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CBG SATELLITES
The ADD Blog by Alan David Doane
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A History of Violence
While he doesn’t want to blow the book for anyone, I’m perfectly happy to do so. The surprise of A History of Violence is, apparently, there are no surprises. It’s not a happy tale, not by any stretch of the word, but it’s most assuredly not a surprising one. Don’t let any of that fool you though, because Wagner and Locke have crafted a good story throughout,
A History of Violence is the story of Tom McKenna, local diner owner, who kills one and immobilizes another thug during a robbery attempt at his restaurant. McKenna quickly finds himself the center of both local and national media attention. Unfortunately the attentions brings with it the secrets of McKenna’s past. One act of violent heroism brings Tom’s entire world crashing to the ground, exposing his troubling past to his family.
The book raises some really interesting questions, like how far would you go to protect the life that you’ve built? What would you do if you found out the person you love is not the person you know? How far would you go to set the past right? And, what would you do is everything you had was suddenly ripped away from you? Granted, they’re all extreme situations, and most of us live out our lives in fantastically mundane fashion, but they are questions we’ve all asked ourselves from time to time.
Thought the book lacks any real surprises, it’s definitely a page-turner. Wagner, no doubt due to years of writing for British magazine 2000 A.D. (where he created Judge Dredd), keeps the pace almost super-swift, at times to a fault. Wagner imbues his characters with as much humanity as you’re likely to find in any story like this. Everything feels very real; the small town people McKenna has chosen to surround himself with, the love he has for his family, even the perverse, ultra-violent satisfaction the ending brings. Wagner never strays too far from what he’s trying to accomplish, and with the exception of the few flaws I’ve mentioned, he does a fine job of it.
Locke’s pencils are simplistic at best, sloppy at worst. He has this kind of faux-detail that shows up in a lot of the panels, but occasionally there are hints of something beneath, something that could be wonderful. Unfortunately none of the pencils bring any emotional weight to the story, instead plot and character must shoulder that alone.
Like the plot, the art holds nothing in the way of surprise, but part of that could be the book’s lack of color. If this were a simple black and white tale, simple black and white art would feel appropriate, but Wagner hasn’t written a simple story. It’s got layers of emotional depth that the art can’t carry and are occasionally glossed over by the quick pace.
A History of Violence isn’t among the best works in the world of graphic novels, but it is a good, solid, worthwhile read, one that the cover proudly proclaims will soon be a major motion picture, in case you didn’t know. Fortunately it reads like a story begging to be adapted to movies, one that’s certain to be beautifully violent and ask the questions we really don't want to know the answers to. Grade: 3.5/5
-- Logan Polk
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In his introduction, Matt Wagner describes a little of the process of pitching a script, he talks about ideas, the way you morph one into the other; he talks about deadlines, meeting them and blowing them; and he talks about dry rot. He brings up the graphic novel he’s introducing only briefly, at the end. He talks about not blowing the book in the introduction, and letting the surprises come without warning. Therein lies this books biggest flaw.