Sin City: Family Values Bk. 5 (Sin City (Dark Horse)): Family Values Bk. 5 (Sin City (Dark Horse))

Dwight shows up at Poppa's Olympian Palace, an old fashioned diner (you know the type; it looks like you could put it on wheels and hitch it to a train as a cheap dinner car) driving a VW Beetle (hey, it is a German car, so what is your complaint? Besides, you can always trade up). The place is riddled with bullets and whatever happened there Dwight is interested, and since deadly little Miho is backing him up we have to think it has something to do with the girls of Old Town. The problem is that nobody is talking about why what happened at Poppa's happened and it takes a while and a couple of versions of the tale to figure out the meaning of the key detail Miller keeps working into the art. You are not going to be able to figure out what is going on until it is all laid out for you, but that is not necessarily a bad thing (as opposed to telegraphing the ending). I also like a red herring, especially when it walks on four legs.

It seems like every killing in Sin City is revenge for a previous killing, which just means there is another killing in Sin City that needs to be revenged and the cycle goes on and on and on. But there is a moral to this particular story and as Dwight notes it is a great big wide world out there and there's all kinds of families in it. Apparently they all play by the same rules, it is just that some are a lot better at it, especially when it comes to covering their tracks. The best part of this story is the way Dwight has to unravel the truth, moving from one source to the next to find out another layer of the truth so that he and Miho know exactly who has to pay for what happened (and we finally get to find out what really happened).

"Family Values" is a relative short "Sin City" tale, coming it at 126 black & white pages and I think picking pink as the color on the cover to go along with the drawing of Miho in the snow might be a made choice (besides red and yellow, do any colors really make sense in Miller's "Sin City"). Miller does some nice things with the snow in Book 5 that are interesting, but reducing Miho to a ghostly figure of pure white takes a little getting used to (especially if you want to start unpacking the symbolic value of doing so in contrast to the shadows and dirt of Sin City in general). It is a rather simple and ordinary tale by "Sin City" standards, but that still makes it above average if you are looking at the overall genre of graphic novels.


The Short Pink One   July 20, 2005
RB Davies (uk)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

Another awesome sin city installment. Admittidly not with the same raw, cut graphics of the first few but still beautiful & signature Miller. As this was the shortest of the books i've read from the series it does leave you wanting but for the price it is a cracking read - dark, blunt and full of that amazing circling dialogue that Miller fans have seen in not only Sin City but his Batman aswell. Incidentally, had some serious deja vous moments with some of the compositions of Miho and Miller's Caroline Kelly (Robin From Dark Knight Returns & Strikes Again) and there is a hint of Vinnie in Lex Luthor aswell. Basically if you were a fan of the above titles or the series in general this won't let you down but i would be tempted to invest in another aswell to keep you busy as it is short and pacey. For the those daring to enter Sin City for the first time this is a great piece but i'd hit the Yellow Bastard or A Dame to Kill For first- this one is a good accompeniament to save for a cookie break or a rainy day.
Keep it casual
r


Wow   October 29, 2003
3 out of 7 found this review helpful

I first read this when i was about 10 and have only found a copy now that i had the wonderful idea of amazon and it is as good as i originally thought it was. The plot is fantastic and miho was and still is the best assassin i have ever read or seen in anything, full marks go to the author


Welcome To Blood Spattered Sin City   January 5, 2001
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

Another yarn of violent payback on the mean streets of Sin City. A man with a debt to pay is looking for answers regarding the murder of a city official called Bruno. Bruno has a shadowy past, and his killers haven't managed to cover their tracks.....

Business as usual in Sin City - the breathtaking use of black and white imagery successfully conveys the mean streets and low lifes, whilst the violence is suitably grotesque and over the top. The bitter black comedic plot should grab anyone who is a fan of of Chandler, Leonard or Ellroy.

Not top notch when compared to The Big Fat Kill or the original Sin City but still worth taking a look at for lovers of crime or if you wonder what Miller got up to after Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.


priests and whores and nobody left to blame   September 4, 1998
3 out of 6 found this review helpful

if frank miller could find a motive for any of his characters besides evil priests and evil women, he could write a story that competed with unillustrated fiction. I appreciate all the progress he has made in the comic book and graphic novel realm but I'm waiting for the next step. He has become formulaic in his character's motives and so the storylines have become simple revenge stories. Though revenge stories are typical of the 'film noir' style he has developed, they remain typical. I am really looking forward to Miller's breaking out of the trend in which he has stuck himself.