Violent Love, Vol 1: Stay Dangerous Review

                                       by Richard Lynch @Richardmlynch

Violent Love, Vol 1 collects the first five issues of the series, published by Image Comics. In this volume, we meet Daisy Jane an average teenage girl on her way to college until her life takes a dark turn that leads down a brutal path of murders, robberies, and revenge all culminating in her fateful first encounter with the equally dangerous, Rock Bradley. It’s a Bonnie and Clyde style revenge story set in the 1970’s. Fans of crime dramas like Pulp Fiction and Breaking Bad will have a pretty good idea of what of expect going into this series.

Much of this first volume is spent introducing us to Daisy Jane as her life gets turned upside down when a killer named Johnny Nails murders her father. Intermittently we are brought forward in time to an ex State-Trooper who is telling Daisy’s tragic story to a little girl, in a twisted homage to the Princess Bride. This interludes, though brief fill in small details and gaps in time while hinting at what may be coming next.

When we meet Daisy again after her father’s murder, she is a highway robber with a dirtbag boyfriend. She is without a doubt the standout aspect of the book, she is intelligent, dangerous and impulsive (heavily Channeling Tulip from Garth Ennis’s Preacher.) The fact that she recognizes the dark path she is going down despite wanting nothing more than a normal life makes her gradual transformation all the more tragic.

The story is mostly setup, we meet a handful of colorful characters and establish who all the heroes and villains will be moving forward. It was a little disappointing to see such familiar narrative beats early on but few exciting moments and fantastic action sequences hint at the potential future stories may explore. And all of this is brought to life with an excellent use of colors and that manage to add to the sense of heightened reality.

Violent Love is the beginning of a story bursting with potential, and there’s no telling where it will go. While at times I wished it would go further with certain details, wanting to see more isn’t exactly a bad thing. Either way, it’s worth a peak.