Back To Brooklyn #1 (OF 5)

I know nothing of this book before josh's mini, but on a whim I decided to pick it up. I just finished Preacher not too long ago and was loving the boys, so why the hell not? Did I also mention it had Ennis' name on the cover?

So basically this is what goes down in the book. A high ranking mafia dude by the name of Bob Saetta decides to turn himself in to the cops, when he phones his wife and daughter to check on them, he realized that his brother Paul caught wind of him turning coat, and has killed all the cops that were supposed to go get said wife and daughter. Deciding that the cops can't do nuthin to make sure his family is safe, he decides to go back to Brooklyn to save his family, where apparently everything is controlled by the Saettas. It's Friday and the cops give him til Sunday to do what he has to do, upon which he is arrested irregardless of wether or not the deed is done. Along the way he guns down some former compatriots and meets up with his old flame. It's a classic noir-gangster-mafia type setup, not unlike the videogame MAFIA or Goodfellas. It's been quite some time since I read a good gangster story, and this seems to have alot going for it.

The story is pretty good, and well written, isn't as controversial as some other works that Ennis has been involved in, but that's perfectly fine by my book. The art however, it's what got me, or rather how it's used.

When you think crime, noir, gangster you think a few things. First of all it's gotta be dark, brooding, melancholic and all that. Looking at te art you wouldn't really guess that. The figures and background are done realistically, almost photorealistic, but not quite. They look gorgeous as hell and nothing seems out of place or awkward. The thing is they're coloured in this sort of mono-chromatic style that really lends a light-hearted, almost fun feel to it. It's really rather pleasant.

The juxtaposition between the art and the story, where one is not at all pleasant and the other is something you'd expect out of a book about butterflies and the grace of nature really gives this book a unique look and feel. It's the begining of the worse 3 days of Bob Saetta's life and it just looks like a thrilling, eventful 3 days.

I'm in.