ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance,’ Issue #1

A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #1 is published by Image Comics, written by Rick Remender, art by Andre Lima Arujo, colors by Chris O’Halloran, and letters by Rus Wooton. In the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, a man begins his day much like any other. He leaves his home to catch a bus to begin a trip to meet someone. Nothing unusual to speak of, really. But where his trip will end up taking him will have life-altering consequences.

Different styles of storytelling can fit more naturally with certain types of media. Take comics, for example. Comics work best with punchy one-shot adventures or multi-part narratives that have lots of going on in each installment and good hooks at the end of each issue to keep the reader compelled to come back next month. By contrast, stories that stretch out their elements in a more slow-burn style feel a bit more awkward in the standard monthly comic format. The slow pace of introduction to elements and the stretches of downtime that are often utilized to build an atmosphere while being good for the overall narrative can make individual issue purchases difficult as they can leave a buyer wondering whether or not the purchase was worth it. I run into this every time Tom King starts a new limited series. And just as the aforementioned writer has proven, the slow-burn approach can be successful; it’s just a much trickier path to tread in the medium of comics.

Yet, A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #1 chooses to walk that path as it begins its tale. With the first half of the book containing virtually no dialogue, the reader is left learning about the book’s unnamed protagonist largely through what they see. And what is seen speaks highly of the individual’s character overall. Unless you’re one of those people who consider smoking a moral failing, I suppose.

As A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #1 follows our protagonist through his travels, we see him faced with a string of minor conflicts of character as he navigates the mundanity of daily life. Considering how little dialogue is present in the book, the narrative manages to deliver the character’s personality wonderfully. As we reach the book’s finale and the revelation our protagonist stumbles upon, we need only look back at what has come before to extrapolate what the character’s reaction is likely to be.

The art throughout this book does a great job of delivering the everyday nature of the bulk of this story. All the people look and dress as one would expect. This feeling begun with the lines is further brought through with the colors. Rather than the bright, eye-catching colors we often expect from comics, most of the world is duller. This gives clothes and other objects a more lived-in or worn look to them.

Rounding out the presentation is the lettering. Given the limited amount of dialogue in the book, it would be highly disappointing if the lettering managed to go astray in this story. Happily, no such failure occurs.

So, when all is said and done, A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #1 begins its story in a slow-paced fashion that gives the reader some time to get familiar with their protagonist’s personality before ending on a revelation. If a slow burn story is your speed, you might want to give this book a look.

A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #1 is available October 6th, wherever comics are sold.