The Violent is off to an impressive start, but its a depressing experience. However, if youre the type of person who likes to watch Ken Loach films, youll probably appreciate it. Reading it could potentially ruin your day, but its an important and emotionally charged story that deserves to be told. Read Full Review

The Violent #1 is so good, it hurts to read it. I meanreally hurts to read it because it's just so sad. I'm excited and frightened to see where this story is going to go, because in just one issue, I'm already attached to the characters. If you've ever needed a lesson in how to create something heartbreaking and breathtaking at the same time, The Violent is your go-to source. Read Full Review

The dialogue does a great job of dipping into each respective character's past without being too heavy handed or expositional. The characters are believable and are well established in this first issue. It does end in a way that sets up the rest of series. I'm really excited to see where this series is headed. Read Full Review

This issue was a really pleasant surprise. I absolutely love how realistic and raw the script is. This was an amazing read about some really emotional circumstances. I am so excited to see how the rest of this series plays out. Read Full Review

“Blood Like Tar” concludes with a short story by Vancouver-based writer Sam Wiebe. The similarities in subject and style seamlessly transition from comic to prose, and, much like in Brisson's narrative, we are left unsure who to root for. The Violentis a true gem, both in concept and execution; the writing, the art, the Missives from the Edge and Sam Wiebe's prose story come together in a cautious love-letter to a city who may occasionally drag its residents through the muck, but seems to know the the pay-offs of persistent challenge. Good things don't come to those who wait, but to those who overcome. Read Full Review

While many of us have not been in situations like that of Mason and Becky, the creative team behind this title makes it easier to imagine what they have to endure. These characters know that there is a life of crime and drug abuse waiting for them to slip up and fall into old patterns. Mason and Becky aren't people who are far removed from this lifestyle but rather they're fresh out of it. They're battling everyday with the temptation to return to what they know, and from this stems turmoil in their relationship and conflict with a world waiting for them to make a mistake. Read Full Review

"The Violent" is a comic book that takes a struggling couple and throws every temptation it can at them. The pair are trying to stay off drugs, stay out of jail and make ends meet for their young daughter. Life has a way of finding your weaknesses and exposing them as is the case in this book. If you like reading comics that are about real people with some tough times playing out in the panels then this is the book for you. The title is a little misleading for this issue as there is hardly any violence in the comic. However, the story within is a very punch-in-the-gut kind of read. I highly recommend picking this up. Read Full Review

What some may find difficult to crack in this opening salvo is how relentlessly bleak The Violent can be, while others may find that it is a little too close to home. Yet Brisson's admirable attempt to highlight one of the most pressing social concerns of our era is a holistic one, supported by the supplement texts that are set to appear in the back-matter, beginning with this month's 'Head Down' by writer Sam Wiebe. He's also created two characters that we want to spend some more time getting to know, already hooking us in for a second issue. Read Full Review

So, don't pick up this book if you just want twenty-four pages of guys punching each other. It's probably going to be a slower-paced book, and it's about a different kind of violence. It looks like Brisson wants to ask some different kinds of questions about urban life and poverty, and I'm intrigued. I'm looking forward to #2. Read Full Review

The Violent is important. It opens up the dialog on drug addiction and poverty to the community of comics and effectively broadens the awareness and scope of those topics. While it may not be dazzling, it is beautiful and raw and hits you right in the gut. This book deserves an audience, and I hope that it gets one. Read Full Review

'The Violent' is terrific, genre-bending comic full of surprises, heart, and a painful realness that's at some times difficult to read but completely impossible to ignore as Ed Brisson presents a meaningful, relevant, and poignant tale of family, crime, and life. Read Full Review

I'm definitely looking forward to checking out future issues of THE VIOLENT. Read Full Review

This was a comic that I felt came out of nowhere. It wasn't on my radar (sorry Ed and Adam), but after reading it, it absolutely is now. This is a comic I not only recommend for comic fans, but also for folks who don't normally read comics. We talk about comics that have the ability to cross over like that, and this is a series that absolutely has that potential based off of this first issue. This is one to watch… actually this is one to buy and read. Read Full Review

The Violent #1 is a gorgeous, ruthless debut. Only one issue in, this is on par with any Brubaker/Phillips work in terms of tone and execution, but somehow even more perfectly painful in scope. Its a pleasure to work your way through it, just be prepared to get bruised up as you do. How do you do the right thing when youre not sure there is one for you? How about when youre not sure you want to? We all get desperate at times and weve all had to survive in our own way; Brisson, Gorham, and Garland take that to extremes without ever leaving the cold, unforgiving ground. Oooof, lets pour one more. Read Full Review

If you enjoy realistic street-level crime stories, The Violent should be right up your alley. It chronicles the cycle of poor decisions that keep an ex-con in a life on the wrong side of the law and how those affect the people around him. This was an extremely well done comic and is worth a look. Read Full Review

This is the first issue in a five-issue arc titled “Blood like Tar” and I look forward to seeing where the next four issues take Mason. I'm also more than a little terrified. Read Full Review

“The Violent” is not an easy book to read. There are a lot of big ideas floating around, that will make you react positively or negatively. And that is the point, the discussion about why society is so “violent” is the heart and soul of this book. Granted, the book does not make a clear distinction on what is right, but is open the discussion up. I love books like this, ones that make you think about what is going on and how to fix it. As noted earlier, it is timely considering all that is happening in the Western world right now. While I am curious to see if it goes more “Canadian”, “The Violent” is a very solid entry into the world of crime themed comics. Read Full Review