Pretty Baby Machine #1 (OF 3)

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!