By Mitch Barracuda

Ed Burns’ Dock Walloper #1
Created by Ed Burns
Written by Ed Burn, Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Siju Thomas
Virgin Comics
Cover price: $2.99; Available now

You know what they say? Guys with big fists have big…knuckles? Dock Walloper is another entry into the Virgin Comics “Director’s Cut” line of comics featuring some of today’s sleek and stylish filmmakers as creators. Dock Walloper is by Edward Burns, a writer/actor/director that started out by impressing Robert Redford with his big…movie, The Brother’s McMullen at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Then he went onto make more independent films, star in Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan with Tom Hanks, and steal Christy Turlington away from us droolbaggers. He’s got big…ideas, I tell ya.

Set in 1920’s New York during Prohibition, Dock Walloper chronicles the life of a man named Smith, with an abnormally large fist, and his best friend, Bootsy, just trying to find work and survive in the big city. But this is during an era when race was an issue, so Smith is constantly standing up for his black friend, which leads to some brawling on the loading docks and giving Smith his new nickname, Dock Walloper. It’s pretty clever, and I dig that about this book. Clever will always get you far in my book. From there, the two misfits of society become a part of something: illegal distribution, Mafioso, and murder.

Right off the bat, the writing slaps the reader upside the head with some crazy combos of slang, names, and words I’m not sure exist in the dictionary… and that’s not a bad thing. Part of the allure is how this is written, bringing back the old crime story language with short bursts, wise guys, and quick tempers. Burns along with Jimmy Palmiotti (Painkiller Jane) craft this tale strategically so that they not only stay in the 1920s, but also keep it tasteful to today’s action standards. Pacing, characterization, and atmosphere are all intricately crafted, spreading out beyond the page and into the reader’s world. I’m still seeing the dame Cora in my head, but probably because she’s the only thing brightly colored in the book. I like that. Trickery will always get you far in my book. Siju Thomas does a fantastic job keeping the classic tones and pencils in check to that classic look of the Roaring Twenties.

If Ed Burns and Jimmy Palmiotti can keep this up, I can see this becoming a film or television series pretty quick. Then afterwards, he can share his big… bucks with me. And Christy. Sharing will always get you far in my book.

GRADE: A
CONTINUE READING? I could get used to this world. Classy and full of old new slang words for my vocabulary!