I only had the first issue here in the original batch I got before I found the whole run, but yeah, Vic's failure to save the kid was a big shock considering the cover.
Another thing that I've found interesting that issue demonstrates is how Vic spends almost as much time getting beaten up as he does beating dudes up, and when he does it always leads to something wild (#1 an obvious example, bookended pretty well by the last few issues, where a thug steals an injured Vic's mask and commits dozens of crimes while wearing it).