Dave-El's Book Report: Five Gears In Reverse

It's been awhile since I've done a book report post. 

The Thursday spot has been dedicated to comics.

You might argue that since the book in question is told with pictures of people talking in word balloons, it's still comics.

Since this is a new hard cover production from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, I will insist this is a BOOK and if you wanna call it comics, well, you can fuck right off.

Let's get into Five Gears In Reverse.

This latest installment by Brubaker & Phillips takes place in their Criminal universe of mobsters vying for supremecy in Bay City and the hapless luck deficient Lawless family who flit along the edges of the crime families who run things.  

The focus falls on Ricky Lawless, son of the near legendary Teeg Lawless. Ricky has inherited his father's unfortunate knack for getting into trouble but Ricky is deficient in Teeg's luck for getting out of that trouble.    

Karl calls Ricky.  He wants his goddam money.  

Ricky's in the hole to the bookie for 25 grand.  Karl gives Ricky a tip on a job that will more than net the money he owes. 

All Ricky has to do is show up at the right place at the right time and a big satchel of money will fall right into his lap.

Of course the job is too easy and after many, many questionable decisions by Ricky Lawless, the job goes down with considerable violence ending in murder.  

Without Ricky getting the promised haul.  

With girlfriend Mallory in tow, Ricky robs a liquor store that is a front for the Santini crime family.  

Once more, the old Ricky Lawless bad luck kicks in.  Ricky's score is lost, Mallory gets badly injured and Ricky winds up in the crosshairs of the big man Arno Santini himself.

In order to save Mallory and himself, Ricky takes a low effort,high risk job out of town on behalf of Santini to deal with a rival syndicate. 

Well, that goes badly. 

Looks like Mallory and Ricky are gonna die but Ricky pleads for one last chance to do something for Santini to spare their lives.

So it turns out there is some business Ricky can help Arno Santini take care of.

Ricky takes a high effort,even higher risk on behalf of Santini to take revenge on Sebastian Hyde, Bay City's other, bigger and badder mob boss. 

All Ricky has to do is murder Chester, Hyde's top enforcer.

Chester didn't make it to the top of Sebastian Hyde's criminal network without being very good at what he does.

Ricky weighs his options and decides his best chance of keeping Mallory and himself alive.

Is to make another deal.  

SPOILER:  Ricky and Mallory will escape Arno Santini.

SPOILER #2: Arno Santini will not escape Chester's wrath.

And the book ends with Ricky and Mallory safe and sound despite their misadventures rife with bad decisions and lousy luck.

Except....

Karl calls Ricky.  He still wants his goddam money. 

Well, fuck! 

With Five Gears In Reverse, Ed Brubaker writes a tight, twisted tale of Ricky Lawless in a cycle of ever escalating peril fraught with bad luck, bad decisions and bad impulses.  

While the focus is mostly on Ricky, Brubaker does spend some time on Mallory's backstory, a terrible tale of torment and loss. Mallory is the best thing to ever happen to Ricky but any positive influence she has on Mr.Lawless is mitigated by her own propensity for bad luck, bad decisions and bad impulses. 

Brubaker has an amazing gift for dialogue and internal narration. Brubaker's script is laced with flashes of dark humor as he paints a picture of growing danger and despair.   

Artist Sean Phillips is on point with some of his best artwork, conveying the dark moods of a classic film noir.  With his son Jacob providing color, Sean conveys intensity in people talking as well as explosions of graphic and brutal violence.  

Over the course of various Criminal books, we've watched Ricky Lawless grow from a child to an adult, trapped in the same spiral that consumed Teeg Lawless, his father.  

With Five Gears In Reverse, we witness the epitome of Ricky's evolution into truly his father's son.  

Only with even worse luck than dear old dad.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The world of Criminal will be moving from graphic novels to television with a new TV series set to debut on Amazon Prime later this year with Ed Brubaker as writer and producer. 

The TV series will continue to explore the criminal underworld of Bay City and more misadventures of Ricky and Mallory.