Bang! Tango out with a Bang

Bang! Tango, is a graphic novel that is created through the wonderful words of Joe Kelly and brought to life through Adrian Sibar’s masterful illustrations. This is not a typical graphic novel, as it is not for the weak of heart. It explores many topics that are disturbing and rated as adult material. It focuses on the choices that we make and their consequences. The book is a fantastic book that explores, highlights, and tells a unique story with shock value. As you read this book, you will go in Tangoing as you flip the pages, but will not be disappointed when it goes out with a bang! on the last page.

The story itself is a deeply complicated plot. The main character is a gangster in New York City. In being part of this gang they have a job that the Gang Boss the Jock brother is participating in. Naturally Vinnie, the main character, is the lookout, yet he fails due to a distraction, and the Jock’s brother gets killed. The sexual, iconic, transsexual, Autumn distracts Vinnie. As a result, Vinnie leaves town and begins his new life in California. 3 years pass and Vinnie has a new low profile life, with his new girlfriend, Melina. They are preparing for a dance competition that will put them on the map. If they win this completion they will be able to leave the country, be safe from the Jock, and open a dance school in Buenos Aires. This is a perfectly normal situation, and things are smooth until Vinnie’s ex-transsexual girlfriend, Autumn, shows up and is tracked down by the Jock. The Jock is a violent, sadistic man who wants to kill Vinnie for causing his brothers death. Vinnie’s only choice is to rob the Jock and flee the country. Without spoiling the story here, the plan changes as the four main characters Vinnie, Autumn, Melina and the Jock have to adapt to the other three characters and the plans they are making.

The plot line is a wonderful story. It is simple enough that it is not ridiculously far fetched, which gives it a realness factor. Since the story features normal people and guns, it appears to be closer to reality and differs from superhero stories. Furthermore, the story explores more adult related topics, which include the issue of relationships and sexual experiences, making it not your typical superhero book. The book is more appealing for an older age group, as it is dealing with topics that adults deal with. The stakes for Vinnie in this plot is his life, if he does not kill his former gang boss or get the money to flee the country he is dead, and this is the highest stakes that a person can be subjected to. The storyline is a very fast paced, exciting plot that has many twists and turns leading up to one giant twist at the end, leaving the reader with the shock value of being speechless. The overall plot is well thought out and was planned panel by panel, conveying one hell of a story that could only be told in a graphic novel.

If that was not enough for you to click the hyperlink above or below, and buy the graphic novel, then the artwork Adrian Sibar has illustrated should hopefully convince you to pick up a copy of Bang! Tango. Adrian Sibar is one of the most talented artists in the world. He has illustrated many comics and has painted many paintings. In each panel of Bang! Tango you are receiving his best work. Each page is beautifully drawn to perfection, yet some of his pages are beyond excellence. In particular, his pages with the main character, Vinnie, and his girlfriend, Melina, are ballroom dancing, is Sibar’s ability to convey an emotion in a graphic novel through his artwork. This panel is a page that has the two dancing with musical notes coming off the music sheet and the words circling around them both. This generates an amazing artistic sense of highlighting Vinnie and Melina, and the words that are circling around them while they dance are describing the relationship struggles that the two are having. The ability for Adrian Sibar to place the music and the dancing, combining the two elements shows his ability to understand and utilize placement in a graphic novel. In this panel placement is crucial, if the words were not placed appropriately the panel would not have the same significance for the rest of the story. This is only one example of the artistic abilities he portrays throughout the entire graphic novel. His abilities as an illustrator breath life into Joe Kelly’s work, which would not be the same without his artistic ability. Adrian Sibar is currently one of the best illustrators in the graphic novel field.

Bang Tango can be purchased here.