Motorcycles. Guns. California. What better combination can you think of for a gritty story of brotherhood and fatherhood. The story of SAMCRO, Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original, makes the break into comics this week from BOOM! Studios. Sons of Anarchy #1 takes place during the middle of Season 5 of the TV series. Many things have happened on this show over five seasons, but this book integrates into the series very well and also acts as a great start to a standalone 6-issue mini-series.
Even though I love this show, I have not caught up with the latest seasons… there is just so much good TV out there. When I picked up this book I was worried that I might not know any of the characters, but the story was very well written that I felt right at home with the characters. As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. There are fights, gun smuggling, and people making bad life choices.
This story picks up at a point where Tig, one of the officers of the club, is walking a fine line and having trouble handling some of the things that he has had to do in the past. At the start, a girl named Kendra fights her way out of a relationship and hops a bus one-way out of town. We see a mobster-type character who wants her back and goes to some extreme ends to find her. She makes a bee line straight to Charming, the home base of SAMCRO.
There is an interesting fight scene with Tig and the boys in the Voodoo Lounge. The club has stopped there to make a delivery, but Tig witnesses one of the guys playing pool start to rough up a girl out of jealousy. Tig inserts him into the situation, seemingly to diffuse it, but more to put the guy in his place with a sound beating that helps Tig vent some frustrations.
The end of the book is based around the arrival Kendra, asking to see Tig and begging for sanctuary, which she gets right away. The last page illustrates just how far the Mr. Griggs, the gangster looking for Kendra is willing to go to get her and introduces some new threat. Overall a good a read and strong story. I am interested in seeing where it goes.
Multiple covers always make things interesting, and this book is no different. There are 18 different covers, including retailer exclusives, in case you are that extreme collector who needs to have them all. I thought the main cover was pretty nice and illustrated the feel of this book and the series. All around, a great book.
