The Boondock Comics

Let’s do some gratuitous violence.

Should we still continue to call The Boondock Saints a cult film? True, it did start its life out in that term, enjoying a small and loyal fan base, but if anything in 2010, the fan base has exploded into possible mainstream acceptance of the 1999 film, with its sequel, released by Sony. Everyone knows about the Saints (just re-read my Remember the Boondock Saints article for further proof). It’s wonderful if you’re a fan of the property, but is it still a cult property? I don’t think so anymore, and that’s a good thing. Troy Duffy told me that he wants to make a third Boondock Saints film (here), but he also wants to try other films first. To hold the fans over, he has teamed with writer J.B. Love to write with 12-Gauge Comics (here) for In Nomine Patris: The Secret History of Il Duce, a new two-part miniseries that gives fans a little more back story to the events that were revealed to us in The Boondock Saints II: All Saint’s Day.

Out now, Volume I right off the bat feels more like a deleted sequence to the film. For everything we know and love about Connor and Murphy, All Saint’s Day really was Il Duce’s story, and it gets fleshed out further here as he tells the boys about Louie. I think the film works in the current form it is, but this isn’t really just thrown out there for capitalizing off of fan’s money. Troy Duffy would never do that. He respects the fans and their opinions, so the comic is well-written, as it should be since Duffy knows these characters as if he was their long-lost brother. The flow of the comic is quick, making it a fast read, but also one that should be re-read just to capture of few of the nuances in the art and dialogue.

Guus Floor delivers some great art for the series, as you can see below. His work here captures the actors, who are so memorably tied to the characters, but also has some fun with it, as seen in the three-page fight sequence during the issue.

Because the art and the story flow by so quick, Volume I is in need of the second volume as soon as possible to conclude the story, but that’s hardly a negative is it? Call it The Boondock Saints 1.5 or a prequel, just pick it up. “New stories. Same mission.” Hell yeah! The Saints are back and they’ve exploded everywhere, furthering the proof that they aren’t a cult item anymore, but a full-fledged cultural icon.

Also, Rocco is getting a solo comic called The Lost Gig, leading to one question: Can we get a solo Romeo comic, Troy?

You can order the comics here.