A History of Violence (comics)

A History of Violence
First edition cover
Date	1997
Page count	286 pages
Publisher	Paradox Press/Vertigo
Creative team
Writers	John Wagner
Artists	Vince Locke
ISBN

A History of Violence is a graphic novel written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke, originally published in 1997 by Paradox Press and later by Vertigo, both imprints of DC Comics.

It is also the source for the film of the same name directed by David Cronenberg, the first cinematic adaption of a work by John Wagner since 1995's Judge Dredd. The film was the last major Hollywood film to be released on the VHS format.

The story concerns a small town Michigan cafe owner, Tom McKenna, who becomes a local hero after defending his store from an attempted robbery. Despite his efforts to avoid the limelight, Tom's story receives national attention and he is soon visited by three men who are later revealed to be known associates of the New York City Mafia. Their leader, John Torrino, an aging hitman who lost an eye once, alleges that Tom is actually someone named Joey, who crossed him 20 years earlier. Torrino notices that Tom is missing a finger on his left hand and pulls out a pendant containing a severed finger, claiming he took it from Joey during their last encounter. Tom's wife Edie intervenes and orders the men to leave immediately before she calls the police. The men comply but Edie still calls Sheriff Frank Carney, who confronts the mobsters but then later questions Tom as to whether they might have something against him. Tom vehemently protests his innocence to everyone but he is eventually forced to drop his façade when Torrino and his accomplices take the McKennas' son Buzz hostage in order to draw out Tom, who manages to thwart their plan and kill the other two mobsters, while Edie shoots Torrino in defense of her husband.

At the hospital, Tom finally admits to Edie and Buzz that he is in fact who Torrino said he was 20 years earlier and reveals why he left New York and changed his identity. He and his childhood friend Richie pulled off a well-planned and spectacular heist, killing local crime boss Lou Manzi and several of his associates. This event was perpetrated mostly by Richie in retaliation for the murder of his older brother. Tom, who was then known by his real name Joey Muni, balked at first, telling Richie to "go find some other sap with suicidal tendencies." However, he later agreed to help only so he could acquire the money that his grandmother, his only living relative then, needed to pay for an expensive medical procedure on her heart. Unfortunately, Richie foolishly chose to flaunt his take, which easily allowed Torrino and his cronies to identify him as one of the assailants. Using a woman as bait, they lured Richie to a derelict apartment building where he was tortured and presumably killed but not before naming Joey as his accomplice. Joey narrowly escaped the same fate, losing his finger to and taking an eye from Torrino in the process, and fled the city with the intent of starting over with a new identity, eventually changing his name to Tom McKenna. Tom is eventually forced to confess all of this to the police as well after DNA analysis reveals that the finger Torrino kept is in fact his. Fortunately for him, his lawyer arrives and learns that the police failed to Mirandize him, which makes his confession inadmissible in court but this still does not mark the end of his troubles.