News: Last Days of American Crime due in December

Not a particularly timely news item, as this book was solicited in last month's Previews, but Radical Publishing sent me a pdf preview of the first issue, and it looks really promising. The art is gorgeous, and although the only thing I've ever read by Rick Remender disappointed me (Sea of Red) what I read of Last Days was quite good.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

In the not-too-distant future, as a final response to terrorism and crime, the U.S. government plans in secret to broadcast a signal making it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts. To keep this from the public, the government creates a distraction, installing a new currency system using digital charge cards.

Radical Publishing is excited to announce the December 2009 debut of The Last Days of American Crime, created and written by critically acclaimed author Rick Remender (Punisher, Fear Agent) and Illustrated by Greg Tocchini (Thor, 1602: New World). The bi-monthly, three-issue miniseries will be the latest in Radical Publishing’s 64-page bookshelf format with a low $4.99 price point.

The Last Days of American Crime tells the story of Graham Brick, a petty criminal never quite able to hit the big score. In a grand scheme, Graham intends to steal one of the charging stations, skip the country and live off unlimited funds for the rest of his life. But the media has leaked news of the anti-crime signal one week before it was to go live... and now Graham and his team have just a few days to turn the heist of the century into the last crime in American history.

The Last Days of American Crime #1 was solicited in the October 2009 issue of Diamond Previews and features two separate covers, one by Alex Maleev (DCD# OCT091056) and another by series artist Greg Tocchini (DCD# OCT091057). With those codes, your favorite retailer should still ahve no problem ordering it for you.

Here's the official site.

You Have Killed Me

Written by Jamie S. Rich
Illustrated by Joelle Jones
B&W, Hardcover Graphic Novel
Oni Press, 2009

Modern authors who attempt period private eye stories often end up turning out pale pastiche or unintentional parody. Or their stories are so heavily infused with the author's historical research that they read dry and artificial. What is often forgotten is that the private eye mystery - regardless of period - revolves around character more than plot. This is different from most other sub-genres of mystery fiction, where plot is all; a puzzle to be solved. In a P.I. story, it's all about people; their secrets, their motives, their passions.

Jamie Rich and Joelle Jones' You Have Killed Me is a private eye tale that remembers that, and is filled with deftly-drawn (in all senses of the word), richly-developed characters.

Private investigator Antonio Mercer is hired to find an old flame, a high society gal from his past, who has gone missing on the eve of her wedding to a down-on-his-luck gambler. It's no surprise that Mercer's investigation leads through smoky jazz clubs and dark back alleys, to various and sundry unsavory individuals, nor that it ultimately becomes very personal for our protagonist.

Rich's script is sharp, with terse dialogue and narrative captions that don't fall into the trap of trying to emulate Chandler's distinctive - and easily parodied - flair for simile. Instead, the first-person captions are employed sparsely and used to provide a bit of insight into Mercer's private worldview. The story treads very familiar ground, but that's okay - while familiar, it is feels fresh and is skillfully constructed.

Jones' art is clean and well-composed. Backgrounds are occasionally sketchy, but the characters are all distinctive and expressive, and her storytelling is clear and cinematic. Overall, it's beautiful stuff.

Oni Press has done a really nice job on the production of the book, with striking, attractive graphic design and high-quality paper and binding. It's a truly gorgeous book.

You Have Killed Me is an excellent period P.I. tale, extremely well told. Highly recommended.

Six Out of Six Bullets.

You Have Killed Me can be purchased through Amazon and other retailers.

Site News: New Reviews Coming Soon

Just a quick note to let you folks know that I am working on a handful of new reviews that should be posted shortly. Courtesy of the fine folks at Oni Press, I've gotten my hands on the You Have Killed Me hardcover graphic novel by Jamie Rich and Joelle Jones and The Damned TPB by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. And Fantagraphics recently sent me the Eurocrime graphic novel, West Coast Blues -- so look for all of these to be covered here in the very near future.

I've also got a few older books on the review pile -- including one or two that I hadn't gotten around to reading yet, like Boom! Studios' spy thriller, Left On Mission -- and intend to write them up here soon.

Stay tuned....

News: Whiteout Movie Coming At Last

The long-anticipated film adaptation of Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber's awesome graphic novel, Whiteout, is finally coming out, and will be hitting theaters on September 11.

In the movie, Kate Beckinsale (Underworld) stars as Carrie Stetko, the lone U.S. Marshal assigned to Antarctica, whose investigation of the continent’s first murder draws her into a shocking mystery. Now, with only three days until winter, Carrie must solve the crime before Antarctica is plunged into darkness and she is stranded with the killer.

The Warner Brothers film, directed by Dominic Sena, has been completed for quite some time now, and has changed release dates several times. It looks like this one is the real thing, though!

I'm really looking forward to the movie, and hope it does Greg and Steve's work justice (and helps sell lots more copies of the books!).

I will be reviewing the original graphic novels here over the next couple of weeks.

The Hunter

Written & Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
From the novel by Richard Stark
Duotone, Hardcover
IDW Publishing, 2009

Undoubtedly the most anticipated crime comic in years (around here, anyway), Darwyn Cooke's adaptation of Richard Stark's (the late Donald E. Westlake) first "Parker" crime novel, The Hunter, is a truly beautiful piece of narrative art, and exceedingly faithful to its source material.

After a successful heist, professional thief Parker (no other name) was betrayed by his partner, shot by his wife, and left to die in a burning house. He survived, though, and now he's out for revenge – and to get his share of the money from the heist. To accomplish this, he'll have to go head-to-head with the Outfit, and nothing – or nobody – is going to stand in his way.

I pretty much knew I was going to love this. I'm a huge fan of the Parker novels (which should surprise no one who's read my Gravedigger comic) and I'm a long-time admirer of Darwyn Cooke's comic book work. With Richard Stark's Parker, Book One: The Hunter, Cooke employs his usual, deceptively simple, retro art style to fine effect. In fact, it suits the material perfectly, visually evoking the era in which the story was written and effectively setting the proper noir tone. Cooke's use of blue-gray duotone heps, too. Graphically, The Hunter is a triumph.

Narratively, the graphic novel follows Stark's book almost too religiously. In some places, it seems almost more of an illustrated transcription than an adaptation... but overall, it's quite a pleasant reading experience. Cooke's smart enough and talented enough as an artist to let his drawings carry long stretches of the story without text, and he successfully manages to duplicate the original novel's relentless, driving pace.

IDW's publications are nearly always impeccably designed, and The Hunter is no exception. Everything about the book indicates class and quality, from the slickly-designed dust jacket, to the heavy interior paper stock. It's a gorgeous book.

It's been quite the commercial hit, too, with IDW already going back to press for a second printing. I couldn't be happier; the book deserves its success.

Cooke is scheduled to write and draw at least three more Stark adaptations. Personally, I can't wait for The Man With The Getaway Face.

Six out of Six Bullets.

Richard Stark's Parker, Book One: The Hunter can be purchased through most comic shops, booksellers and Amazon.com.

DVD Review: Angel of Death

I don't make a habit of reviewing movies here in the Gutters, but since this particular flick was written by comics scribe Ed Brubaker (Criminal, Scene of the Crime) I thought this one was relevant and worth covering here.

Originally serialized online, Ed Brubaker’s Angel of Death is an entertaining B-action flick vehicle for Kiwi stuntwoman Zoe Bell (Death Proof, Kill Bill), directed by Paul Etheridge.

Bell portrays a professional hit woman named Eve, who, during a botched assassination attempt, is stabbed in the head. She survives, but finds herself haunted by visions of one of her victims, and compelled to hunt down and execute the ones who originally commissioned the hit. Of course, this doesn’t sit well with her bosses, who send other hit men to put her down. Carnage ensues.

The story is pretty straightforward and full of comic book-styled action, with characterizations and dialogue that are somewhat better than usual for a movie of this type. Performances range from very good to, well, pretty bad. Bell is fantastic in the action scenes – as should be expected – but her acting is rather unimpressive. Doug Jones (Hellboy 2) is excellent as the doctor who removes the knife from her brain, and Lucy Lawless (Xena, Battlestar Galactica) has small, but sympathetic role as Eve’s neighbor (her Southern accent’s a bit too broad, though).

Etheridge’s direction is moderately stylish, and sets a dark, gritty tone to the film. And, to his great credit, he shoots the action scenes really well; none of that over-edited shaky-cam crap here – Angel of Death lets its action scenes play out clearly and with the camera at a decent distance so that all of the extremely well-executed stuntwork can be followed and enjoyed by the audience.

Sony presents the short (78 minute) feature on DVD in a perfect 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer with stereo sound. Special features include a commentary track by writer Brubaker and star Bell, a "Making Of" doc, featurettes on the writing, casting, and stunts of the production, and "Eve’s Tips for Killing."

Angel of Death is a solid little crime/action thriller and worth checking out, if only for the exceptionally well-done action sequences and stunts. If you're a fan of Brubaker's Criminal, you'll probably enjoy this, too.

Four out of Six Bullets.

Angel of Death can be purchased through Amazon and other video dealers.

NEWS: Ms. Tree Returns (At Last!)

At the San Diego Comic Con (maybe you've heard of it?), it was announced that Max Allan Collins and artist Terry Beatty would be producing both a (yet another) sequel to Road To Perdition for DC/Vertigo's new crime line and a new Ms. Tree miniseries or graphic novel for IDW Publishing.

In addition, IDW will be (finally!) collecting all of the original issues of Ms. Tree in high-end, uniform trade paperbacks.

Here's the word from Max the man himself, from his website:

Before I get into a blog-ish report, let me repeat announcements regarding M.A.C. that made some news at the con: Vertigo Crime Line will be doing Return To Perdition, a graphic novel sequel to Road To Paradise and the last story, chronologically anyway, in the Perdition saga. Terry Beatty was announced as artist, which means the Ms. Tree team is back. The Vertigo Crime Line books are lovely little hardcovers of about 200 pages.

Although the ink hasn't dried (actually, hasn't been applied), informally it was announced that Ms. Tree would be reprinted in uniform volumes with a new graphic novel. This will (if all goes well, and it will) be a Comics Mix/IDW affair. Lots of great comments from people about this, all around the con.

Color me thrilled.

NEWS: Welcome to Stumptown

The first issue of Greg Rucka's (Whiteout, Felon) new private eye comic, Stumptown is being solicited in this month's Diamond Comics Distribution PREVIEWS catalog from Oni Press. It's due out in October.

It's been a long time coming; all the way back in the Summer of 2007, he talked to the Comic Book Resources website about it:

"It's a single individual detective, in the honor of all great private-eye novels. As opposed to there being an actual agency, the agency is one person with a desk. And, you know, this is about as realistic as most private eye stories are going to be, which is to say not at all. Because, frankly, actual investigation work is pretty tedious and undramatic."

The series was inspired in no small part by the P.I. television series of Rucka's youth, like "Magnum, P.I.," "Simon and Simon," and "The Rockford Files."

"It's my love letter to 'The Rockford Files,'" he said. "It's taking those things that I love in 'Rockford' and retooling them for my own purposes for a book set in a world that's 30 years later. And, you know, I want it to be fun. I want it to have that sense of joy that I got from 'Rockford.'"

Sounds right up my alley... and probably yours, too.

Site News: Not Quite Dead Yet

It's been ages since I posted a news item or review on the site, and I apologize. Obviously, life has been keeping me busy elsewhere. But I have not abandoned this blog.

There are a lot of exciting comics and graphic novels coming out that fall under the purview of this blog, and I very much want to cover them. I also want to continue to promote the genre and help bring awareness to quality works, both old and new.

But... I've been busy.

Also, I'm broke, so there are numerous books I'd like to review that I simply haven't gotten my hands on yet. Darwyn Cooke's adaptation of The Hunter, the last two Criminal trades, Jamie Rich and Joelle Jones' You Have Killed Me, the trade collection of Steven Grant's 2 Guns... and I'm sure there are lots more.

And I've been having difficulty keeping up with all the news lately. I completely missed the initial announcement that the acclaimed European comic, Blacksad, was going to be published by Dark Horse comics. I've wanted to read this for years. I also didn't know that there were new editions of Abuli & Bernet's Torpedo on the way.

(Not to mention the recent announcement by DC/Vertigo of a new dedicated crime comics line!)

I don't see my financial situation changing any time soon, but I will make more of an effort to keep up with the news. And I'll dig back into my longboxes for some more of the older stuff to review. Those reviews don't seem to get as much reaction, but they're worth doing, I guess, if only to bring some obscure – or forgotten material – back into the light.

If you're a creator, publisher or PR person for a publisher, and would like to have me print your press release or review your crime, espionage, or adventure graphic novel/comic book, just drop me a line. I'll be happy to read your book and share my reaction to it here, where it will be read (hopefully) by an audience specifically interested in the genre.

Finally, some shameless self promotion. The long-awaited trade paperback collection of Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries, written by yours truly, illustrated by Joe Staton, and aided and abetted by a talented group of accomplices, was published in May. It is available now through better comic book shops, directly from the publisher, and (at a discount) from online retailers like In-Stock Trades.

It includes all four issues of the miniseries, two additional stories, concept art, a foreword by Max Allan Collins of Ms. Tree and Road To Perdition fame, and an afterword by Kevin Burton Smith of the Thrilling Detective website.

I don't just read crime comics – I write 'em too!

Tell Them Johnny Wadd Is Here

Written by Tony Fleecs
Illustrated by Dave Wachter
Color, Comics Format
Terminal Press, 2009

I posted about this a couple of days ago, and decided to take a chance on ordering a copy. The publisher has only a very small number in print, and are offering them only at conventions and through their website. I got my copy Friday.

Tell Them Johnny Wadd Is Here is a very surprising comic book.

First of all, despite the source material – a series of hardcore sex films from the 1970's directed by Bob Chinn and starring John Holmes – this comic contains no graphic sexual images. There is sex, and it's erotic, but there are no drawings of Holmes' legendary weapon, nor any actual full nudity shown. Secondly, there is an actual, intelligent plot.

Thirdly, it's damned good.

Private investigator Johnny Wadd is in Mexico looking for the wife of a traffic cop friend of his, who has been missing for six weeks, and may have been kidnapped. As Wadd makes inquiries around the small town of Ensenada, he inadvertently provokes a local drug dealer, and discovers that the truth about the woman's disappearance may not be quite what he was led to believe.

Frankly, this is a great little book. It's short – only 18 pages of story, and it's a POD product, so the price is too high... but damn, it's a nice piece of work.

The story isn't 100% original – then, how many are? – and suffers a bit from the short page count, but Fleecs' dialogue is really strong. It's suitably hard-boiled and sounds quite natural. His storytelling is good, too, using the comics format well and playing to his artist's strengths masterfully.

And his artist has many strengths. The art by Dave Wachter is excellent, easily on par with most of the stuff being published by the big companies. Everything is well-drawn – characters, settings, props – and the storytelling is appropriately cinematic. The coloring by Narek Gevorgian complements his illustrations perfectly, setting the appropriate mood for this Mexican-based noir.

I recommend Tell Them Johnny Wadd Is Here with only a few reservations. One: the idea of using a porn film for the source is kinda weird, and considering how much new that Fleecs brought to it, I wonder if it might have worked better as an original creation, and two, the POD nature of the book, and its limited edition nature makes it a pretty steep investment for such a short story. Yes, the story's good and the art is great, but it's still too damned pricey. That's gonna cost them a Bullet.

Five out of Six Bullets.

Tell Them Johnny Wadd Is Here can be purchased directly from the publisher at Terminal Press.