The Tithe #1
Publisher: Top Cow
Writer: Matt Hawkins
Artist: Rahsan Ekedal & Bill Farmer
Cover: Rahsan Ekedal & Bill Farmer
The Tithe is a heist story that centers around a hacktivist group known as Samaritan who targets mega churches. Not just any mega church but those that are involved in some form of illegal activities. Once their target is acquired then they exact their Robin Hood type of justice and make a clean getaway. But they’re also playing a cat and mouse game with the FBI as the two agents assigned to the case seem to want the catch the group for different reasons.
Now, the last time Hawkins and Ekedal teamed up they brought us the phenomenal Think Tank series so expectations were pretty high with this one. The Tithe is just as fun and thought provoking as their first series and that’s the best part of the story here. Hawkins does a fine job with the dialogue, plot, and pacing, while delivering some very good character interactions along the way. Detective Miller is my favorite so far as it seems as he’s the only one without an agenda other than getting to the bottom of everything. Whether it be stopping Samaritan or putting the pressure on Pastor Tibbett, he just wants to do what’s right.
On the visual side of things Ekedal does a solid job moving the story along with some dynamic panel layouts and detailed artwork. It’s that detail that makes certain panels just leap out at you like the overhead view of Pastor Tibbett’s church. It looks like something Tony Stark would build for a weekend home! Farmer’s colors are mostly spot on and though Ekedal’s work looks great in black and white it’s nice to see it in color here. The only area that was a bit off was during the actual heist. There’s several inconsistencies with the coloring of the arms of the Samaritan members making it seem as if there’s more than who we initially meet. It actually wasn’t a noticeable issue until we see who the members are later in the issue which made me go back and double check who was there in the beginning.
Overall, The Tithe is fun to read and delivers the types of characters that comic fans are asking for! Hopefully readers can approach this series with an open mind and enjoy it for what it is. So give it a chance if you’re into heist stories with solid characters and great artwork to back it all up!
Infinite Speech
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