The Tithe #8 - A Review

The FBI team led by Agent Campbell has discovered the unthinkable! A Senator with dreams of moving into The White House and a domestic terrorist have joined together to bring about a new American Republic and a new crusade against Islam. A daring nighttime raid may be the only hope they have of stopping the plot, but will all of Agent Campbell's team make it out alive?

There are some who will say that the plot of The Tithe is unrealistic. And yet, as Matt Hawkins points out in his commentary at the end of the issue, the idea of an American Senator manipulating domestic terrorists and blackmailing Muslim immigrants into becoming suicide bombers in a bid for political power is no more outlandish than some of the conspiracy theories bandied about the mainstream media. Indeed, such a plot seems downright mundane given that a conservative radio host this week was claiming that Justice Anthony Scalia did not die of a heart attack but was offered up as a human sacrifice by Texan pagans to increase the power of President Obama. But I digress.

Regardless of the claims of some critics, Hawkins takes great care to present a centrist view regarding the political and religious matters inherent to the story. It would be all too easy to paint all Christians or Muslims as rabid extremists or all people of faith as misguided but Hawkins avoids this. Indeed, our lead FBI investigator, Agent Campbell is a devout Christian conservative Texan who has an open and understanding attitude toward people of other faiths. He jokes at one point that he can forgive his daughter converting to Islam but that he cannot reconcile her abandoning The Cowboys for The Lions.  It is through lines such as these, and a number of other litle character moments, that Hawknis crafts true characters rather than the cardboard cut-outs that fill most political fiction.

Previous issues of The Tithe have suffered for a lack of action, but this one makes up for that in spades. Most of the issue's second half is devoted toward a tense, action-packed scene of the FBI storming a terrorist compound. Rahsan Ekedal, Phillip Sevy and Jeremy Colwell have truly undone themselves this time.

Alas, this may well be the last we see of The Tithe after a planned crossover with Postal and Think Tank.  Apparently the sales on the individual issues have not been high and we may never get to see the planned third volume, in which Sam and James go rogue to rob The Vatican  More is the pity, for this thriller has thrilled me like no other comic of its kind.

The Tithe #7 - A Review

Another church bombing has been blamed upon radical Islamic immigrants but the FBI team investigating the attacks isn't so sure things are as cut and dry as they seem. An old hacking contact of Samantha's confirms the unthinkable - that the encryption used by the terrorists is US Military. And the trail from there leads straight to the office of a Senator with his eyes on the White House and dreams of a new American empire!


The Tithe continues to be a tense, timely political thriller as well as a brilliant police procedural under Matt Hawkins' pen. The drama involving our heroes' personal lives suffers a little for that this month, with the drama between Sam and Agent Miller seeming a little forced and the subplot involving Agent Campbell's family problems having disappeared completely! Still, Hawkins did his homework on the real-world aspects of  the story and his comments in the back of the issue are as educational as ever.

Like many thrillers, this book doesn't  have a lot of traditional action-scenes. Despite this, artists Rahsan Ekedal and Phillip Sevy do a good job of matching the pace of Hawkins' script and shifting the perspective of the story so that things are rarely static, even if most of the book involves people talking. There are still many striking images and the colors by Jeremy Colwell are nice and vivid.

The Tithe #6 - A Review

Tensions continue to mount around the country, as random citizens begin attacking Muslims in the wake of a bombing that totaled St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. The violence hits home for FBI Agent Dwayne Campbell, whose daughter converted to Islam years earlier and is arrested after helping defend a local store owner from bigots. But things are about to get worse as a second bombing destroys the largest Mormon church in San Diego and a terrorist group known as the Brotherhood of The Islamic Crescent takes credit for it.

There's just one problem. Apart from a series of YouTube videos, The Brotherhood of The Islamic Crescent doesn't exist!  There's no other evidence of them in the physical world or the virtual one. And the trail of Muslim teens in America leading from the boy who supposedly plotted the first bombing doesn't lead to any hard evidence - only more suspicion.


Matt Hawkins' writing continues to impress. As before, Hawkins takes care to depict his characters as three-dimensional beings who are not inherently flawed or gifted.  Agent Campbell is perhaps the best example of this, being comparable to Henry Drummond from Inherit The Wind - a man of principle who does his job in spite of his beliefs, who does not view people as enemies just because they disagree with him. Not only do we see Campbell reconciling his personal faith with those who have apparently turned to violence to express theirs but we also see him trying to mediate between his Muslim daughter and Christian wife.


The artwork by Phillip Sevy and Rahsan Ekedal proves the equal of Hawkins' writing. There is little in the way of action in The Tithe but the visuals remain interesting as the point-of-view varies from panel to panel.  This helps to maintain visual interest even when most of the story is made up of conversations between talking heads.

The Tithe #4 - A Review

Samaritan's final heist went badly for all parties involved. The raid on a corrupt mega-church resulted in a successful theft but also the death of Mike. And the civilian casualties caught in the crossfire of a shoot-out between The FBI and the mega-church's private security have resulted in Agents Campbell and Miller being taken off their case pending an investigation.

What follows next will forever change the lives of those involved. Those who survive, at any rate.


Perhaps the most miraculous aspect of this issue is that creators Matt Hawkins and Rahsan Ekedal had to change things at the last moment  in order to accommodate The Tithe expanding into a monthly series from a mini-series. You'd never know it from the artwork, which looks as fine as ever.


Matt Hawkins' script for this issue is a thing of wonder. With the exception of the corrupt preachers, the series doesn't have any real villains and the story avoids being preachy in regards to matters of religion. The friendship between the two agents is perhaps the best example of this, with both men finding common ground in their belief in helping others despite their disagreements on politics and religion.

All in all, this has been a rocking roller coaster of a story. I'm not quite sure how the series will progress from here but I can't wait to find out!

The Tithe #2 & #3 - A Review

Through my own fault I missed the second issue of The Tithe after greatly enjoying the first issue. Now that I'm caught up, I can happily say that I'm still enjoying this series and am quite happy to hear it has been extended past its original four-issue order. That, and I sincerely want Matt Hawkins to take over writing Green Arrow, as this whole series tackles moral complexity and current events with far greater skill than anything I've seen in recent memory that tried to uphold the Dennis O'Neil ideal of the outlaw hero.


The second issue delves into the background of the four members of the hacktivist group Samaritan. Samantha the hacker is a true idealist, out to expose those who use organized religion as a means to power and wealth. Kyle is in it to pay the debts his brother Mike owes to Mexican gangsters. And Mike and Rachel? Well, they're just in it for the kicks.

This dynamic adds another level to the drama unfolding between the forces of law and outlaw in the third issue. And the question of who is right and who is wrong has never been muddier. However murky their motives, Samaritan are doing good work but in a bad way. By contrast, the lawmen chasing after them seem to be indirectly covering-up crimes they should be exposing.


The artwork by Rahsan Ekedal remains brilliant.  The action of the story flows well from panel to panel. And everything looks a little stronger in these two issues thanks to a more vibrant palette provided by Mike Spicer.

The Tithe #1 - A Review

For the past several months, a hacktivist group known as Samaritan had been robbing mega-churches' bank accounts and donating the money to small, local charities. Now, with their latest heist, they've stepped up their game, robbing the churches physically while leaving behind evidence of the church leaders' moral and legal misdeeds. Two FBI agents - one a company man and devout Baptist and the other a white-hat hacker who doesn't believe in much of anything - have been assigned to the case, charged to bring down Samaritan at any cost. But whose cause is the righteous one?


Matt Hawkins' conceit for this series couldn't be more timely. Hawkins makes his own religious and political leanings clear enough in his afterword to this first issue but the story itself is not quite so clear as to where our sympathies should lie, save that they should not rest with the money-changers who have taken over the temples. Both FBI agents - the skeptic and the believer - are presented as men concerned with doing their jobs and following the law, even if they disagree upon Samaritan's ultimate goals and the means used to achieve those ends.

Even Samaritan itself is not entirely presented as a positive entity, with some members being presented as good people trying to fight corruption but others shown as being scornful of religion in general and not just corrupt churches. It's an unexpected bit of moral complexity in what I thought was going to be a simple modern-day Robin Hood story. I hope we'll continue to see this level of writing in the issues to come.


The artwork by Rashan Ekedal serves the story well. Ekedal's style is streamlined but effective, managing a nice balance between complex line work in the close-ups and simplicity in its far shots. And the colors by Bill Farmer are well suited to their respective scenes.