Zeb Larson reviews The Violent #4…
“BLOOD LIKE TAR” Part Four Mason attempts to cover up his past crimes by committing a far more heinous crime.
I hate starting off a review with bad news, but it seems unavoidable in this case: the next issue of The Violent is going to be the last one, at least for a while. In the long-term, Brisson and Gorham are apparently planning to shop it around or even conceivably do a kickstarter to continue this story, but for the time being it’s going to have to come to a halt. This is a shame, because I’ve had the sense that this arc was supposed to be a sort of prologue as the series starts to dive into some broader themes about urban life, poverty, and crime. Warning: I will be discussing some spoilers ahead, so consider yourself forewarned.
Mason tries to clean up some of the mess (figuratively and literally) from the last issue, but he’s not having very much luck with it. For one thing, Dylan’s nosy ex-girlfriend is coming around. On the other end of things, the detectives have caught up to Becky and have started asking questions about her connection to Joel. The ring is tightening around Mason, but he doesn’t seem to know it yet, even performing a few small acts of charity. But with the police so close at hand, it looks as though it’s all about to fall apart.
The news that the series is coming to a temporary end is extraordinarily frustrating, in part because this isn’t in a place to be wrapped up easily. The issue ends with Mason facing the heat once again, but to bring everything crashing down and have it carry some narrative weight in one issue just does not feel satisfying. Brisson and Gorham damned-if-they-do and damned-if-they-don’t: if they try to wrap everything up it will be rushed, but if they leave threads dangling (and it seems hard not to), they could be leaving them dangling for a good long while. For example, is Mason going to get arrested for his crimes, or get killed trying to flee? What about Becky? For that matter, Kaitlyn? It’s a lot to close in 24 pages, with no real room to linger on the human element of the story.
All of my sadness is because there’s a lot of potential in this story. For one thing, we have the broad look at Vancouver. Urban grit and crime is hardly new as a genre, but when we think about it, we’re usually looking at either the major cities or particularly blighted places (Detroit, Baltimore, etc.). This is why looking at Vancouver is so refreshing, because its reputation is basically a good one. It shoots right to the top of most livability indexes, but its cost-of-living is also becoming astronomical. Out of several million people, not all of them can be winners in that mix. This book is a good reminder that even the best cities have ugly sides, and 21st-century prosperity is not dispensed equally.
There’s also an interesting look at the interplay of crime, poverty, and personal responsibility. Mason and Becky’s circumstances are nothing if not desperate, because people who are about to lose everything can be pushed to incredible lengths. Yet they still make choices, and Mason has continued to make bad choices. Dylan was in nearly-identical circumstances (to be fair, with no kid), and he was at least ready to do the right thing. If Mason isn’t going down in a hail of gunfire in issue #5, I was hoping to see that explored in greater detail, as well as his drug-using past and the decisions that led him here. How much are his travails his own making, and how much were they forced on him? There’s more to explore there.
My hope is that this story is continued, because I honestly believe that it was just getting to its sweet spot. It can take time to create payoff, but putting in the time as a reader is worthwhile. Let’s hope that The Violent hasn’t met its final end just yet.
Rating: 8/10
Zeb Larson
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Originally published May 4, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
