by Jason Aaron, Ron Garney, Matt Milla, and Jared K Fletcher; Icon
Men of Wrath tells the story of the Rath family, a family with bad blood in its veins: an inexplicable rage and madness that turns good men bad. Like all good tales of familial guilt it starts generations in the past where great grandfather Isom Rath murdered a man in a disagreement over sheep. A choice, or flaw, that would affect all his sons until now when Ira Rath, an irredeemable killer, is given his final contract: to murder his idealistic son. Men of Wrath is a story of family and inheritance and that awful violence that lives in the hearts of men. It's also a pretty tight, short crime story that tells a complete, focused story that brings a generous helping of grit and blood. That said, perhaps due to the limited format of the story, I found Men of Wrath to be somewhat light on character. Given the intensely intimate story of family guilt, I felt the comic could have devoted more time exploring its protagonists. I also struggled a bit with the artwork in Men of Wrath. This is a me thing, but I was kind of distracted by how closely I associate Ron Garney's work with superheroic comics. I don't think this is a fair criticism, but it definitely shaped my experience of the comic and is kind of an interesting effect. I'm not sure I'd characterize Men of Wrath as a must read comic, but if you like crime stories you might enjoy it.
Word count: 249
No comments:
Post a Comment