John Tiffany: On Trust and Luxury

Fracadactyl

2 years ago

John Tiffany is a graphic novel translated by Mad Cave Studios that is more than it appears. You might think it’s one of those “hitman in love/on the run” stories but the presentation will surprise you.

Meet John Tiffany

Our title character is a hedonistic lunatic of a mercenary-assassin. He’s good at his job but his way of living the high life feels like showboating. Stuff like expensive cars, a modern house, and hookers. He even took his favorite one to his son’s parent-teacher conference to his ex-girlfriend’s annoyance. But to be fair, John was kind of shaped into this by an equally indulgent pastor. That same pastor is one of four people John trusts and only one of them seems decent. So when it looks like one of these people betrayed him, tensions are high.

Place Your Bets On Tropes

The plot of John Tiffany thrives on suspense and subverting expectations. Stephen Desberg plays people’s expectations like stock shares, getting readers in the same headspace as John. The red herrings and hindsights on characters go hand-in-hand when it comes to confronting biases. For example, John’s love interest Magdalene has all of the makings of a femme fatale. She deflects anything personal about herself and the symbol on her and another woman make it look like she’s manipulating John.

In spite of a familiar plot, the presentation by Dan Panosian give even the most seasoned crime fiction fans a suspenseful dread as the plot nears that conclusion. They’re primed and ready for the worst as John unfurls his vulnerability. Even better, when it turns out to not be the case, it still feels like John lost a bet for the reader to win a bigger prize.

Love Is The Biggest Gamble of All

My prize was recognizing the thin boundaries between belonging, investing, and manipulating. Each of the main characters may be degenerates but they genuinely want to be loved. But love is a risk that can make or break people.

Like do you love your job enough to make risks for bigger payoffs. Like when John gives a target a lot of adrenaline to keep his live bounty up. Or when John plays the long game using some information he dug up as an investment to the CIA. Of course he has to put himself at risk and manipulate info to get buyers to do what he wants. Despite the high value, John isn’t passionate about his job or the money because it can’t fill a void.

Non-major spoilers here

So can love fix that? Not really, like with capital stakes there’s a sense of holding and folding. For example Wan Chao, John’s least overbearing helper, tries everything to marry his Jewish girlfriend. But it didn’t work out, lowering all of the value of those efforts. Or how Dorothy, John’s most overbearing helper, seems to have it good with her boyfriend. But she calls it all off because she felt like it wasn’t worth betraying John. When you look past all of the romance, relationships can be a lot like the stock market. A lot of giving, taking, and sometimes things just don’t work out.

John Tiffany: High Resale Value

So there you have it, a crime drama that exceeds expectations. From a whodunit that leaves you on the edge of your seat, defying contrived tropes, and an ending that gets you to think. This gets a final score of 9/10.

Thanks for coming to the end as always remember to look between the panels.