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Graphic Novel Review: Moonshine Volume 2: Misery Train by Brian Azzarello, art by Eduardo Risso

Moonshine Volume 2: Misery Train by Brian Azzarello, art by Eduardo Risso

Image Comics, 2018

ISBN: 9781534308275

Available: Paperback, Kindle and comiXology editions

 

I need to be up front about a few things in this volume. There is racist language, and physical and threatened sexual violence against PoC.

The second volume finds gangster Lou Pirlo, Delia, and some of her family in a train car, running from the police. With Hiram Holt missing or dead, with his family wanting revenge, and the gangsters back in New York City equally wanting his head on a pike, Lou  finds himself clapped in chains and thrown in a different type of gang altogether. He also has another problem; he was bitten by a werewolf. When a cottonmouth snake strikes him, and doesn’t end up killing him, his fellow prisoners know something is not quite right. The gangsters are also wise to the werewolf menace in Appalachia, and have sent a deadly monster hunter on their trails.

 

Volume 2 is better than the first, with a more cohesive story and intense action. One of the gangsters from volume 1, L’Ago, is much more front and center dealing with the Holt family. However, the story is still missing something. I still can’t get invested in the characters, perhaps because they are too flawed and stereotypical. I had high hopes, since it is a 2018 Stoker nominee, but I don’t feel invested in any of the characterss. As much as I enjoy reading about flawed characters, there needs to be something redeemable, or at least worthy of respect, for me to engage with the text. I don’t get that here. If you want a good noir crime series by this team, pick up 100 Bullets. Recommended, with reservation.

 

Contains: blood, nudity, racism, threatened rape violence

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Editor’s note: Moonshine Volume 2: Misery Train is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2018 Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel.

Posted on May 5, 2019 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Moonshine Volume 1 by Brian Azzarello, art by Eduardo Risso

Moonshine Volume 1 by Brian Azzarello, art by Eduardo Risso

Image Comics, 2017

ISBN: 9781534300644

Available: Paperback, Kindle and comiXology editions

 

Editor’s note: This volume contains racist language, which is especially jarring coming from a child character.

 

Moonshine Volume 1 is set in Appalachia during Prohibition. Lou Pirlo, a gangster from New York City, is sent to negotiate a deal with the best moonshine hustler in the region, Hiram Holt. The boss back in the big city, Joe Masseira, wants to increase supply and sales of alcohol, and needs Lou to seal the deal. Lou thinks it will be an easy in-and-out trip, believing he has more brains than the backwoods hicks he will be dealing with. Unfortunately for Lou, he underestimates the iron-fisted Holt and his family, as well as the family secret. However, Holt also underestimates most of his sons, who want to double-cross him. Then, there’s Holt’s daughter, Tempest, who has her blue eyes set on Lou, which Lou tries to keep from the overbearing father. A black man ends up dead, Lou has Joe breathing down his neck, other gangsters show up to help their “friend” out, and more people end up drunk, imprisoned, or dead.

Azzarello and Risso created 100 Bullets, a noir crime comic series that was very well executed. I was hoping for more of that with Moonshine. The first volume is a bad guys versus bad guys shoot ’em up story…werewolves. In fact, the werewolf storyline could have been left out altogether. Oh, and Lou is haunted by the ghost of his dead sister. The characters are relatively dull and I didn’t care about what happened to any of them,  with the exception of Delia, a black woman who takes care of Lou after he ends up almost drowning when his car runs off the road. She would be a great character to follow. As far as the rest, flawed characters can be done well, and I know Azzarello can deliver on that better than he did here. I did like Risso’s art throughout, and his color palette lent the proper tone to what was going on in each scene. Moonshine Volume 1 may have an audience, but it just doesn’t do it for me. Recommended with reservations.

Contains: blood, gore, nudity, racism

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on May 4, 2019 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Abbott by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivela

Abbott by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivelä

BOOM! Studios, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1684152452

Available:  Paperback, Kindle, comiXology

Hugo Award-nominated novelist Saladin Ahmed gives us the story of journalist Elena Abbott, who is investigating police brutality and corruption in 1972 Detroit. There are crimes being committed by the very people sworn to protect and serve. Elena doesn’t shy away from controversy, and isn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers. One of her recent reports, however, has received the attention of some racist white men who own the paper, and she’s been ordered to work on other, less interesting, cases. Instead, she discovers supernatural forces controlled by a secret society made up of the city’s elite. However, these forces are not unknown to her. After all, her husband was taken by the shadowy Umbra. When she’s chased down by masked men and creatures that are stitched together from remains of animals and Black citizens, things get messier for our intrepid reporter.

Abbott doesn’t just face the Umbra (the raised and stitched creatures), and the dark society that cultivates them, but also racism, sexism, and, to some degree, homophobia, in this dark tale. Looking at other reviewers’ words to describe Abbott, one rings out clear: badass. She really is. She is the only Black reporter on staff at her paper, she loves her brandy, and smokes incessantly. While she exhibits a healthy fear of the shadows closing in on her, she never backs down in moments of stress, especially when it comes to her convictions. The social and historical commentary is important for us to read today. For the other strong readers out there, do yourself a favour and pick up Abbott. Ahmed pens an excellent story, and artist Sami Kivelä provides incredible illustrations. They make an excellent team for this book. I need to search out other work both of them have created. Highly recommended.

Contains: blood, gore, misogyny, police brutality, racism

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Editor’s note: Abbott is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. 

Posted on May 2, 2019 by , Reply
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