Filthy Rich – Vertigo Crime: DC Comics – Released August 2009
Review by JAM
Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. Richard “Junk” Junkin, a former football star whose career was cut short by a blown out knee in the preseason before his professional career started, which led this “prince” among men to wallow in the common filth of the used car lot. Unfortunately for Rich, his dreams of being Mr. Bigshot never died even when life opened up other opportunities and it caught him up in a wave of destruction that he may not be able to escape.
When Herb Soeffer offers Rich the chance to be a bodyguard to his daughter Vicki, Junk thinks he’s hit the big time again. Watching the “little” girl in her brush with high, yet seedy society gives Rich the feeling of being in control, except when he is around Vicki. Once again being manipulated by those he wants to be a part of, murder, mayhem, and violence follow Rich as he tries to climb into the power that Vicki controls. Problem is, she has all the power and she knows it.
Writer
Filthy Rich comes to us from the mind of Brian Azzarello, the messed up mind that has brought you insight into Joker and 100 Bullets. With Brian’s ability to see into the mind of a villain through his work with the Joker and with Luthor, he is able to give Filthy Rich a feeling of an everyman seeking his shot at the big time, while really Rich seems to be just a guy looking for a break, anyway he can make it come. Brian is able to make the “hero” of the story pitiable in that you think he deserves a little good to come along. Of course, then he screws it all up and believes he deserves everything everyone else has and he plans on taking it his own way. To be honest, Rich went from having my pity to being loathed by the end, and I won’t even start with Vicki the manipulative party girl.
Artist
Victor Santos is the artist on Filthy Rich, mostly known for previous work on Mice Templar. He has a real good look for the noir black and white that this comic needs. His subtle shadowing works well, differentiating between seedy nightclub and alleys with darkness and in house or office scenes with less ink coverage. A lot of these artists on the Vertigo Crime series remind me of Scott McDaniel’s art, which I think is partially because I really enjoy his art and partially because the shading required for the noir feeling gives the art the linear and shade strong feel that Scott McDaniel has consistently done throughout his career.
JAMS Ink on Filthy Rich
Filthy Rich is an interesting run through the life of a man lost in the world who you would like to feel compassion for, but everything he does makes you feel less and less for him. I mean, the guy starts out as the loveable loser who can’t sell a car to anyone, but is kept as a pity pull for the owner to rope in buyers. He has got a girlfriend that adores him, and yet he cannot be happy with what he has. And this feeling of needing and deserving something more drives him to a precipice from which he cannot turn back and there is nowhere to go but down. It is a well done story, but one in which the main character becomes loathsome after a time.
I am enjoying the Vertigo Crime novels, but this one just seemed to be a story that did not need to be told. Maybe it’s my Pollyanna desires of good triumphing over evil, but I think it was also the fact that Rich becomes a truly unlikeable character throughout the novel. If you were to ask me to rate the Vertigo Crime novels I have read thus far, I would probably have to place this one in the middle. I think Area 10 and The Chill were more fun for me to read due to the subject matters I think, but this one is good overall and I would recommend it to someone who enjoys crime novels and good comic artwork.
Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. Richard “Junk” Junkin, a former football star whose career was cut short by a blown out knee in the preseason before his professional career started, which led this “prince” among men to wallow in the common filth of the used car lot. Unfortunately for Rich, his dreams of being Mr. Bigshot never died even when life opened up other opportunities and it caught him up in a wave of destruction that he may not be able to escape.
When Herb Soeffer offers Rich the chance to be a bodyguard to his daughter Vicki, Junk thinks he’s hit the big time again. Watching the “little” girl in her brush with high, yet seedy society gives Rich the feeling of being in control, except when he is around Vicki. Once again being manipulated by those he wants to be a part of, murder, mayhem, and violence follow Rich as he tries to climb into the power that Vicki controls. Problem is, she has all the power and she knows it.
Writer
Filthy Rich comes to us from the mind of Brian Azzarello, the messed up mind that has brought you insight into Joker and 100 Bullets. With Brian’s ability to see into the mind of a villain through his work with the Joker and with Luthor, he is able to give Filthy Rich a feeling of an everyman seeking his shot at the big time, while really Rich seems to be just a guy looking for a break, anyway he can make it come. Brian is able to make the “hero” of the story pitiable in that you think he deserves a little good to come along. Of course, then he screws it all up and believes he deserves everything everyone else has and he plans on taking it his own way. To be honest, Rich went from having my pity to being loathed by the end, and I won’t even start with Vicki the manipulative party girl.
Artist
Victor Santos is the artist on Filthy Rich, mostly known for previous work on Mice Templar. He has a real good look for the noir black and white that this comic needs. His subtle shadowing works well, differentiating between seedy nightclub and alleys with darkness and in house or office scenes with less ink coverage. A lot of these artists on the Vertigo Crime series remind me of Scott McDaniel’s art, which I think is partially because I really enjoy his art and partially because the shading required for the noir feeling gives the art the linear and shade strong feel that Scott McDaniel has consistently done throughout his career.
JAMS Ink on Filthy Rich
Filthy Rich is an interesting run through the life of a man lost in the world who you would like to feel compassion for, but everything he does makes you feel less and less for him. I mean, the guy starts out as the loveable loser who can’t sell a car to anyone, but is kept as a pity pull for the owner to rope in buyers. He has got a girlfriend that adores him, and yet he cannot be happy with what he has. And this feeling of needing and deserving something more drives him to a precipice from which he cannot turn back and there is nowhere to go but down. It is a well done story, but one in which the main character becomes loathsome after a time.
I am enjoying the Vertigo Crime novels, but this one just seemed to be a story that did not need to be told. Maybe it’s my Pollyanna desires of good triumphing over evil, but I think it was also the fact that Rich becomes a truly unlikeable character throughout the novel. If you were to ask me to rate the Vertigo Crime novels I have read thus far, I would probably have to place this one in the middle. I think Area 10 and The Chill were more fun for me to read due to the subject matters I think, but this one is good overall and I would recommend it to someone who enjoys crime novels and good comic artwork.
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