Review: United States Vs. Murder Inc. #1

United States Vs. Murder Inc. created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, and published with DC Comics is an instantly intriguing graphic narrative about an aspiring hit man. But in this case, Jagger, the young protagonist, is an aspiring hit woman ”“ the first of her gender but not the first killer in her family. She comes from a long line of hired killers for the Bonavese family. The book opens with her life“s motivating event, a murder that happens when she is just a child, and so begins her training and her initiation into the family legacy.

Her mentor is her Uncle Jake, a gruff but lovable hit man in his own right. Jagger“s youth is underscored by readers“ first encounter with her in a classroom. The scenes shift quickly and fluidly in this opening issue so the fact that Jagger is confronted with her first initiation rite just after Uncle Jake pulls her out of class is almost unremarkable. Her last initiation rite is only teased in this issue, but it will require readers to come back to this story next issue just to see Jagger“s fate.

Taki Soma (colors) and Curtis King (design) utilize dark tones with red accents, creating a visual effect that matches the gritty settings and dialogue. The book operates on multiple timelines and the colors and design cue the readers along the way. The visuals are, overall, incisive and striking, creating a sense of the protagonist“s youth in brilliant tension with the dark sensibility of the mob/killer underworld to which Jagger has a natural (or unnatural) affinity ”“ depending on the reader“s perspective and interpretation. What“s not left up to interpretation is the general callousness and brutality of a world where a child is conscripted into contract killing before even reaching High School.

Jagger and Uncle Jake“s family business embodies a kind of matter-of-fact morbidity that must be the consequence of generations upon generations of its existence. They are soldiers in a war in which (as of yet) they ask no questions. Uncle Jake simply carries out his task with Jagger in tow ”“ a deadly apprentice in eager training to inherent her opportunity to carry on in the family“s tradition.

Comic book fans with any affinity for the American tradition of gangster films ”“ those readers who love Goodfellas and The God Father II as much as they enjoy Batman and/or Superman, will love this book. Bendis and company take only a few pages to immerse readers in an underworld where heroes don“t exist and even if they did ”“ they wouldn“t matter. 4/5!

(W) Brian Michael Bendis (A/CA) Michael Avon Oeming