Road to Perdition (comics)

Road to Perdition is a series of fictional works written by Max Allan Collins.

Road to Perdition
Publication information
PublisherParadox Press
Original languageEnglish
Publication date1998
Creative team
Writer(s)Max Allan Collins
Artist(s)Richard Piers Rayner
Reprints
Collected editions
Road to PerditionISBN 1-56389-449-1
Road to Perdition: On the RoadISBN 1401203574

The comic book of the original series, with art by Richard Piers Rayner, was published by DC Comics' imprint Paradox Press. It was adapted into the 2002 film of the same name, starring Tom Hanks, for which Collins also wrote the novelization.

Stories
  • Road to Perdition

Michael O'Sullivan, the ruthless but honorable enforcer for an Irish crime syndicate, is personally betrayed by his masters and is forced to flee with his young son Michael, Jr. on a quest for revenge. The story is set in the American Midwest during the Great Depression and draws upon several historical figures, especially the gangster John Patrick Looney, of Rock Island, Illinois; in real life, Looney came into conflict with Dan Drost, a formerly loyal lieutenant in their crime organization, and their feud eventually led to the death of Looney's son Connor.[1]

This story had many inspirations, such as the Japanese manga series Lone Wolf and Cub, the life story of Irish American crime boss John Patrick Looney, and various gangster films such as The Godfather and The St. Valentine's Day Massacre.[2]

This story was the basis for the 2002 film of the same name.

  • On the Road to Perdition

This three-part miniseries of graphic novels was written after the original story, but deals with events within the same timeframe. All three parts were published as individual installments, but have also been reprinted as a single combined volume.

  • Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise

These two prose sequels deal with the adult life of Michael O'Sullivan, Jr., under his adoptive identity of Michael Satariano. After military service in Bataan during World War II, he returns to the world of organized crime to seek revenge on other gangsters who had been complicit in his father's death by posing as a senior member of the Chicago Outfit. Years later, having put his criminal past behind him, Michael is framed by a Chicago mobster for a hit he refused to carry out, forcing him to once again go on the run (accompanied by his teenage daughter) as he attempts to finally end his family's cycle of violence and revenge.

Collins is expected to write and direct the film adaptation of Road to Purgatory.[3]

  • Return to Perdition

This graphic novel follows the story of Michael Satariano, Jr., a Vietnam vet who returns home from the war and gets caught up in the criminal underworld of his father and grandfather.

Influences

Series author Collins acknowledged the influence of the Japanese manga Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima on his work with Road to Perdition, saying in an interview to the BBC that "Road To Perdition is 'an unabashed homage' to Lone Wolf And Cub".[4]

Ethan Iverson mentions in his detailed online bibliography for Donald E. Westlake, that Collins adapted some dialogue in the graphic novel (later included in altered form in the film adaptation) from a very similar scene in the Parker novel, Butcher's Moon.[5]

Publications

Graphic novels

Prose
  • Road to Perdition (film novelization), 256 pages, Onyx, June 2002, ISBN 0-451-41029-7, ISBN 978-0-451-41029-0)
  • Road to Purgatory (288 pages, by William Murrow, 2004, ISBN 0-06-054027-3)
  • Road to Paradise (289 pages, by William Murrow, 2005, ISBN 978-0-06-054028-9, ISBN 0-06-054028-1)

References
  1. Ruthhart, Roger (July 11, 2002). "Part 5: Looney loses his son and the newspaper war". The Dispatch/Argus. East Moline, Illinois. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  2. Collins, Max Allan (April 23, 2019). "My Debt to Lone Wolf and Cub's Genius Creator". Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  3. McClintock, Pamela (November 8, 2008). "'Road to Perdition' sequel paved". Variety. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  4. Max Allan Collins, interviewed by Daniel Etherington, "Graphic Novel: Road To Perdition". BBC Collective. September 19, 2002. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  5. "A Storyteller Who Got the Details Right". April 7, 2016.
  6. "'Road to Perdition' details". DCComics.com.
  7. "'Road to Perdition: On the Road' details". DCComics.com.
  8. "Books to look for summer 2011". Vertigo Comics. Retrieved March 1, 2012.

Interviews

Reviews
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