Image Comics. I had never heard of any of the creative team, but I read this in our comics section:
TAG LINE: Tommy guns! Broads! And three of the most infamous mobsters of all time in a thrilling action-packed drama!
That, my friends, is how you sell Josh Flanagan a comic book. However, to be honest, I didn’t really expect to like it all that much, because I’ve seen lots of books like this that just end up falling short. But I am glad to report, as of one issue, so far so good.
What we have here is basically a fictionalized first person account from Pretty Boy Floyd, a real historic figure, of his teaming with Baby Face Nelson, and Machine Gun Kelly, as they plan to take on Al Capone. We see, from Floyd’s point of view how the crime organization works, and what it was like to work under Capone. I’m not incredibly well versed in the actual history, and I’m not sure how much of this story is true. The circumstances, characters, and backgrounds are all real, but after that, I don’t really know. I really don’t care though, because it felt real. There’s a good deal of detail on how Capone’s underlings become responsible for cleaning up the boss’ messes, and how there’s really no way to come out on top. Some things happen, and these three legendary names get together for a little team up or sorts. There’s even a bit of history on Joe Kennedy, and his dealings in bootlegging. If you can’t tell, I love this stuff, and I’m probably going to end up buying some prose books to learn the actual history.
It feels a little like Bendis and Andreyko’s Torso, or Max Allan Collins’ Road to Perdition, sort of mixed up together. Part of that is because the art style used is fairly similar to those books. It’s black and white, and fairly close to photo realistic, which really helps you get into the mood of the book’s time period in the 1930′s. But more that just be reminiscent of that style, the art in this book is certainly very good. Kody Chamberlain has very much illustrated a realistic world. The cars, clothing, and buildings of Chicago are all very visceral. There’s some excellent storytelling and really gorgeous pages. Perhaps most important to a book like this is tone and character, which is very well conveyed by the almost photographic “record” provided in the illustrations.
One thing I always find fascinating about this time period, as well as gangsters in general is the general demeanor of someone who kills for a living. There’s an incredible calmness, and a sense of, “It’s not me, but the world we live in, and the circumstances that came up around me.” By placing the narration in the hands of Floyd, we take a step closer into those minds, rather than the cold narration of an objective and detached voice telling us what happened. In this book, we get a point of view, and a humanity given to figures who are often portrayed as inhuman. Yet, in this story, the level of inhumanity is relative, since these guys are all killers, but they think Al Capone is really the bad one. Not unlike The Sopranos, if you get inside the heads of the bad guys, you often find out, or are at least manipulated to think, that their choices and deeds are often rooted in human choices. It doesn’t justify murder obviously, but it’s certainly good food for thought to try to understand what kind of person lives the life of a gangster.
In a week chocked full of big name books that were largely unsatisfying, I was very glad to find this surprise among my stack. I didn’t know I was looking for it, but it turns out, I was very much in the mood for a good gangster yarn, and this is the best gangster comic I’ve read in a good long while.
Josh Flanagan
That was how the long, hot summer of ’33 kicked in.
josh@ifanboy.com
Did you read Pretty Baby Machine #1? Leave a comment and let everyone know what you thought!
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Ha! I bought this too!
Damn. I looked at the cover but decided to not even look through it. Guess I’ll be going back to the shop.
I saw this in Previews months ago and it intrigued me. I completely forgot about it. Where are my car keys…
the Tiki
Damn you. You couldn’t pick something on my pull list? Now I have to go back. Last time that cost me two trades along with the title I wanted. I need to develop some self control.
Hmmm… I thought for sure you would pick House of Mystery #1.
Er… wut?
Thought you’d go with SI#2 – it was a really, really strong issue. Don’t you dig the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Avengers?
For whatever reason, my shop didn’t get Pretty Baby in – but I am on the hunt for it tomorrow. After reading the review, I’m more jazzed than I was to read it.
kody such a great artist, good pick josh!
Heh. I already promised myself I’d review this book for Kody, but I was glad to find that it was actually really fucking cool. I think he muddled his art a little too much with the heavy ink, but this thing was fun as hell.
Didn’t pick this up– hadn’t even heard of it. Best book I read was probably the Dynamo 5 Annual, which was suprisingly enjoyable.
SI #2 didn’t do much for me. I hated the first 2/3 of the book– another boring, cluttered Bendis & Yu fight scene that went on way too long. But, I did enjoy the last few pages, with the "reunion" that happened there.
Harvey fuckin Kietel. That’s how you sell Hank a comic book
huh, my shop didn’t even get this in, sounds interesting tho.
I’ve never heard of this book, but if it’s even similar to Road to Perdition then I must buy this!
PS: Loving Josh referring to himself in the third person… "That, my friends, is how you sell Josh Flanagan a comic book."… Awesome!
I got in a conversation with my comic book guy who wanted to know what I thought of ‘Iron Man,’ so I forgot to buy ‘Secret Invasion’ or ‘Suburban Glamour’ — so I’ll be going back today, and I’ll look for Pretty Baby Machine as well. Another one I would never have considered if not for this site; good going, guys.
My shop didn’t get this one in. I probably liked Iron Man the best out of the few things I did read. I thought Secret Invasion #2 was pretty ‘meh.’
Wow, hey, thanks for the great review!
But more importantly, thanks for taking a chance on a new, and unproven book.
if you like this and want a prose book similar to it, you should read the gangs of chicargo and the gangs of new york by Herbert Asbury (they’re nothing like the film although that film was good) The books take at look at history though the filter of crime, violence and messed up shit. Basically they’re history book written for sopranos and goodfellas fans
Sweet My Bloody Valentine on the music intro this week….which one of you has such good taste? They’re coming to SF in September but I just can’t bring myself to pay $60 for a ticket.