Gangland

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful tales of gruesome violence
Review: This trade paperback collects the first four issues of Vertigo Comics' Gangland series - 14 short stories altogether, by some of the leading artists and writers in the field. The stories in Gangland are all stories about organized crime and gang life, but they all share a sarcastic, sardonic, post-modernistic kind of view, which makes them fascinatingly fresh and original. As these short story collections often do, Gangland has stronger bits and weaker ones, and the whole collection can't really be as satisfying as a good full-scale graphic novel (like a good Frank Miller or Alan Moore story), but the stories are often more extreme and more experimental than a full novel can be. Being a comic writer I can tell you myself - short stories give the writer much more room for experimentations and chance-taking. Some of the stories on Gangland really take chances.

My favorite story in the collection, which takes the subject to extreme ends, would have to be 'Worldwide Gangster Robots', presumably based on the ranting of a real person (credited in the beginning of the story), is the story of a man's (imaginary... or is it?) battle against the brainwashing of Worldwide Gangster Robot Radio Brains. Danijel Zezelj's artwork and Grant Goleash's ('100 Bullets') coloring are dark and eerie and the mumbling monologue combines for a terrific and creepy atmosphere.

Other highlights include 'Clean House' by Brian Azzarello (Hellblazer, Incredible Hulk) and Tim Bradstreet, which takes a rather well-chewed crime-story subject and gives it a nasty twist and a startling punchline. 'Big Shot' is another excellent piece written by Jamie Delano ('Batman: Manbat) with wonderful artwork, which is short and fast and makes its point well. 'The Big Snooze', with the immediately recognizable inking of the great David Lloyd ('V For Vendetta') tells the story of a very unlikely hero, and is both sarcastic and very, very touching (usually noted as an artist, Lloyd does a great writing job on this one). 'Platinum Nights' has great artwork by Paradox Press's James Romberger and a fantastic story, and 'Electric China Death', words by Richard Bruning (editor for DC Comics) and pictures by Mark Chiarello ('Terminal City'), takes a surreal look on a classic scene of violence. Finally, the great Peter Kuper's ('The System', 'ComicStrips' and a series of Franz Kafka adaptations) 'Chains', a very short comic which says a lot more in three wordless pages than some of the others do in fifteen.

I put the rating down to 4/5 because of some of the filler material, the much weaker stories. My biggest disappointment was Dave Gibbons' 'The Bear', a poorly written and very expected story. Mr. Gibbons, legendary 'Watchmen' artist, doesn't make it as and artist like Lloyd does. 'Initiation', 'Killer Smile' and 'Small Time' are also weak, though they all have good artwork.

The extreme violence shown on the pages of Gangland is poetic violence, like that of Quentin Tarantino or David Fincher. It shows violence and lawbreaking at its most beautiful and its most horrific at once. Gangland is meant for mature readers, and ones who are not easily offended. If you enjoy works by artists like Frank Miller, Garth Ennis, Alan Moore, Peter Kuper or Robert Crumb, Gangland is well worth adding to your collection.