OneMetal.com book REVIEW:
Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story

Five years after the water hit shores, Mat Johnson and Simon Gane still acknowledge the need for remembering the widespread destruction Hurricane Katrina caused. Their tribute, Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story, goes on sale tomorrow from Vertigo Comics and inspires a story of hope.

When Katrina lands, surprising even New Orleans locals with its severity, wronged ex-cons Dabny Arceneaux and Emmit Jack leave their assigned halfway house to capitalize upon their blessing in disguise. With the flooded population seizing every opportunity to escape to higher and safer ground, “J.D.” and his unlikely partner “Rockefeller” contact the security force Dark Rain, hoping they’ll lend their expertise in robbing Louisiana’s now vulnerable Banque de Congo Square. But Driggs, who leads the Dark Rain company of post-duty soldiers embittered over the government’s cold shoulder treatment, also specializes in backstabbing and corruption (a theme that undercurrents the book), and he tasks his team with beating the undermanned and unprepared Dabny and Emmit to the bank.

Although at first self-interest and greed propels them, the two ex-cons soon make their mission one of heart and compassion. They escort stranded civilians, including a pregnant woman named Sarah, through the washed-out streets of The Big Easy, and Emmit vows to dedicate the stolen money to rebuilding the city and helping those whom the country has abandoned in crisis.

Lee Loughridge’s use of color guides the reader’s eye to the flood water, whose overwhelming influence inevitably carries the book forward. Dark Rain tells a story equally about good people rising above the hardships they face and good people looking the other way. It’s about life and death and second chances, the latter being one which writer Mat Johnson preaches to readers like a tired song. While inspiring and bold, Dark Rain has trouble deciding what angle it wants to take on the Katrina tragedy. For a book told from the perspective of Katrina survivors, Dark Rain touches on far too many subjects without communicating much about them.

Still, Johnson deserves his accolades for the story itself, which celebrates the human spirit and praises mankind’s ability to grow and change. The best life has to offer comes not in a bank vault or in the form of grand dreams, but rather small and unexpected tidings.

Bottom Line

A thoughtful reflection on Hurricane Katrina, Dark Rain brightens a darker time in America's recent history, but struggles somewhat with confused messages.