Written by: Matt Hawkins
Art by: Rahsan Ekedal
Publisher: Image
The Tithe volume 1 is a good self-contained graphic novel that, at its heart, explores religious themes through a heist story. While it may not be breaking new ground, it is mostly an enjoyable read that does not come off too strong.
The Tithe revolves around a hacker codenamed Samaritan who takes down corrupt and hedonistic Evangelists. An FBI team composed of Dwayne, an older religious person, and Jimmy, a younger atheist, tries to take down Samaritan’s crusade. Meanwhile, Samaritan also has to deal with her group; she works with two junkies and a man who is in love with her.
The story by Matt Hawkins unfolds naturally and its pacing is great; while the individual issues might have had such problems, the volume as a whole has a solid narrative that does not suffer from any significant problems. The real problem with the story lies in its originality as it is rather unremarkable. Such stories have been presented to readers many times, and The Tithe does not bring anything new to the table. Additionally, the final moments of the story felt a little rushed and the denouement was much too straightforward for my liking.
For the most part, the characters in The Tithe are uninteresting. Samaritan’s character is never fully explored, in fact, Samaritan takes a backseat in the entire story. Kyle is downright boring and his motivation as a character is never truly justified. Dwayne and Jimmy have some interesting conversations that add more subtleties to their characters.
Fortunately, The Tithe’s themes are enough to rescue it from the depths of mediocrity. Ostensibly, the only significant theme in The Tithe seems related to religion, however, there is also an overarching theme over the course of the story about family. While the latter theme does not get as many pages to shine, it is quite powerful. Also, the questioning of religion’s grasp on people’s lives by Jimmy’s character never seemed preachy. As the themes were naturally woven into the story, they were a welcome addition to an otherwise unoriginal story.
Rahsan Ekedal’s art seemed to fit the world presented in The Tithe quite well. The environments seemed very realistic which only aided in the reader’s immersion. The use of different perspectives were very reminiscent of some of Tarantino’s shots and they fit the heist story very well. Bill Farmer’s and Mike Spencer’s colors, on the other hand, seemed a little too drab at times. A lot of panels featured some great art that were colored in with shades of grey. The panels did not pop out at the reader, and a wider range of colors could have remedied this problem.
All in all, The Tithe is an enjoyable read if you are interested by the premise. It does not bring anything new to the genre and it does not have a great story. If corruption in religion sounds like your cup of tea, then I recommend you to read The Tithe Volume 1.
