This was disappointing, but entertaining enough to read (especially since it is so quick). Unfortunately, this story has an extremely thin plot, and the backstory is crammed in right before the climax (part of which is predictable). There is no real reason to care about the characters or what they are doing, except for the fact that they have appeared earlier in the Sin City series.
The artwork also leaves something to be desired. Compared to The Big Fat Kill (where the main characters here are introduced) the art is not nearly as striking. The characters are depicted somewhat differently (notably Miho) which is off-putting. Also, although Miller doesn't exactly use gray-scale, he uses a lot more shading techniques (crosshatching, etc.) which takes away from the bold, noir look. He also leaves many images just outlined (see Miho, cars, etc.) which seems unfinished, especially in contrast to what is fully shaded.
Overall, this is not a great book to start with, but worth reading just to be complete with the series. I recommend borrowing this or checking from the library (which I did) rather than purchase.

Miller keeps pushing the devil of darkness and brutality found in the Sin City stories, and there is plenty of that to be found here.

A dead hooker, some revenge, and a mission for Dwight and the little white ninja of old town. She has plenty of people to try and blunt her sword and other tools on.

A struggle between the women and the mafia for control of the turf, after earlier events.

Frank Miller's Sin City will always stand as the most full-steam, no-holds-barred series out there. Book 5 of 7, Family Values is a tale of justice. Miller's stories of Basin city always deliver, with hardcore violence and gritty dialogue. Don't get me wrong Family Values isn't as nearly as The Hard Goodbye, or That Yellow Bastard, but it is still good. It's the weakest of the Sin City graphic novels, but I enjoyed it, I you do too!

After the fast start of THE HARD GOODBYE, the Sin City series seemed mostly able to keep its steam. Although THE BIG FAT KILL was not up to snuff, both A DAME TO KILL FOR and THAT YELLOW BASTARD were solid entries that kept the momentum rolling. Alas, every series hits a dry spell and for Sin City, that dry spell is entitled FAMILY VALUES. Both the story as well as the art work is below the par we have come to expect.

The story is the type of revenge plot that is familiar in the Sin City catalogue. Yet it is not as well developed as others and the characters themselves simply are not as interesting, largely because they are not as fleshed out as they should be. Sure, some of the artwork here is good. But it should be. Frank Miller did not become successful by giving the reader junk. The problem is that, while some of the artwork is solid, some is not only below par but, hate to say it, rather amateurish. This is especially so with respect to some of the portrayals of Miho.

One cannot help but think that Frank Miller was simply going through the motions here and needed a break to regain some fresh ideas. If you plan on reading the whole series, well then of course you will include this book. But if you are only interested in picking the best to spend some time with, pass this one by.

As opposed to his otherwise serialized Sin City stories, Family Values finds Frank Miller taking a continuous approach. Dwight McCarthy, the shady photographer with a new face, is back again and teaming up with deadly, little Miho on a mission of, what else, revenge. Without ruining the story, which offers up some surprises, Dwight and Miho run afoul of the crooked cops of the city as well as the blood thirsty mob behind them. As one would come to expect from Sin City, Family Values is packed with enough bloody action and even some dark humor to satisfy the biggest fan of Miller's books, but the book also goes into a breakneck pace as well, which doesn't work out well. Miller's best Sin City books, most notably Hard Goodbye and That Yellow Bastard, worked so well because of the deliberate pacing. That's not the case with Family Values, and that really hurts the graphic novel overall. Negatives aside though, Family Values is still a pretty solid Sin City story regardless. It's definitely worth picking up, but it can be best saved for last after the other books in the series.