The Bronx Kill is a 2010 graphic novel

Graphic novel

A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...

 published as part of the "Vertigo Crime" line from Vertigo a DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 imprint

Imprint

In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

. The writer is Peter Milligan

Peter Milligan

Peter Milligan born in London, a British writer, best known for his comic book, film and television work.-Early career:Milligan started his comic career with short stories for 2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in 2000AD called Bad Company, with artists Brett...

, with art by James Romberger

James Romberger

James Romberger is an American fine artist and cartoonist known for his depictions of New York City's Lower East Side.Romberger's pastel drawings of the ravaged landscape of the Lower East Side and its citizens are in many public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art...

. The Bronx Kill is illustrated in grey-scale. It is done in the fashion of the "film noir

Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...

"/detective-crime style.

Plot synopsis

The story centers around main character, Martin Keane. His father is a New York City cop, as well as his grandfather and his great-grandfather, after whom, Martin is named. Martin’s grandfather was mysteriously killed while alone in a dock area called “Bronx Kill”. The murder has haunted Martin’s family for years. Martin is also plagued by his grandmother’s disappearance. Despite Martin’s father pushing him to be a cop, Martin becomes a writer; this is part of the reason Martin and his father have such a strained relationship. Martin’s wife, Erin, disappears within the first quarter of the story- driving the rest of the plot.

Martin's novel

Within The Bronx Kill, Martin is writing a novel about an Irishman named Michael Furey, who moves to America once he has discovered that his family has been murdered, most likely by his brother, Hugh. Peter Milligan actually inserts excerpts of Martin’s mystery/crime novel within the graphic novel, with annotations as if Michael were still in the process of writing the novel. The events in the novel often happen to parallel Michael’s own life events, eerily enough. The novel excerpts appear on pages: 38-39, 47-48, 64-65, 86-89, 114-115, 154-155, and 177-179 of The Bronx Kill. Many of Martin’s tales center on a fragile father-son relationship because he is trying to work out his own strained relationship to his father.

Characters

• Martin Keane: main character
• Erin: Martin’s wife
• Mr. Keane: Martin’s dad
• Elder Martin Keane: Martin’s grandfather
• Nora: Martin’s grandmother
• Kerry: Martin’s long lost cousin- share grandmother Nora
• Armquist: detective who suspects Martin of Erin’s murder
• Brian: Martin’s literary agent

External links

• The Bronx Kill at DC Comics.com

Reviews

• The Bronx Kill Review, Graphic Novel Reporter