“When an unassuming man stumbles upon a dark-web contract assassin’s vicious plot to kill an innocent target, he turns himself into one. THE PROFESSIONAL meets ROAD TO PERDITION in this story of a family’s unlikely guardian being hunted by rich and powerful men who are used to getting away with everything.
Join New York Times bestselling writer RICK REMENDER (DEADLY CLASS, BLACK SCIENCE) and ANDRÉ ARAÚJO (GENERATION GONE, MAN PLUS) for a uniquely atmospheric murder mystery with sudden bouts of brutal violence.”
A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance is an Image comic series coming out from Image Comics on October 6th, with a creative team of Rick Remender, Andre Lima Araujo, Chirs O’Halloran, and Rus Wooton. Level Up was given preview copies of issues #1-3, so I’m taking the chance to give you my thoughts on my read-through of all three issues and why I think it’s a good series, maybe even a good series for you, or maybe not your style. Hopefully, this review/word vomit of thoughts helps you in deciding.
Let’s start with the story; it is probably the most cinematic I’ve ever read in a while. I can almost hear a movie score in the background as we follow our main character on what seems like a fairly routine-looking errand. So much story is told through this cinematic lens and as Rick Remender has stated the comic really doesn’t talk down to its reader, it expects you to be pulled in by the tiny details, to be put into the shoes of the character. It’s a pretty immersive first issue without undue dialogue, with lots of comic panels being allowed to shine and tell the story without the trouble of dialogue bubbles overtaking them. It’s a breath of fresh air from some of the more dialogue-heavy books coming out today. The art in this book is excellent and it is a real testament to both Remender’s writing and panel layouts and Araujo’s ability to bring it together in such a way to convey the story of the book perfectly. Emotions and thoughts are so clearly depicted on characters’ faces that thought bubbles just aren’t required. For readers who pay attention the details are all there laid out plain and simple but for those who don’t, the comic book setting works so well, because you are able to just flip back those couple pages and notice things you didn’t before.
The action in the book takes a while to get started (you’ll have to wait until issue 2 to find some) but when it does it is excellent. The weight of the characters is felt in every action they take. This isn’t some over-the-top action film like John Wick (although great in its own right), this is an ordinary man taking on ordinary people. The action is more realistic and grounded so it adds a sense of danger to everything that happens to the main character that just keeps you on the edge of your seat.
I’ve also totally skipped over the mystery of the main character. Why was he at the scene of the crime? How does he know how to access the information he does? These interlocking mysteries (Who this guy is and the general murder/crime mystery) keep the book interesting and just drags you back in, wanting to read more (and now I have to wait MONTHS for issue #4, you are all very welcome.)
Read a small preview of A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance #1 below!
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