Customer Reviews

Road to Perdition

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This grim graphic novel might better have been titled, "The Road to Revenge" and the story is clearly influenced by the legendary Japanese graphic series, Lone Wolf and Cub. Set during the Great Depression, its about a mobster hitman and his son (instead of a samurai and his son iin feudal Japan). Michael O'Sullivan is known as "The Angel of Death" in mob circles for his unflinching gaze and unblemished record as a loyal soldier for the Looney Gang, allies of Al Capone. O'Sullivan lives with his wife and two young sons in the "Tri-Cities" area on the Illinois/Iowa border (Rock Island, Moline, and Davenport). One day, one of his sons-who narrates the story as a flashback-sneaks into his father's car and witnesses a hit he performs. The boys knows killing is a sin and wrong, but his father rationalizes it by explaining that a father's duty is to provide for his family, and being a loyal soldier/killer is all he knows how to do. It's the kind of lip-service to honor and duty that suffices as rationalization in the world of comics and Hong Kong action films, but can't really be held up to the light. In any event, the boy's loss of innocence coincides with his father's betrayal by his employers. Set up to be killed, he escapes, only to discover his wife and other son dead. The father and son duo hit the road for revenge. There's plenty of action and gun-in-both-hand shoot-outs worthy of John Woo, as "The Angel of Death" tries to force the Capone Gang to give up the Looneys. Collins' story and Richard Rayner's meticulous art takes the reader deep into the rackets and slimy lawyers behind the Midwestern mob. Good gritty stuff.

In the Christian vernacular, Perdition is the abode of Satan and the forces of evil; where sinners suffer eternal punishment. It can also mean the utter loss of the soul, or of final happiness in a future state. Here, Perdition is the name of a small town where sanctuary and salvation lie for a young boy and his father.

This comic is part tragedy/part action-flick/part morality play, with each part blending into a complex whole. Historical figures, such as Frank Nitty, Al Capone and Eliot Ness hold the stage with the semi-fictional O'Sullivan family. It is Chicago in the 1930's, a time as operatic as the English middle ages with Knights and Castles, or the Tokugawa era of Japan where "Road to Perdition's" ancestor "Lone Wolf and Cub" is set. Trench coats and Tommy-guns play the part of swords and armor, with equal splendor and symbolism.

The art is splendidly realistic and well-crafted. The realism of the art allows for non-comic readers to instantly enter the story. The comic is black and white, like the characters within. The format is pocket-book sized and is easily portable. The author includes a nice forward, explaining the stories origins and historical setting.

"Road to Perdition" is a great read. I am not generally a huge fan of historical fiction, or of crime fiction, but this one won me over.

I love this book! I don't usually read comics but, This thing blew me away! from the cinematic action sequences , the great story , even up to some cliches that still blended well with the theme. If you've never bought a comicbook in your life, Buy this book. If you're tired of the repeatative comic book themes you usually get in the mainstream comics, GET THIS BOOK , and experience something different ,yet feels right at home. Mr. Mickey Spillane's review "one great ride" is an understatement.

The graphic novel "Road to Perdition," the basis for the movie of the same name, is a grim, bloody work about the grim, bloody world of an assassin for the Chicago mob whose family gets pulled into the violent fray of his business.

Michael O'Sullivan is a man conscious of morality, though he is not a good man. His "business," which he does because he's expert with a rifle and because his boss raised him like a son, is kept separate from his normal life, in which he's a loving, churchgoing husband and father of two boys. The boys are curious about his life outside of home, so one day the oldest son tags along on a mob hit - and endangers the family.

The book, based upon the Japanese "Lone Wolf and Cub" series, is gorgeous to look at - the art really looks like old newspaper photos of actual crime scenes. This gives the work an authentic feel that evokes the period and is incredibly haunting.

The book's plot goes differently in some ways from the film's, and the book is actually better than the film. Michael is never portrayed as a soft man - even as he saves his son. The son is soon drawn into the world of killing people, unlike the son in the film, and has to save his father many times.

The ending of the book, which is different from the movie's ending and which I won't give away here, is a nice, ironic touch.

This is one thought-provoking, consistently interesting piece of art.

This is a great black and white "noir" graphic novel. There was a Road to Perdition based on it, which you may have seen. The book is better, in my opinion. It is masterfully written, and the art is great. It's almost 300 pages long, but it just flies by. Highly recommended.

My first comment about Max Allan Collins' Road to Perdition novelization is that I admire him for sticking to the changes of David Self's screenplay, despite his being the author of the original graphic novel Road to Perdition. The second thing, and probably more important, is that I enjoyed Collins' novelization more than the movie Road to Perdition as directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty). Collins' tight prose is a very different approach than Mendes' inherently visual style that often focuses on cinematographic set pieces in lieu of powerful storytelling. However, one cannot help picturing Tom Hanks and Paul Newman in their respective roles, especially given Collins' knack for describing the characters as seen on the screen. For example, this description of John Rooney describes Newman far better than the original John Looney:

"The lanky, almost-tall, white-haired, white-mustached paterfamilias had been a rakishly handsome young man. And even now, in his seventies, his powder-blue eyes, prominent cheekbones, and strong chin gave him the sort of distinctive good looks many a lady ... still sighed over."

I've long admired Collins from afar, having not read any of his work prior to Two for the Money. His prolificity astonished me, particularly one I began seeing his name appearing frequently on CSI tie-in novels. I had seen the movie Road to Perdition, as I mentioned, but, not being particularly impressed by the film, had not pursued any further work by the author until Two for the Money was published by Hard Case Crime (a new publisher I greatly admire) and I actually was immersed into the author's literary world. That changed my mind and I decided to give Collins a chance to tell his own version when I found the Road to Perdition novelization at a library sale.

"Angel of Death" Michael Sullivan is the chief enforcer for crime boss John Rooney and they share a father and son-type relationship. When Sullivan's own son Michael, Jr., witnesses a hit done by Sullivan and Rooney's jealous (and possibly crazy) son Connor, Connor decides to protect his interests by having the boy killed. A mistaken identity leaves only the two Michaels alive and Sullivan sets out for revenge, with son in tow, by hitting them where it will hurt the most.

A combination crime thriller, period piece, revenge treatise, and coming-of-age novel, Road to Perdition satisfies on all levels. As young Michael becomes aware of his father's work, he learns the skills needed to do it properly, becoming a man and tightening their relationship in the process. Through this, the reader learns that even a hired killer loves his family. Collins' sensitivity towards family within these lurid surroundings exhibit his incomparable skill at hiding his literary (and historical) sensibility within familiar genre trappings. Max Allan Collins is one author whose works are both fun and good for you.

I've been reading Collins for quite some time, both his comic book work and his novels, but I missed this when it first came out. I picked up the new edition just a few days ago, and read it today. First, the artwork is amazing. I don't think I'd seen Rayner's work before; it's very detailed and realistic, without sacrificing effective storytelling. The story, of course, is influenced by Lone Wolf and Cub, and touches on some of the same themes as that work. Well, if you like Collins you'll like this. If you like good crime fiction, you'll like this. If you like Lone Wolf and Cub, you'll like this. (I could go on, but you get the idea.)

Even though the art seems simplistic and derivitive at times and the story perhaps somewhat cliched, when one actually takes the time to read ROAD TO PERDITION it becomes abundantly clear how much a work of love this novel was to both the author and the artist. The story is well known now since the release of the film in the summer of 2002 and revolves around Michael O'Sullivan, a hit man known as the Angel of Death because he does his job so well. However, O'Sullivan has a family and when his boss becomes paranoid that his Angel's little angels are going to bring down his empire he orders them all killed. But things don't work out very nicely and what follows is the tale of a father and son traveling together on a journey to Perdition to save their souls.

It has been suggested that the artwork looks copied from pictures of the period. This isn't quite true. The drawings seem similar to pictures of the period, but they are different. It is a testament of Rayner's work and skill. His simplistic, yet intricate drawings are so well done that some mistake them for the inspirations on which they are based.

Collins story is also more interesting than some have suggested. Not only is it a decent story about the love of a father towards his son (and there are more than a few Biblical allusions here), but it is also steeped in history from the period. Though this is a novel, it is more than that. It is a historical graphic novel and one will be hard pressed to refute the actual historical facts that seep through almost every page.

The book is more violent and dark than the movie that is based upon it. Yet at the same time, it is full of more hope and light. Most characters are more fleshed out than they are in the film and there is a lot of background information that the movie failed or could not include.

A great gift for any fan of the movie, any crime buff fan, or anyone interested in interested in buying a better than average graphic novel.

ROAD TO PERDITION is a graphic novel by Iowa-based writer Max Allen Collins with illustrations by British comics artist Richard Piers Rayner. As a fan of Collins, I made sure I read his original before heading to the cinemas to see the recent movie adaptation.

Collins has written some great crime thrillers. I wish that his "Quarry" series, about an amoral hit-man, were back in print. Currently, those books are fetching some very high prices, but that's as it should be, because they contain some wonderfully tough and gritty writing. His comics work is of a high caliber as well: his character Ms Tree comes to mind, but there have been many others.

However, the movie and book of ROAD TO PERDITION are two very different animals. The graphic novel is much more of a true-crime actioner, with plenty of shootouts and long silences, where the pictures are allowed to carry the story without many word-balloons or captions. In his intro, Collins describes how the book was inpired by the extremely popular Japanese comics series, LONE WOLF AND CUB (which also was adapted to a movie, "Shogun Assassin"). It's apparent: anyone who has read LONE WOLF will recognize many similarities in the telling of the tale.

Ultimately, the movie (directed by Sam Mendes) does a better job with the framework of the story, deepening the relationship between the two main characters: a young boy and his enforcer father, who have to go on the lam to save themselves, when the father's crime-lord boss murders their family.

While Rayner's pictures are wonderfully evocative of the 1930s Al Capone era, the graphic novel may disappoint those who may have been fans of the movie, and who seek to further their knowledge of the characters. Still, it's a very fast read, and an enjoyable one.

Looking over some of the glowing reviews for this novelization, I have to wonder if these people read the same book I did -- or if they were swayed by the incredible movie or the even better graphic novel. As a novelization, though, I found this pretty weak.

Max Allan Collins is a great crime writer, and his original "Road to Perdition" is one of the best graphic novels I've ever read, but this novelization of the movie based on his graphic novel really lacks teeth. I understand Collins turned in a draft nearly twice as long as this book and the publisher forced him to trim it -- if that is the case, it shows. The book feels tremendously abbreviated, with important scenes and dialogue condensed at every turn. The emotion isn't quite there.

Collins intends to write two more novels to complete what he envisioned as a trilogy to begin with. If he does that, I hope he can convince the publisher to release the unabridged version of this book first to really do the story justice.