Road to Perdition, written by Max Allan Collins; art by Richard Piers Ravner
I've never really been a fan of the "true crime" genre, but I have enjoyed cartoons and comic books of various types for as long as I can remember. Therefore, Road to Perdition was both a surprising and enjoyable combination --a graphic novel that painstakingly recounts the tale of "The Angel of Death" Michael O'Sullivan as he is betrayed by and seeks vengeance against Midwestern gangster John Looney and his crazy son, Connor.
The novel is set in the Tri-cities area where Moline Illinois, Rock Island, and Davenport Iowa come together. 1930s era Rock Island was the focal point for Looney's illegal gambling, bootlegging, and prostitution operations. The story is told from the point of view of Michael O'Sullivan's young son of the same name, who loses his innocence as he learns what his father really does for a living, and loses his mother and brother to Connor Looney's bloodthirsty ways.
Beyond the exciting true crime storyline of Michael O'Sullivan's vengeance against the Looney family, the most interesting thing for me was the sense of guilt each protagonist had to deal with. Michael Jr. grappled with survivor's guilt from knowing that if he hadn't followed his father that fateful day and witnessed a routine shooting, Connor Looney might not have tried to kill him (to eliminate him as a witness) and his family would not have been murdered. Michael Sr. blames himself for the deaths --after all if he wasn't a killer, he tells himself, his family would still be alive. Yet Ironically, Michael Sr. justifies his involvement in "the business" as the only way he could support his struggling family during the Great Depression.
PUBLISHER: Pocket Books, New York, 2002. ISBN: 0743442245
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