I haven't read anything beyond the first issue of the first Violent Messiahs story, so I expected to be quite lost in this second mini-series. To some degree, I was, but I also found myself intrigued by Dysart's story of madness, serial killers and a city on the edge of self-destruction. Rodriguez's artwork is also very enticing, reminiscent of Todd McFarlane's best work, with Digital Chameleon providing some of the strongest digital inks I've ever seen. I'm not entirely certain what's going on in this book, and how much of it is all in the mind of our semi-deranged protagonist, but I'm interested in finding out.
Even with a good rundown of what happened in Violent Messiahs: Book of Job, I was a bit confused as to what was going on behind the scenes in Violent Messiahs. The notion of a powerful family constructing a city as sort of an experiment is interesting, but I couldn't decide whether that was supposed to be an actual occurrence or just in the mind of the protagonist, and I also couldn't figure out what the family's motivations or goals were. It is a minor point, but it seems to be important to the underpinnings of the series, and the creators could have done a better job explaining it.
That said, however, Lamenting Pain is pretty accessible beyond that. The notion of a cop who is under investigation and having a bit of psychiatric trouble being called in to hunt a disturbed killer is a classic suspense film cliche, and Dysart plays it up nicely here. Cheri Major doesn't come across as simply colorful, she comes across as easily incited to violence and borderline delusional... she's crazy. And in the tradition of sending a thief to catch a thief, the cops have sent a crazy to catch a crazy, as Scalpel comes across as a creepy and formidable foe.
A lot of that is due to the visual from Tone Rodriguez, which is compelling and frightening, reminding me of the "lust" suit that was designed in Seven. A woman encased head to toe in bondage leather with plenty of sharp knives and spikes is a catchy visual, and Scalpel's almost ritual method of speaking and worship of Citizen Pain gives her an air of danger that layers nicely with the visual. Rodriguez's art is also very strong in the expressions and storytelling, exaggerated but not hard to read and essential to depicting the realistic urban sprawl of Rankor Island. I'm also very impressed that it is digitally inked, as it looks very defined and sharp, and Digital Chameleon and Brad Anderson deserve plenty of credit for solid production values.
Violent Messiahs has been another buzz book from Image, and to be honest I thought it was just a series that didn't appeal to me. However, after reading this issue, it seems I may have judged the series too early, and I might have to go back and check out the trade paperback so I can catch up on the backstory that informs the intriguing first chapter of Lamenting Pain.
