A History Of Violence by John Wagner, Vince Locke (1997, Paperback)

“A History of Violence” is the story of a man, Tom McKenna, thrust into the lime-light as a hero, after foiling an attempted robbery on his small-town diner. When the media attention surrounding Tom attracts interest from the mafia, things go horribly wrong for Tom and his family.

What an absolute wonderful graphic novel!

The book is a very quick, fast-paced read. But at almost 300 pages, the story is still long enough for readers to become emotionally attached to the characters. The flashback chapter is extremely helpful in bringing the current day, main storyline into focus, and its absence is sorely missed in the movie adaptation.

Potential readers should pay careful attention to the word “Violence” in the title, because the violence in this book is gruesome. Fortunately, the panels are softened a bit as presented (by talented artist, Vince Locke) in black and white, as opposed to blood-soaked full color.

If you have yet to see the movie, read the book first. But even if you have seen the movie, you should still check out this comic book masterpiece. The story is wonderful as presented in either media. But the upper-hand definitely goes to John Wagner’s and Vince Locke’s superb graphic novel.