Frank Miller — Scene Of The Crime
Sin City: Family Values, October 1997
Family Values — The fifth Sin City yarn (and the only one released as a straight graphic novel instead of individual comic issues) — seems to be at the lower end of the rankings for Frank Miller Sin City fans. If you ask me (and I know you didn’t) this is a bad rap.
While definitely more straightforward and less rich story-wise than some of the earlier tales, Family Values is a revenge thriller told well. Perhaps fans found it too conventional: Had Miller decided to make a few changes, it could easily be transformed into a Daredevil/Electra/Punisher story.
This art is from the terrific multi-page opening sequence. Dwight McCarthy visits the scene of the crime of a recent gangland killing, at night, in Volkswagen Beetle… in a blizzard. Beautiful noir storytelling — and perhaps the best-looking snowstorm to ever appear in comics. And has a VW bug ever previously looked menacing? Only Miller could pull it off quite this way.
“Pok Pok “indeed.
(And my folks were in the food business. How could I resist a splash page with a diner in it?)
