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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cheap Thrills And Noir Spills, February 24, 2006
This review is from: Sin City Volume 7: Hell and Back (3rd Edition) (Paperback)
Yes, it's a Frank Miller/Sin City joint. It's a graphic novel about Wallace, a painter who is very very good at hurting people, and Esther, an aspiring actress who has just been targeted by a vast conspiracy of white slavers. She ends up kidnapped, and Wallace ends up on a quest to rescue her, by any means. Like any distillation of a Frank Miller graphic novel, that doesn't do it justice in any way, shape, or form.
We meet a lot of tangential Sin City characters in here--most notably Delia, the assassin in blue, and the leopard-print Mariah who works for the notorious Wallenquist. Miller seems to excel at portraying dangerous, dangerous women with breasts that make Pamela Anderson green with envy. But it's in his heroes that Miller really shines, heroes with serious honor complexes and hair-trigger reflexes. Heroes seemingly just designed for a punk babe's heart.
I'm always a sucker for a love story, and Wallace, with his Converse high-tops and habit of being very dangerous (as well as sensitive, let's not forget sensitive) seems expressly designed for honorable-antihero status. The impetus for his war against Sin City's worst flesh merchants is Esther, who for some reason Miller drew with a distinct resemblance to Rick James. But that's okay, because it works, even if for half the story the reader can't figure out what Wallace sees in this aspiring actress.
This is the longest of the Sin City novels, and in a way the most difficult, since it slides away from the territory of grit and pulp the other Sin City books cover with such devastating grace. It works best as a retelling of a fairy tale: princess kidnapped by dastardly orcs, the prince surmounting obstacles to rescue his lady love with bullets, brains, brawn, and sheer sickening endurance. Prince and princess ride off into the sunset, having escaped the stronghold of the orcs.
Who knew Miller, the master of black-and-white had it in him to write what is at heart a rather gentle romance?
Of all the Sin City stories, this one is my favorite. It seems that people either love it or hate it, and I'm firmly on the "love it" side of the spectrum. Yummy.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Hell, the heart of darkness", June 1, 2005
As with most Sin City stories, I give this one a solid four stars. I find it hard to actually pick favorites among the series since they are all unique and beautiful in thier own way, and each one represents something different. Dame to Kill For is the most "classic style" crime noir book, while Hard Goodbye has some of the best action and narration. Family Values is like poetry and Yellow Bastard showcases everything a Sin City comic should be.
Hell and Back is called "A Sin City Love Story", and for a good reason too. All Sin City's are love stories, but Hell and Back is different. The lead character, Wallace, is a tough guy ex-marine turned starving artist with a heart of gold. He saves a beautiful woman named Esther from killing herself and falls in love with her, only to have her kidnapped and taken from him. Wallace becomes a man possessed, focused only on finding his lost love and keeping her safe. On the way he deals with crooked cops, beautiful assassins, and finds himself deep in a conspiracy that involves the slave trade.
The plot of Hell and Back is something to be in awe of, as it twists and turns and keeps you on your seat till the very end. Despite this books massive size, most likely you will want to read it all in one sitting. As the epic story unflows, you keep wanted more and more and find yourself really connecting with the character. Wallace is a true hero that is unique in Sin City. Not to say that Hartigan or Dwight aren't heroic. It's just that Wallace is different. He's a nice guy who's polite and goes out of his way not to kill.
Wallace's nice guy attitude can be either good or bad thing depending on what type of story you like. Some people like a shockingly violent anti-hero like Marv, and they might be dissapointed that Wallace doesn't exactly cut loose the way Marv does. I personally think Wallace is a much needed change of pace in the Sin City world.
Hell and Back is filled with all kinds of cool characters besides Wallace. The most notable is Deliah, or "Blue Eyes", a beautiful and deadly assassin who has a habit of making love to her targets before killing them. Blue Eye's was introduced in Booze Broods and Bullets and makes a strong showing in this book. Manute also makes a small appearance (and gets his face kicked in by Wallace).
The book isn't all good however. It's easily the longest and most expensive in the Sin City series, and to be honest, alot of the book fills like filler. Some scenes drag on far too long while others are not long enough. A pointless scene showing a teenager and his troubles with girls (don't ask) drags on for far too many pages of this book. I found myself engulfed by the first half of the book, but the 2nd half dragged in some parts. Miller could have paced the book a bit better in my opinion.
To end on a positve note, I think the book was overall a good read and worthy of adding to any comic fans collection. If you got the money, and you love Sin City (or just crime noir in geneal) don't think twice about buying this book.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
The ending of the book was a nice touch in my opinion, Esther attempting suicide because she was lonely, and Wallace driving off with her away from Sin City forever. "This rotten town..." I can't help but wonder if that is what Frank Miller felt about Sin City at this point. His 7th book in the series and this time he wrote it as a "love story" with less violence and a happy ending. As the characters drive off thinking about how rotten the town is, does Miller actually feel the same way? Could be, but most likely not. I have a feeling Miller has a few more Sin City books left in him. Or so I would hope...
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great art, somewhat gratuitous gore & nudity, March 15, 2001
Don't be expecting any reveltations in plot here, but this is really great entertainment, beautifully ink-drawn scenes and a storyline that doesn't drag. It's all violence and hot chicks all the time here, baby. In the "Hell and Back" book of the Sin City
series, our loveable and lonesome hero Wallace meets the girl of his
dreams just as she tries to committ suicide. She is, of course, the
girl of everyone's dreams: all boobs and bottom, and seems to have
everything she needs even in this run-down town. Unfortunately for
the new lovebirds, she is kidnapped later that night. After just a
few hours of knowing this woman, Wallace (who we learn is an ex-Navy
Seal) is obsessed with finding her, and will do absolutely anything it
takes to get her back. This includes killing dozens of people; anyone
who stands in his way. What he learns about why she was kidnapped is
unexpected and unnerving. In all, I would say the series is
probably more enjoyable taken in the small monthly doses of a serial
so that each scene can end with a cliffhanger. And really, the story
does move fast enough and with enough twists and turns to keep you
interested without becoming entangled or confusing. This entire story
is in black and white except for one episode, the wildly imaginative
hallucinations scene, which I felt was truly impressive in both its
asthtetic quality and attention to detail as well as the sheer genious
of it. Truly one of the best scenes in the history of graphic novels,
in my opinion. My only real complaint was that I didn't feel even a
smidgen of realism in the comic, and it wasn't really otherworldly
enough to be believable on the opposite level. I thought most of the
characters were flat and two-dimensional. Many elements of the plot
had the depth of a mid-eighties action flick, with everything from the
crooked cop to the boozy barfly chick to the long-suffering vet who's
tried to play it straight for years but finally gets pushed over the
edge by a super-evil-not-so-good-very-bad-guy/organization. However,
the heros are easy to like and the bad guys easy to hate. There's
even a few black widow type females thrown in to ensure enough
gratuitous nudity for even the most demanding of spandex superhero
connesieurs. It's fun, and you'll enjoy reading it.
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