Review of "Abraham Stone: Country Mouse, City Rat," by Joe Kubert

 Review of

Abraham Stone: Country Mouse, City Rat, by Joe Kubert ISBN 156398010x

Four out of five stars

Displaced farm boy seeks revenge in city

 Abraham Stone was a young man that has experienced several significant setbacks. His family moved to the frontier and carved a farm out of sixty acres in Pennsylvania. He was twelve and the oldest when his father died, so he was suddenly the man of the family, plowing the fields like all other adult males. When he was seventeen, agents of the railroad wanted their land. His mother and brother are killed after she signs the deed over and Abraham is also shot and left for dead. Still alive, he crawls out of the shallow grave and vows revenge. The boss of the killers is a man named Pullman

 That quest takes him into the city, and he encounters two men in a bar that taunt him. Totally underestimating Abraham’s capability, the two men are thoroughly thrashed in the presence of a powerful crime lord. This impresses the crime boss and Abraham is “recruited” to join his team. Given little choice, he joins the crime group and discovers the dark side of the business.

 However, this allows him to encounter Pullman at a social event. After some dangerous confrontations with the crime boss’s enforcers, the crime boss and then Pullman, Abraham emerges victorious. He is aided by a woman that is pursuing her own agenda, which coincides with his desire to destroy Pullman.

 This is a fairly standard person severely wronged seeking and achieving revenge story. The graphic novel format allows the author to express the anguish and turmoil of Abraham as he struggles to cope with his loss as well as fend his way through the city and plot his revenge against the evil forces he encounters. It is very well done.