Criminal Vol. 2: Lawless
buy bestselling books in print, audio books
|
 |
List Price: $14.99
Our Price:
$10.19
You Save: $4.8
|
| [ + Zoom ] [ Buy Now ] |
Book : Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
Criminal Vol. 2: Lawless Customer Reviews
|
|
|
|
♥♥♥♥♥
|
Noir at its bleakest and most beautiful.
|
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' CRIMINAL is the best crime series possibly of all time. It has such a dedication to the pulp-noir roots of artists like authors like Jim Thompson and Paul Auster, and filmmakers like Mike Hodges and Jean-Pierre Melville that these seem like great love notes to the masters of the modern noir. The first arc of CRIMINAL, titled "Coward" is such a pulse-racing and cinematically-styled story that I didn't know if they would be able to top it.
Well, they did.
"Lawless" is such an obvious title for this arc because of its dual meaning: The main character named Tracy Lawless and the seeming amorality of the characters of this world.
The main story is as simple as you can get: A mysterious man seeking vengeance for the death of his younger brother. Sure it seems simple, but as we get more into the back-story of these characters and their lies and truths, which are so brilliantly woven by Brubaker, we see how complicated and brutal their lives are.
As opposed to the 'coward' Leo from the first arc, Tracy is as cold as an arctic whiteout. He is ruthless and calculating, but there is a fire that is burning inside him that he may not be able to contain before the final act draws to a close... a fire that we see glimpses of in his past as a soldier in the current Iraq war. Amd once we do get to the final moments of this story, they're moments that you're not likely to forget anytime soon. The ending is so bleak and brutally honest that it makes most modern noir look like Sunday comic strips.
Phillips' art, as per usual, lends itself perfectly to Brubaker's hard-boiled, no-prisoners storytelling. The art, like Mazzuchelli (whose works include BATMAN: YEAR ONE and DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN), is never too cartoony but never too super-realistic. Val Staples, who provides the colors, is also at the top of the game as well.
Crime just doesn't get any easier than this. |
|
Criminal Vol. 2: Lawless Books In Print, Audio Books.