“Men Of Wrath” is the bleakest thing Jason Aaron has ever produced, and that’s saying something.
Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by Ron GarneyEver since Great Grandfather Isom killed a man over some sheep, a black cloud has hung over the Rath family. Now, over a century later, Ira Rath, the coldest hitman ever to walk on Alabama soil, has taken a job that will decide the fate of his cursed family once and for all. Writer Jason Aaron (Southern Bastards, Scalped) and artist Ron Garney (Weapon X, Thor: God of Thunder) team up once again, to bring you the story of a Southern family, whose only heirloom is violence.
Violence in comic books can be a strange thing. Pick up any book from DC and Marvel, and if there’s not a fight every seven pages people start asking for their money back. But when Superman punches somebody, it looks more like a slight pump when really their heads should just explode. Even when Wolverine gets bloody, it’s almost always against another guy in a costume. The costumes makes the violence acceptable, and reminds us that this is all just make-believe. When you venture away from superheroes, into the realm of crime and noir comics, those lines become far more blurry. “Men of Wrath” from Jason Aaron and Ron Garney exists in this blurry era. The characters are bad, the colors are muted, and the violence is stark and real.
Set in a version of the Southern Alabama that will make you instantly forget that Forrest Gump comes from there, “Man Of Wrath” follows Ira Rath, a cold man from a long line of cold men. He’s a hitman for crime lords, the one that the other hitman tell scary stories about. After another grisly job, a trip to the doctor and a visit from his underworld employer coincide to set Rath on a path the will end only in blood. But it seems like he expects every day of his life to end that same way.
Jason Aaron is like the William Faulkner of comics. With “Scalped”, “Southern Bastards”, and now “Men of Wrath”, Aaron has crafted a version of the American South that is steeped in tradition, faith, and unending violence. Ira Rath is presented as the inevitable product of this environment, a casualty of a strange twist of fate that has fallen on his family. Any attempts to see the character as a victim of his surroundings and any trace of sympathy should be wiped away by page three. Aaron has created a monster, one who has spent years committing horrible act after horrible act to the point where he can’t even pretend to himself that he is powerless against his nature.
Aaron has really proved himself to be a master of narration. The opening scenes mirror that of “Southern Bastards”, which really feels like a sister-series to “Wrath”, in that Aaron fills the pages with narration that avoids feeling like exposition. One of the benefits of being a #1 issue that sets up an entire world is that you’re allowed to set up an entire world. From then on the dialog flows naturally, all slang and colloquialisms that flesh out the setting and make the characters feel more unique.
Like all good #1’s, “Wrath” ends with a pretty big hook designed to get the reader foaming at the mouth for #2. The twist in “Wrath” is certainly not the most revolutionary plot thread, but it does speak to the large theme of the series. In this world, violence sticks to bloodlines, just like male patterned baldness. It’s a cycle of sin for the Rath men, one that they create and can’t escape. Ira himself notes that if his grandfather had been somewhere else on the day the curse struck their family, things would have been different, but instead it infected them like a virus. Now Ira might put an end to it, but Aaron avoids painting it like some sort of victory, and instead it’s just more bleakness.
While Jason Aaron cut his teeth on creator-owned comics, Ron Garney has been a Big Two superhero guy for most of his entire career. He has pencilled just about everyone that has ever been a member of the Justice League or the Avengers, but the closest he came to non-superheroes was drawing the crowds that gathered to watch Spider-Man. Garney and Aaron recently collaborated in “Thor: God Of Thunder”, and while a literal god seems about as far away from small town Alabama as it gets, someone must have realized the untapped capacity for empty starkness in Garney’s art.
Continued belowThe art is as bleak as the story. No flash, no show, just minimalist images that mirror the lack of emotion displayed by the characters. Ira is as stoic has they come, but Garney still makes the character a focal point of every page. His face is creased and weathered, with more lines than Clint Eastwood and Bryan Cranston mixed together. It’s a testament to Garney that he can create visually interesting characters without bright spandex.
The violence found in the issue will be a major topic of discussion, but it should be noted that Garney shows a lot of restraint when it comes to the blood. Yes people get shot in the head, but the issue’s most depraved act takes place completely off panel. This perceived indifference matches that of the main character, and uses the art to paint Ira as a man for whom death has grown as stale and dull as watching paint dry. In terms of on-panel gore, there has been more blood in issues of “Ultimates”.
“Men Of Wrath” is a great comic and definitely not for everyone to read. Ira Rath is not a good person. He’s not an anti-hero. He probably wasn’t ever a good person to begin with. Imagine if Walter White has 10 more years of Heisenberg sucking away his soul, and that still doesn’t compare to Rath. But maybe’s that’s the point. Rath is unsympathetic in every way, but he still has a story to tell. And it’s a mean one.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Jason Aaron and Ron Garney have crafted a first issue that paints a bleak and strangely compelling world. Comic readers should give it a shot, but have a bunch of funny kitty videos ready for when they’re finished.
