The Kitchen delivers a sharp, unflinching portrait of three women who seize control of their husbands criminal enterprises in 1970s Hell’s Kitchen, turning a familiar mob narrative on its head through sharp characterisation and period detail.

Origins of the Series

Ollie Masters developed the concept while researching Irish organised crime in New York during the 1970s. He drew on documented histories of the Westies gang and the economic pressures facing working-class families in Manhattan at the time. Vertigo, DC Comics mature imprint, greenlit the project in 2014 as part of a push toward creator-owned crime stories that echoed the success of titles such as 100 Bullets. Ming Doyle joined as artist after her work on other Vertigo projects demonstrated a talent for rendering urban grit without romanticising violence. The eight-issue run appeared between 2014 and 2015 before being collected in two volumes that together form the complete graphic novel most readers encounter today.

The World of 1970s Hell’s Kitchen

Hell’s Kitchen in the mid-1970s existed as a neighbourhood caught between decay and redevelopment. Abandoned tenements, frequent muggings and a thriving Irish-American criminal network provided the backdrop for the story. Masters incorporates real events such as the 1970s FBI crackdowns on loansharking and the gradual erosion of traditional waterfront jobs. These details ground the fiction in verifiable social conditions rather than generic gangster tropes. The setting functions as more than scenery; it shapes every decision the protagonists make, from how they launder money through local bars to the alliances they form with corrupt police officers.

Daily Life and Economic Pressures

The narrative repeatedly shows the women navigating food prices, rent arrears and the limited employment options available to wives of incarcerated men. These scenes draw on contemporary accounts of female labour in New York during the era, including the rise of women entering traditionally male-dominated rackets when male breadwinners disappeared into the prison system. The result feels less like a glamorous crime saga and more like an extension of everyday survival strategies.

Central Characters and Their Development

Kath, Raven and Angie each begin the story defined by their husbands roles in the Irish mob. Kath manages household finances with quiet competence, Raven displays a volatile temper shaped by years of street fights, and Angie maintains social connections that prove useful for gathering intelligence. Over the course of the series their personalities diverge sharply as they confront the realities of leadership. Kath evolves into a strategic planner who weighs long-term consequences, while Raven embraces direct confrontation and Angie learns to manipulate information networks. Their growth avoids simple empowerment clichés; each woman pays a personal cost that alters her relationships and sense of self.

Supporting Figures and Their Roles

Male characters such as the imprisoned husbands and rival gang leaders serve primarily to illuminate the womens expanding agency. The story never grants these men interior lives comparable to the protagonists, reinforcing the shift in perspective. Minor figures, including a bent detective and a neighbourhood priest, illustrate how institutional corruption and community loyalty intersect with the central plot. These supporting roles receive enough attention to feel credible without overshadowing the three leads.

Themes of Power, Gender and Loyalty

The Kitchen examines how power operates differently when exercised by women who lack formal status within the criminal hierarchy. Loyalty, traditionally enforced through violence among male gangsters, becomes a negotiated resource that the protagonists must constantly renegotiate with both allies and enemies. Gender expectations surface in everyday interactions, from dismissive remarks by male associates to the womens own internalised doubts about their capacity for ruthlessness. The series avoids didactic statements, instead allowing these tensions to emerge through dialogue and action sequences that carry emotional weight.

Violence and Its Consequences

Action scenes remain brief and messy, reflecting the physical limitations of the characters rather than cinematic spectacle. Injuries linger across issues, affecting later decisions and underscoring that violence carries lasting costs. This approach distinguishes the work from more stylised crime comics that treat brutality as spectacle.

Narrative Structure and Artistic Execution

Masters employs a non-linear structure that intercuts present-day events with flashbacks to the husbands arrests. The technique reveals information gradually, forcing readers to reassemble the timeline alongside the protagonists. Doyles artwork employs a muted palette dominated by browns and greys that evokes the period without descending into sepia nostalgia. Panel layouts vary between tight close-ups during conversations and wider establishing shots that emphasise the cramped geography of the neighbourhood.

Lettering and Sound Design

The lettering choices reinforce the working-class vernacular, with occasional bold emphasis on key phrases rather than excessive sound effects. This restraint keeps the focus on character interaction rather than visual noise.

The 2019 Film Adaptation

Warner Bros released a feature film version in 2019 directed by Andrea Berloff and starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss. The screenplay expanded the timeline and introduced new supporting characters while retaining the core premise of three women managing criminal operations. Critical response proved mixed, with some reviewers praising the performances yet noting that the films broader tone diluted the graphic novels claustrophobic intensity. The adaptation nevertheless introduced the story to audiences unfamiliar with Vertigo titles and sparked renewed interest in the original comics.

Legacy Within Crime Comics

The Kitchen occupies a notable position among Vertigo crime series that foreground marginalised perspectives. Its influence appears in later works that similarly examine how women navigate male-dominated underworlds, from Image titles to independent publications. Collectors continue to seek out the original issues for Doyles cover art and the supplementary essays that accompanied the collections. The series also contributed to ongoing conversations about the viability of period crime stories in an industry often dominated by superhero continuity.

Conclusion

The Kitchen remains a compelling example of how crime fiction in comics can address social realities without sacrificing narrative momentum. Its focus on three ordinary women thrust into extraordinary circumstances continues to resonate with readers interested in character-driven stories that acknowledge the complexities of power and survival.

Bibliography

Masters, O. and Doyle, M. (2015) The Kitchen Vol. 1. New York: DC Comics.

Masters, O. and Doyle, M. (2016) The Kitchen Vol. 2. New York: DC Comics.

Berloff, A. (dir.) (2019) The Kitchen. Burbank: Warner Bros.

Sacco, J. (2012) Journalism. London: Jonathan Cape.

English, T.J. (2005) Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins.

Vertigo (2015) The Kitchen press release archive. DC Comics internal documents.

Thurman, C. (2019) Review of The Kitchen film adaptation, Sight & Sound, 29(10), pp. 44-45.

DC Comics (2015) Vertigo Crime Line Retrospective. New York: DC Entertainment.

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