| Home
¦ Reviews ¦ Family
 |
30th
December 05 |
Family
by Rob
Williams and Simon Fraser
Buy
this book from Amazon.co.uk
What to Expect:
Odysseus City in the near future is run by the Family, a network of gangsters
who possess super powers. Their vice like grip on the city may however be challenged
by an ambitious cop and a face from the past…
Review by Stephen
Watson
‘Family’
by writer Rob Williams (Asylum, Low Life, Breathing Space) and artist Simon Fraser
(Nikolai Dante) was original published in the Judge Dredd Megazine issues 201-207
and to be honest had slipped below my radar
at the time of original publication. Originally delivered in seven short black
and white bursts it doesn’t stand out, looking at first glance like a conventional
gangster pot-boiler.
This collected
edition from Rebellion is clearly intended to redress this possible oversight,
and reading the sixty or so pages in one sitting certainly helps the tale, which
crams in plenty of plot strands and characters.
 |
Oakman
couldn't believe he only came second |
|
The set up is a familiar
one and I was tempted to write that Rob Williams had this original idea whilst
watching an episode of ‘The Sopranos’, but decided against it when
I saw he cited this and several other gangster epics in an interview on this very
site. To be fair, any organised crime yarn can’t help but tread
on many established franchises and the trick is to make your story one of the
genre, rather that a cliché ridden knock off. Williams manages this, in
my opinion, but does tread perilously close with dialogue which includes lines
like “I’m breakin’ your balls, you big galoof”.
I won’t detail
the story in depth as, given it’s short running time, to do so would inevitably
ruin some of the surprises. In short, the long held power of the Odysseus family
(named after the city or the city after them?) is challenged on two fronts, which
intersect with predictably violent consequences. A police detective (Kurt) starts
an affair with the Family’s boss’s daughter (Talia) which he hopes
to exploit to the Family’s detriment, whilst a long dead face from the past
starts to play the various groups ,which make up the Family, against each other
hoping for an all out mob war and ultimately his revenge.
The book itself
is a lovely thing, in the European style of the hardback graphic novel. The cover
is excellent with great energy and enough intrigue to make the curious reader
delve further inside. The end papers of the book which are normally blank are
adorned with blown up panels which are a nice touch and give the sense that this
is indeed a premium product.
In addition to
the story, the package has been fleshed out with four pages of Simon Fraser’s
sketchbook and Rob Williams’ original proposal for the series. This detailed
pitch runs to ten pages and is a worthy addition. I was interested to see where
the original ideal diverged form the published works, with several elements, including
the ending, seeming better than those which finally saw print. I would have enjoyed
Williams further comments explaining the thought process behind the changes, but
I guess that would be just greedy!
The question really
has to be whether this strip deserves this lavish edition and of course whether
it is worth your £9.99?
 |
The
place felt strangely familiar...
|
|
I did enjoy the
strip, although I had to read it through several times before I was fully sure
about what was happening. This was partly due to a detailed plot which contained
flash back and double crosses galore but also because it was at times difficult
to establish who was who. This is certainly easier when reading this slim volume,
but would have been a real bind when reading it in it’s original seven episode
run.
The art is good
and clearly the dark and atmospheric scenes are deliberate in setting the tone
of the strip. There are times however when the characters look too similar and
some elements, such as the super powers, can be hard to immediately grasp. Fraser’s
art is certainly more suited to the fantasy world of Nikolai Dante and, given
the Edward Hopper ‘Nighthawks’ homage, it may be that he is aspiring
to better things too!
The super powers
themselves don’t sit easy and I wonder if they have been added to qualify
the strip as science fiction. The Sicilian bloodline explanation for the powers
is weak and given no Family members share the same power they seem to be randomly
assigned with no reference to reality. Powers include transparent guns which appear
from nowhere and the ability to turn to stone, among others but if you change
these to conventional guns nothing would effectively change in the strip. It may
be the powers are a metaphor for the real powers of fear and violence that the
real Mafia
hold, but I don’t think so. I feel the super powers are an attempt to set
the series apart from established Mafia lore but given the general themes of revenge
and betrayal it doesn’t achieve this.
 |
Coupon
day was always emotional
|
|
Although the strip
does have a definite conclusion the door for further adventure in Odysseus City
was left open, but no new tales have followed. This isn’t really surprising
as I feel that at only sixty or so pages this book pretty much exhausts the premise,
and the lack of real innovation meant the writer had no where else to go, leaving
this series as a standalone.
This is an enjoyable
book but I don’t think it justifies the expense, given the short running
time and largely derivative plot. To conclude, this is one Family that I don’t
recommend you visit this Christmas.
Buy
this book from Amazon.co.uk
Buy
more 2000AD collections from the 2000AD Review shop
|
