There is something so satisfying about watching a revenge movie. Watching a protagonist, who has been wronged, taking justice in their own hands. This is the wish fulfillment of the everyman and why everybody cheers when the main character finally fulfills their measure of vengeance. This is why the audience for these movies still exist, which is why the trailer for upcoming Bruce Willis remake of Death Wish, has movie fans anticipating its release.

Throughout the years, there have been some really good revenge movies including the aforementioned Charles Bronson classic. One of the few revenge movies, that I have only watched once, as it is one of those films, you cannot un-see but still is excellent, is Pedro Almodovar’s brutal The Skin I Live In, as it still gives me the creeps thinking about that twist. My favorite all-time favorite revenge film, is John Woo’s The Killer, which had Chow Yun Fat, who plays a police officer who wages a one-man war against the Triad after they kill his partner. This same vein of revenge, retribution and get back, fills the pages of Benjamin Marra’s ultraviolent Night Business.

In the opening pages, we meet Jazzie, a young stripper, who is loved by everyone she meets, until a masked man, stabs her to death. The reader soon finds out he is a serial killer and the only person who can stop him, is Johnny Timothy, a friend of Jazzie and an entrepreneur, who seeks revenge, and wants to stop the killer before more dancers are murdered. We follow Johnny as he gets closer, but are constantly deterred by pimps, killers, a cult, and a gang but is helped by a mysterious bikini clad biker. By book’s end, what started out as a mission of vengeance becomes an opening of a bloody Pandora’s box.

Overall, a neon laced tale of sex, money and murder over a pulsating beat but doesn’t forsake a great story for nostalgia. The story by Marra is action packed, melodramatic and at times, cheesy, in the best way. The art by Marra reminds me of Michel Fiffe, but also has a glow all its own, and the way the art accompanies the story, it completes the experience as a fast 80s action movie. Altogether, an excellent revenge story that will have you looking for your VHS copy of Raw Deal.

Story: Benjamin Marra Art: Benjamin Marra
Story: 10 Art: 9.2 Overall: 9.6 Recommendation: Buy