Reviewer: Mathan Erhardt
Story Title: Market Street: Part III
Written by: Judd Winick
Penciled and Inked by: Farel Dalrymple
Lettered by: Rob Leigh
Colored by: Guy Major
Editor: Bob Schreck
Publisher: DC Comics
Ok so this is the story of Izzy and Jake, two brothers who also happen to be Hebrew Hitmen. These are the most feared guys in San Francisco. Well Jake is in love with a married woman. Her husband is too eager to get in good with Boss Cohen, the brothers boss. So the husband agrees to kill a rival boss, only to get gunned down in the process. Well with the merry-widow available Jake thinks to make a play for her favor, but so does Boss Cohen. She refuses Cohen’s advances and takes a three-story stumble as a result of it.
In this issue, Izzy and Jake plot revenge. Izzy is completely loyal to his bro, and vice-versa. Izzy understands that Jake really loved the woman, and is going after their Boss, not for revenge, but to make things “right.†Izzy and Jake take custody of the woman’s son, because they to lost a parent at an early age.
They agree that they can’t attack Cohen directly, and thus begin a game of chess, or begin to get their ducks lined up, whichever analogy you prefer. In the issue, we see just how far they are willing to go to make this plan work, which even involves Jake beating Izzy senseless. But in the end, their undoing may be their generous nature, as Boss Cohen begins to suspect that something isn’t kosher.
Judd has crafted a pretty dense story here. His detractors should note how detailed Jake and Izzy’s plot really is. The dialogue is very good, but I’m not sure if it is accurate for the time period. I’ve felt that in every issue so far. The characters sound Jewish (or at least stereotypically Jewish), but I’m not sure that people spoke this way in that time period. One minor qualm in what has been a surprisingly well rounded read thus far.
I’d be lying if I said Dalrymple was my favorite artist. But he gets the job done. The story is told. The characters look distinct, the action works well. I just don’t like his look. The colors look great, especially the lack thereof in the deceased characters. This is a gory issue, but it matches the intensity of the story.
