Tag: Crime Comics

Cruel Summer

criminal number six cover

Issue number five of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ always magnificent Criminal commences a new storyline called “Cruel Summer, apparently planned from the very beginning of the Criminal series. It opens here with private investigator Dan Farraday’s pickup lines rebuffed by an attractive single woman in a hotel lounge. When she cautiously relents, we discover that this ‘Jane Hanson’ is actually Marina Kelly, the very woman Farraday’s been hired to locate. Things don’t go precisely as planned with the hotel bar pickup, any more than Farraday’s investigation did, but then this is an Ed Brubaker story, so of course things don’t go precisely as planned. Evidently, issues six and seven will switch gears and zero in on other familiar Criminal characters, notably Teeg Lawless, before bringing things back full circle with Farraday and Marina. Phillips’ art is brilliant, as always. Brubaker’s script doesn’t exhibit one wasted word that I can see. Like every issue of Criminal before, I’m hungering for the next installment the moment I close the comic’s back cover. Phillips’ cover art for that issue – Issue Number Six – is shown above.

Like most (all?) issues of Criminal, this one includes excellent extras, here a roundtable discussion on crime fiction (and media) series characters with Ed Brubaker, Jason Starr, Alex Segura and Sara Gran. Heck, even if you didn’t care for crime comics, the issue’s worth buying for that alone.

criminal number 6

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Mafiosa

Mafiosa Cover

Spotted at Crime Fiction Lover (and you just have to love the straightforward name of that site, dontcha?):

Planned for a first issue to be released in August 2019, Mafiosa is scripted by Sunshine Barbito with art by Debora Carita. Set in Prohibition era Little Sicily, it tells the story of 18 year old Nicoletta Marchesi, daughter of a made man who aims to join the family business herself. From the description I read, it sounds like this mafiosa is more lethal than any mafioso, and I’m anxious to see more.

Looks like the book’s launch is relying on a Kickstarter campaign. There are some sample pages and a handy link to Mafiosa’s Kickstarter page at Crimefictionlover.com (link below). Check it out for info on this forthcoming comic, or just to learn more about Crime Fiction Lover, “The Site For Die Hard Crime And Thriller Fans”, if you’re unfamiliar with the spot-on news, reviews, interviews and features you’ll find there.

https://crimefictionlover.com

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Criminal #7

Criminal 7

Why must it feel like so damn long between issues of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal, even though it actually isn’t? Issue Number Seven’s cover above.

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Tap Dance Killer

Tap Dance 3

Not sure if I stumbled across this at Book Riot or Women In Comics (my blog aggregator has way too many things coming in and needs some pruning):

Tap Dance Killer (now there’s a title!), scripted by Ted Sikora with art by Nikolaus Harrison. If I’ve got it straight (search results were spotty) this is about actress Nikki St. Clair, who experiences some sort of supernatural occurrence while appearing in a ‘horror show musical’ as the Tap Dance Killer, and actually assumes the role in real life, becoming a mobster assassin and ultimately sparking an all-out gang war. This may be one of the various comics projects launched via a Kickstarter campaign, though it also looks like there are several issues out already, with a trade pb due that covers the first five issues. I haven’t seen it at my local comix shops (no surprise, there), but I’m on the lookout now.

Tap Dance 1Tap Dance

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Criminal #6: Can’t Wait

Criminal 6

I just picked up Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillip’s Criminal #4 this past weekend, and now I see that the cover for Criminal #6 just appeared at Sean Phillips’ site on Monday morning – theartofseanphillips.blogspot.uk. Not due out till mid-July…but I’ll be waiting.

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Lady Killer: Joelle Jones

Lady Killer 1

I never say this person’s the best artist, the best writer, the best actor, etc. But I’m not timid about saying who are my favorites, and the brilliant Joelle Jones is on that list. Incredibly skilled with design and composition as well as an artful stylist, Jones isn’t content being a terrific artist, but has to be an inventive and creative writer as well…the show-off. Some handiwork of her best project so far (IMHO) shown here: Lady Killer, about 1960’s suburban housewife Josie Schuller, who’s also happens to be a lethal hit woman.

Lady Killer 2Lady Killer 3

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Tinsel Town

Masthead

I never saw this five-issue series from Alterna Comics which apparently ran last year, and just happened to stumble across it recently at a blog. I’ve looked for it since with no luck. But a trade pb collecting the whole series is due out this summer, though not till the end of July (which could just as easily mean anywhere from August through Autumn). I suppose I’ll pre-order now.

 

Tinsel Town 1 Cover

 

Sure looks interesting: David Lucarelli writes a story drawn by Henry Ponciano set in the silent film era, when Abigail Moore dreams of becoming a police officer. Of course, women weren’t welcome then, but she takes a job as a studio security officer, where soon enough she’s mixed up in a noir-ish behind the screen mystery. Well, that cover art’s a little bright for ‘noir-ish, but I’m still eager to check this out.

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HIT 1955 – 1957

Hot 1955 #1

HIT, from BOOM Comics, written by Bryce Carlson with art (and some of the series covers) by the great Vanesa R. Del Rey.

There are two HIT series: 1955 and a follow-up, 1957. Both are dark, noir-ish hard-boiled crime fiction at its very, very best. The set-up’s reminiscent of James Ellroy’s L.A. Confidential, and films like Mulholland Falls or Gangster Squad, dealing with LAPD Detective Harvey Slater, who’s an undercover member of the secret Hit Squad, lawless thugs with badges on a top-brass-endorsed mission to purge Los Angeles of organized crime. But Detective Slater’s due for real trouble when the woman from his past returns to L.A., none other than Bonnie Brae, who just happens to be his Captain’s daughter. Brae’s pure trouble in a dress, and one of the finest femme fatales to appear in comics in years.

Hit 1955

Like many comic trade paperbacks, the HIT books include extras, like a Duane Swierczynski introduction and cover alternates from Erik Gist, Trevor Hairsine, Terry Dodson and Ryna Soo. But best of all, both of these have bonus short stories, which were a real treat. I loved both series, loved Carlson’s storytelling and Del Rey’s art, but most of all, I loved Bonnie Brae, and I bet you will too.

Hit 1957

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Jim Silke’s Century

Jim Silke

A smoking cigarette (Camels, no less), an automatic on the nightstand, a handsome fellow ignoring the wound on his shoulder and a naughty glimpse of stocking just below the lacy hem of the lovely lady’s chemise. What else could you ask for in a piece of noir-ish art, beautifully executed here by master artist Jim Silke for a DC Vertigo American Century cover? The one above is from issue No. 20, I believe. Below is another example of Silke’s cover art from American Century.

American Century 18

 

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