Filthy Rich HC
I am ten years late to this book. I happened upon a first printing of a hardcover Filthy Rich in a used bookstore. I got it for a ridiculous $3.37, rather than its cover price of $19.99, but that was just a bonus to me. I picked it up because it had Brian Azzarello's name on it. I didn't actually know that he had written the excellent 100 Bullets, or Batman: Broken City, or Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire. I learned all that reading Silkcuts' review of this book (thanks, Silk'). But the New 52 Wonder Woman? I knew that, and I knew that I'd loved it. And I really love his on-again-off-again Moonshine title. So, another original tale from Azzarello? You bet!
All that to say: no one's perfect.
Now don't get me wrong. This book was still good. As a nearly fifty-year old guy with nearly fifty years worth of regrets under his belt, I could really identify with the self-loathing helplessness of the main character. I could identify with his anger too. Azz' hit all the right beats in characterization. That part was pretty danged near flawless.
What wasn't quite flawless was the overall plot. I don't say this often, but I think this one might have done better onscreen. Being able to hang out on whichever panel I wanted kind of screwed with the pacing. It made the idea that this guy could be swept up into a world he didn't belong, and almost get the girl, falter, just a little.
There were a handful of characters playing one-against-the-other for their own ends, and I think maybe that was overreaching just a wee bit. Even if this went to screen, it would need to be tweaked just a bit to keep viewers from getting lost. Most of the characters revealed their agendas eventually. The thing was, it felt like they told their motivations because that's what the story called for, but they hadn't done everything to prove those motivations during the story.
It wasn't crud, but a tiny bit less than what I expected from Azzarello. The art makes up for most of the failings here; parts of it were reminiscent of Frank Miller's Sin City art. There's just those little nicks and dings in the plot that are keeping it from getting the full five stars from me. Maybe I shouldn't compare this to Wonder Woman and Moonshine since they both came later. I should probably say that as good as this was, those later works show that Mister Azzarello has gotten even better. Sorry though, this is the order I read them in, and that affected my enjoyment of the story. Final score: four stars.
*******
