Graphic Novel Review: THE LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME

THE LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME by Rick Remender, writer and Greg Tocchini, illustrator (Image Comics, September 2017) Trade paperback, 184 pages.  ISBN #1534304371 / 9781534304376  

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

With one week until the end of all crime in the United States, can the last heist in American history be pulled off?

 In the not-too-distant future as a final response to terrorism and crime, the U.S. government plans in secret to broadcast a signal making it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts. To keep this from the public, the government creates a distraction, installing a new currency system using digital charge cards.

 

Enter: Graham Brick. A career criminal never quite able to hit the big score. Graham intends to steal one of the charging stations, skip the country, and live off unlimited funds for the rest of his life. But the media has leaked news of the anti-crime signal one week before it was to go live, and now Graham and his team have just a few days to turn the crime of the century into the last crime in American history.  

My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     I first read LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME in 2009-2010 when it was originally published by the late Radical Comics in three over-sized issues, and enjoyed it. When this story came up in a book club discussion of Rick Remender's and Greg Tocchini's LOW, I mentioned it as another work by this creative team. When asked to describe it, I could only recall that it was a futuristic crime story with lots of sex and bloody violence that featured some stylish art that readers would either appreciate or denigrate.

     I just finished reading a library copy of the trade paperback that Image reprinted in 2017, and this still holds up. I enjoyed LDOAC the second time, and appreciate the complexity of the story, the well-defined characters, and twists in the plot. I've since learned to accept the stylish illustrations, coloring and panel placement of Brazilian artist Greg Tocchini. I understand why some readers are put off by his work. The coloring can be murky and sometimes obscure, making it hard to clearly identify the character as well as understand the action/fights. But the creative and inventive moments compensate for that, at least for me. 

     Despite the art style that seems at odds with traditional pulp-era noir illustration this graphic novel still has a real noir feel to it and a cool vibe. Credit Remender's crisp story-telling despite only a small sampling of the first-person cynical/observational narration that typifies the genre. I credit the smart, snarky dialogue as helping to set that mood. 

     Also give Remender credit for foreseeing the use of cryptocurrency. The science-fiction elements of the story (American Peace Initiative, digitized fiduciary charge cards, crime and gangs openly committing brutality in public) take this to another level. But make no mistake, this is a slick crime story about an inventive heist, and its' a damn good one.