Eleventh book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge.
Slam! Bam! Thwak! Rakka-rakka-rakka! BOOM!
Comics are awesome! They pack so much in such a small package. They are visually stimulating and so easy to read and extremely difficult to put down (at least for me). I like my comics to be loud and eye-popping. This one is that, and more. It is a story of murderous rage with dark undertones that you’ll come to love. On top of that, it’s jam packed with brilliant action that spans several pages.
It must be hard to do some serious story-telling through comics. I don’t think people buy comics to be flooded with thought-provoking material. They have novels for that. But they can’t be too easy or formulaic, or the reader wouldn’t feel satisfied.
Thus, it’s a thin line that the comic writers toe, between being entertaining just for the sake of it and doing it with substance, leaving the reader asking for more. The Japanese have it down to a science with their Manga. But after reading ‘Watchmen’, ‘V for Vendetta’ and now ‘Sin City’, my faith in Western comic writers has been restored.
Sin City is a gory story of unforgiving revenge. It follows an ugly, but massively built man named Marvin (‘Marv’) who is out to get a group of people who kill a girl he liked. The story is straight as an arrow, but the way Frank builds it and the artwork that he uses to do that, is mind-blowing! The art is stunning black and white and brilliantly sets the mood for a cynical story of doom. It has a raw and grungy feel to it that is simply amazing.
The entire comic consists of silhouettes and shadows that lend that extra eerie dimension to the story and make it stand out. There is a bit of nudity too and lots of violence, but nothing too bad. The story ends rather abruptly and that is the only thing that truly goes against it. However, it was fun while it lasted. Check out a few panels if you like.
Rating – 7/10 (I finished it in an hour and it was definitely worth my time)
