The United States Of Murder Inc
Alternate criminality
Release Date: OUT NOW! $ 3.99 | Publisher: Icon Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Brian Michael
Bendis likes keeping himself busy. On top of scripting Marvel’s core X- Men titles, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider- Man, he’s also keeping up a selection of creator- owned titles. His latest – a new collaboration with Michael Avon Oeming ( artist on Bendis’s superhero saga Powers) – gives us an intriguing alternate history of America.
Set in a world where large areas of the USA are ruled by organised crime, it’s the story of Valentine Gallo, a newly “made man” given a delivery mission to Washington DC that pitches him straight into a turf war between the Mafia Families and an unknown adversary. Gallo then discovers that his mother is working for the FBI, and that he was born solely to infiltrate the Families and take them down from within…
Bendis can write this kind of tough, noir- ish crime thriller in his sleep, and the first three issues of this ongoing series showcase his usual densely written dialogue, alongside a harsh approach to violence and swearing that’s very reminiscent of Powers. However, Bendis’s script doesn’t always know what to do with its killer set- up, instead opting for a bland Sopranoslite approach to the Mafia that’s only occasionally livened up by violent setpieces, and the two main characters lack charisma. Oeming’s work is as stylised and attention- grabbing as ever, but so far United States Of Murder Inc isn’t living up to Bendis’s high standards. Saxon Bullock