Thursday, October 5, 2017

THE JOHN BRUNI MUSEUM OF MEDIOCRE (AT BEST) SHIT #5: HITMAN #35 REVIEW






[This is the second comic book review I ever wrote. It appeared in the March 9, 1999 issue of the Leader. I kind of got the impression that very few people were reading these things. I would find out later that I was incorrect in thinking this.]


Garth Ennis’s new issue of Hitman is based on a cliché, but he brings a whole new way to view it. Boy grows up in an orphanage, becomes a man, and searches for his roots. Nothing new there, except the boy in question is Tommy Monaghan, otherwise known as Hitman. Yeah, he has super powers including x-ray eyes and being able to read people’s minds, making him the perfect hitman.


For the previous 34 issues the reader has been just as knowledgeable about Tommy’s past, which includes all the lies he has been told. Now in the 35th installment something new is brought into the picture. Tommy apparently was not found on the steps of St. Killian’s Orphanage in a bag with his name on it. Actually, his mother was staying at the orphanage for awhile and ended up getting killed. Naturally, being Tommy, he decides to find out who committed the crime. Of course, it is not hard to figure out what he wants to do from there.


It is refreshing to see the orphanage cliché used in a more malicious light than usual. It is not often that the orphaned boy turned man searches for his roots with fire in his eyes and a thirst for blood.


There is also some involvement from Tiegel, Tommy’s on again, off again girlfriend who has not been seen in a while, and it is always nice to get back to their relationship. It seems that all they do now is argue, and that is something Ennis is very good at portraying. Those who do not see that have never read about John Constantine and Kit in Hellblazer, another comic series that Ennis has worked on.


A new relationship can also be seen, one that was hinted at in the Christmas issue the year before last: Sean Noonan and Sister Concepta, a bartender and a nun!


Hitman is usually a funny comic, mainly a commentary on how ridiculous superheroes are, but this story, entitled “Kate,” is quite serious. The comic relief is definitely needed.


It should be obvious that if this had taken place in the age of black and white movies, James Cagney could have easily played Tommy. There are even some black and white flashbacks relating to Tommy’s mother’s life, which is kind of an Irish prostitute’s story. The kind of woman that men spit at during the day, then sleep with at night, yet she still comes out on top. Her tact is simple: whenever she gets pregnant she names the child after the father, even when one of them “suggests” that she doesn’t.


Most men who write testosterone-drenched action stories portray women as either the lover on the side, the maiden in distress, or just plain old sex objects. Ennis rarely, if ever, does this. Tommy’s mother Katie does not take crap from anybody, and neither do any other heroines in this, or any other Ennis comic. One would be hard pressed to find a major female character in one of Ennis’s comics who is not tough.


The story is simply unstoppable, especially if you have known Tommy for a long time. As he goes searching for his roots with his sister Frances he will no doubt find his father, who is probably responsible for his mother’s death. You can see it coming, especially since Tommy tells us in the beginning that he just shot his father in the head, but it is always mesmerizing to see Tommy in action.


To tie it all together, Ennis gives us not only a sense of humor and realism, but also great storytelling ability. He has been able to take a cliché and work wonders. For now, we are left with a cliffhanger, but the conclusion of the “Katie” storyline will be on the shelves this month.

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