The Hunting Accident: A True Story of Crime and Poetry

 Carlson, David & Landis Blair. The Hunting Accident: A True Story of Crime and Poetry. ISBN 978-1-62672-676-5.

Following his mother's death in 1959, young Charlie Rizzo must move from California back to Chicago to live with his father, Matt Rizzo. An aspiring poet, Matt Rizzo is blind, and Charlie soon finds himself helping him complete tasks around the house, including reading the stories and poems his father writes on a Braille machine before being transcribed. 

When asked, Matt reveals that he was hunting with friends when he was a kid, and in an accident was shot in the face with pellets, causing him to lose his eyesight. Charlie grows up, and joins the wrong crew of wannabe wise guys. Charlie gets caught driving the getaway car for his gang, and he is arrested. His father bails him out, and begins telling him the story of his life. The hunting accident was a lie, he was actually shot during a robbery with his own crew of mobsters, and ended up spending time in jail. As a blind man, he was placed with Nathan Leopold Jr., who had committed the thrill killing of a teenager with his best friend. Matt now tells his son the story, hoping to save him from the life he led when he was his age.

A true story of a Chicago mobster, this graphic novel is beautifully and hauntingly illustrated as Matt and Charlie explore literature, crime, and family dynamics. Filled with poetry and references to Dante's Inferno, The Hunting Accident builds a timeless tale of fall and redemption.