Two Dead [Graphic Novel]

Two Dead is a 2019 graphic novel written by Van Jensen, with art by Nate Powell. It was published by Gallery 13, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. The story centers upon organized crime and race relations in post–World War II Little Rock (Pulaski County). Author Van Jensen was a crime reporter with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette who broke into comic books with the 2009 publication of Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer, the first in a series. Artist Nate Powell is a North Little Rock (Pulaski County) native who became the first cartoonist to win a National Book Award, for the 2016 graphic novel March: Book Three. Reviews of Two Dead were largely positive, with Kirkus Reviews summarizing the book thusly: “Good pulp.”

Following a prologue set during World War II in Germany, the main story opens in Little Rock, 1946. Gideon Kemp has passed his bar examination and graduated from the FBI Academy. Rather than working for a law firm, he finds employment with the local police department as part of an anti-mafia effort, reporting directly to Mayor Sprick instead of Police Chief Dobbs. On his first day, Chief of Detectives Abraham Bailey takes him out for a ride, and they get called to a hostage situation at an illegal gambling den; Kemp attempts to talk down the armed man, but Bailey shoots him dead. Bailey does not follow protocol on the handling of evidence, and he has regular hallucinations, with the ghost of his former partner and inanimate objects talking to him about a coming war with the forces of evil.

Two men killed by the mob are dumped near John Barrow Road, both of them missing teeth that had been extracted while they were still alive. Later, on a stakeout at a nightclub on the western end of the city, Bailey and Kemp see Michael Compton (a.k.a. Big Mike), the local mob ringleader, with Councilman Quillin. Working at this club as a number runner is Esau Davis, an African American man whose brother, Jacob (a veteran like Kemp), works for an unofficial Black police force that patrols Black neighborhoods. The cops follow Esau as he leaves the club and run him off the road, discovering his betting slips and a load of moonshine. Esau returns to Big Mike the next day and receives orders to kill Bailey. He then recruits Jacob’s unofficial police force to take over the city.

Meanwhile, Kemp reports to the mayor that Quillin is connected with the mob, and the mayor immediately calls Quillin to share this information. Big Mike, Esau, and their associates assault Bailey on the Broadway Bridge, but he dives into the Arkansas River and swims away. Bailey soon leads a police force into the Black part of town, beating and killing suspected members of the unofficial police force, though Kemp is able to arrest Jacob, who offers to serve as an inside man within Esau’s group. The mayor and Quillin confront Bailey and promise a grand jury investigation, and afterward Bailey breaks into Quillin’s house and kills him.

Kemp’s wife Mary discovers that he has not loaded his gun once while on duty, and he confesses having accidentally shot a fellow soldier during the war. Based on a tip from Jacob, Kemp and Bailey raid a barbershop where Big Mike is, and Bailey shoots a customer and tries to frame Big Mike for it, but Kemp will not go through with it and reports the incident back to the mayor. Another officer informs Bailey that Kemp is the mayor’s mole in the department, and Bailey later sees him at Little Rock National Cemetery handing evidence to the mayor. In a flashback, Bailey relives a moment in the railyards of North Little Rock when his partner was killed because Bailey opened fire on a man later revealed to be a U.S. marshal.

On New Year’s Day, Big Mike kidnaps the Davis brothers, believing that one of them set the cops on him. Jacob confesses, and Esau turns on Big Mike, knocking him out and calling the cops, knowing that Big Mike’s collection of teeth extracted from his victims will link him to multiple murders. Bailey comes to Kemp’s house and drives him down to the river, where he confronts Kemp about being the mole. In the conflict, they end up shooting and killing each other.

For additional information:
Jensen, Van, and Nate Powell. Two Dead. New York: Gallery 13, 2019.

Review of Two Dead. Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2019. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/van-jensen/two-dead/ (accessed November 22, 2024).

Staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas