The Banks

Roxane Gay's The Banks is a heist thriller in comic book form. The Banks are a family of thieves from the South Side of Chicago and include married couple Melvin and Clara, their daughter Cora and their granddaughter Celia, an investment banker.  Their philosophy is to get in, get out, get paid and don't get greedy.  They are the most successful thieves in the city.  When Celia, who has long turned her back on her family, comes across a great idea for the heist of all heists it brings together three generations to determine whether it is feasible.

The Banks is a fun read. I especially loved the illustrations and coloring. The story begins in 1972 and I remember the fashions and hair styles well. It's what made me read the comic twice before writing a review. Ming Doyle drew the illustrations and Jordie Bellaire did the coloring. The colors that Bellaire used are all cool jewel tones which I found attractive. 

The Banks family accurately reflects the the time and place of the story. All three of the Banks women are products of the era in which they were born. Clara and Celia have a particularly rough relationship as Celia wants to be an honest worker in a high paying career while Clara didn't feel she had many options for a career. Celia is an investment banker and her grandmother tells her that being a thief is not as bad as being an investment banker.  Cora tells Celia that Celia steals from more people than Clara and steals much more money. Thus, Clara is more honest than her granddaughter. While the heist itself is prominent, these three characters are a major part of the story. 

Highly recommended!  5 out of 5 stars. 

Reckless

Reckless is part one of a new comic book series by Ed Brubaker. Part 2, Friend of the Devil, was published last month and the third and final part will be published later this year. Reckless follows a man named Ethan Reckless. He has a home business where he fixes your problems, for a price. If someone owes you money, he will get you the money. If someone stole your artwork, he will get it back. It is something that he fell in to after helping out a few friends. His jobs increased due to the spread of word of mouth and after 2 years Ethan decided that it would be his career. The setting is 1980s Los Angeles where sex and drugs were rampant. However, Ethan's past as a radical in the 1960s comes back to haunt him when a former girlfriend, Rainy, asks for his help. She has been running from the law ever since she took part in a bombing for the Weathermen group. It's funny that Ethan Reckless is considered the good guy in this comic.  When compared to some of the people he does business with Ethan seems likable but he is clearly breaking the law just as his clients are.  

The artwork was drawn by Sean Phillips and colored by Jacob Phillips. The dark color palettes used are monotone. For me, it was a little depressing. There are a few pages colored in oranges which I liked better. I prefer that the artwork be lighter but I must admit that the Phillips duo matched the feel of the story.  

Having come of age in the 1960s, Reckless was a trip down memory lane. I enjoyed reading about the chaos of the times and even was proud of the "work" the Weatherman group was doing. Today, I view their activities as domestic terrorism but back in the day, they were cool. Also, I hate to admit that I used to dress the way Rainy dressed.  

All comic fans are going to love this graphic novel. I highly recommend it.  5 out of 5 stars.

Redfork

The advertisement that I read for Redfork went as follows:  "Ex-con Noah McGlade returns to find his coal mining hometown of Redfork to be blighted by opioid use and economic decline. But there is something even darker draining the life from this town. As Noah digs deeper he unearths a dormant horror that threatens to consume what little he has left to live for." I was not expecting to read a dark supernatural horror comic but that's what I got. Obviously I missed the clues in the description.

Tragedy follows Noah upon his return to his hometown. His younger brother gets trapped in a mine and his daughter, who suffers from asthma, cannot get medical attention becauseshe is not insured. When a scab miner, Gallowglass, rescues Noah's brother during a strike, he sets up the townspeople against Amcore. Amcore is an energy giant in the country and owns the mine. 

This comic has alot of foul language, even too much for me. The artwork  reflects the horror story that is Redfork. The pages are colored in dark blues, greens and purple and supernatural creatures abound. This type of comic is not my cup of tea but other readers may enjoy it. It had a detailed plot and character development so I hate to give the book a poor rating just because Redfork is not the type of book I enjoy.  I will leave that up to other reviewers.