A History of Violence is a graphic novel written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke, originally published in 1997 by Paradox Press and later by Vertigo Comics, both imprints of DC Comics. In 2005, it was adapted into a film of the same name, directed by David Cronenberg. This was the first cinematic adaptation of a work by John Wagner since 1995's Judge Dredd.
Plot
<!--In the film, the main character is called Tom Stall and lives in Indiana, and the gangsters come from Philadelphia. As explained in the next section, these are changes the film made to the book. Please do not change the details of the book to match the film.-->
In a rural Michigan town, cafe owner Tom McKenna becomes a local hero after he overpowers and kills two armed robbers. Despite his efforts to avoid the limelight, Tom's story receives national attention.
Tom is soon visited by three men who are later revealed to be associates of a powerful New York City Mafia family. Their leader, John Torrino, an aging hitman blind in one eye, alleges that Tom is actually a mobster named Joey who crossed him 20 years earlier. Torrino notices that Tom is missing a finger on his left hand and pulls out a pendant containing a severed finger, claiming he took it from Joey during their last encounter. Tom's wife Edie intervenes and orders the men to leave before she calls the police. The men comply but Edie still calls Sheriff Frank Carney, who confronts and chases off the gangsters but then later questions Tom as to whether they might have something against him.
Tom vehemently protests his innocence to everyone but is eventually forced to drop his façade when Torrino and his accomplices take the McKennas' son Buzz hostage in order to draw out Tom. Tom manages to thwart their plan and kill the other two mobsters, while Edie shoots Torrino dead in defense of her husband.
At the hospital, Tom finally admits to Edie and Buzz that he is in fact Joey and reveals why he left New York and changed his identity. He and his childhood friend Richie Benedetto pulled off a well-planned and spectacular heist, killing local crime boss Lou Manzi and several of his associates. This event was perpetrated mostly by Richie in retaliation for the murder of his older brother Steve. Tom, then known by his real name Joey Muni, only agreed to help so he could acquire the money that his grandmother needed for an expensive medical procedure on her heart. Richie foolishly chose to flaunt his take, which allowed Torrino and his cronies to identify him as one of the robbers. Using a young girl as bait, they lured Richie to a derelict apartment building where he was tortured and presumably killed, but not before naming Joey as his accomplice. Joey narrowly escaped the same fate, losing his finger to and taking an eye from Torrino in the process, and fled the city with the intent of starting over with a new identity, eventually changing his name to Tom McKenna.