Category: Crime

How Many Gangs were in The Warriors?

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How many gangs were featured in Walter Hill’s cult classic The Warriors?

Let’s see…

There were, of course, the Warriors.

Everybody remembers the Baseball Furies.

The gang that called all gangs for a meet were the Gramercy Riffs.

Then there was the scary gang that rode [inside and outside] the school bus — the Turnbull AC’s.

The all girl gang was the Lizzies.

The gang that almost let the Warriors pass through their territory was the Orphans (so low on the gang food chain they weren’t even invited to the gathering).

The gang that set all other gangs on the Warriors were the Rouges.

There was a gang that dressed flashy and were only seen at the start and they were called the Boppers.

So I got 8.  Did you do better?

There were actually 21 street gangs featured in The Warriors and Mental Floss counts them down for us!

Louis Meyers: Evidence He Was the Zodiac Killer

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The photo on the left is Louis Meyers.  The drawing on the right is a police sketch of the Zodiac Killer.

The Zodiac Killer is responsible for 5 unsolved murders in the San Francisco area committed between 1968 and 1969.  The Zodiac Killer taunted police in letters to newspapers and claimed to have killed as many as 37 people.  The Zodiac Killer was never caught.

Louis Meyers died in 2002, but before he died Meyers confessed to his best friend, Randy Kenney, that he (Meyers) was the Zodiac Killer.  Meyers claimed that he picked the victims (usually couples in lovers lane or secluded spots) because his girlfriend broke up with him.

Evidence supporting Meyers claim he was the Zodiac Killer…

  • In 1976 Meyers told another friend, Bob Robitaille, that he (Meyers) was the Zodiac Killer but Robitalle didn’t believe him.
  • Meyers lived in the area of the Zodiac killings.
  • Meyers attended two schools that were also attended by two of the Zodiac’s victims.
  • Meyers also worked at the same restaurant as another of the Zodiac’s victims.
  • Meyers worked at military surplus store.  A military boot print was left at one of the Zodiac’s crime scenes.
  • Meyers was stationed overseas in the military from 1971 to 1973.  Authorities received no letters from the Zodiac Killer during this time period.

All of these facts are circumstantial, but authorities have now added Louis Meyers to the list of Zodiac Killer suspects.

Source: DailyMail

The White Suits #1 / Z-View

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The White Suits is a four issue mini-series created by Frank Barbiere & Toby Cypress published by Dark Horse Comics.

Writer: Frank Barbiere

Artist: Toby Cypress

Mysterious killers dressed in white, they savaged the Cold War Russian underworld—then disappeared. Now they have resurfaced in New York, leaving a trail of dead mobsters. In this bloody wake, an amnesiac and an FBI agent search for the answer to a single question: Who are the White Suits?

The Pitch: “Mysterious hit men, a resourceful female FBI agent with a personal quest and a tough guy suffering from retrograde amnesia.  What do ya say?”

“Let’s do it!”

The Tagline:  “Sometimes you can tear a memory wide open.”

The Overview: The White Suits, mysterious hit men who took on the Russian underworld, have resurfaced in the US and are now going after American mobsters.  Sarah Anderson was a little girl when her dad disappeared along with The White Suits.  How and why is a mystery.  She’s now a FBI agent now and wants answers.  We also have a man with a violent past who suffers from retrograde amnesia.  The three are on a violent collision course.”

*** Beware – minor spoilers are found below ***

The Good

  • Frank Barbiere creates a story that moves.  He has a lot of ground to cover but it never feels like exposition.
  • The White Suits is a crime comic that encompasses a mystery or two or three but never at the sake of action.
  • Cypress’ art is loose and unique.
  • The black and white art with a splash of color works!

The Bad:

  • What happens to mobsters when The White Suits show up.
  • Cypress’ art is loose… and won’t be to everyone’s taste.

The Ugly:

  • Automatic weapons in a crowded night club.

I’m a sucker for crime fiction.  Especially well done crime fiction.  The White Suits qualifies on both counts.  Bring on issue 2!

Rating: 3 out of 5

Jake Hinkson on a CrimeSpree

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Jake Hinkson the author of the highly recommended Hell on Church Street, The Posthumous Man and Saint Homicide is the subject of an interview at CrimeSpree.

Hinkson talks about his influences, growing up in the South, his love of old films and more.

Here are a couple of quotes to entice you to click over…

Hardboiled crime fiction is about toughness. Noir is about weakness.

With Hell On Church Street, I found the voice of the main character right away. It jumped right out of me. I just loved the duality of Geoffrey Webb, his surface politeness and deep-seated contempt.

With The Posthumous Man, the voice of the main character was tricky because he’s a guy who, as the story begins, has just tried to commit suicide…. He dies in the emergency room for three minutes, and then wakes up to find that he has this bizarre second chance presented to him in the person of a deeply troubled nurse. He’s more philosophical than emotionally frazzled. I mean, after you’ve been dead, what’s there to be frazzled about?

There’s a line in Saint Homicide where Daniel says, “I simply don’t know what religion means to people for whom it doesn’t mean everything.”

Dead Body Road #2 / Z-View

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Dead Body Road is a six issue mini-series published by Image.

Writer: Justin Jordan

Penciler / Inker: Matteo Scalera

Colorist: Moreno Dinisio

You won’t kill me.

Yet.   Won’t kill you yet.   Can hurt you though.

Dead Body Road #1 set the bar high.  Great writing, great art and a crime/revenge story that hit all the right marks.  If you liked loved Dead Body Road #1 then you’re going to dig Dead Body Road #2.

Gage is on the trail of his wife’s killers.  This points him toward Rachael.  Her husband was part of the gang that robbed the bank and killed Gage’s wife.  Problem is, some of the gang have gotten to Rachael first.  She’s tough, but in over her head.

Gage is outnumbered and outgunned but left with no other option than to save Rachael and avenge his wife.  

Justin Jordan and Matteo Scalera continue to impress as they move the story forward.  These guys are a team to watch.

Dead Body Road #2  is a comic for mature audiences due to violence and language.  If you’re a fan of crime/revenge stories then this is for you.  

Rating: 4 out of 5

Saint Homicide by Jake Hinkson / Z-View

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His name is Daniel.  The other cons call him Saint Homicide.

Daniel is a religious man.  To say that he is being tested, if you believe in such a thing, is an understatement.  As Daniel lays out his story you see how a man of God who is a faithful hardworking and devoted husband becomes a cold-blooded killer.  

Daniel isn’t on a slow spiral out of control, he’s on a runaway freight train to destruction and just as Daniel can’t stop what’s about to happen, you as a reader won’t be able to stop turning pages.

Jake Hinkson has the ability to draw us into a world that most would never want to inhabit.  When our lives cross paths with others like Daniel we sometimes think, there but for the grace of God…  in Daniel’s case he believes that it is the grace of God that brought him to be a convicted murderer sitting in a prison cell.

As Daniel lays out his story we discover that Daniel has always been a religious man and one who stood up for his beliefs no matter the cost.  While others see him as a fanatic, Daniel knows he is a servant of God.  Daniel believes by telling his story, “by honestly transcribing blasphemies, rough language, and ugly situations as they occurred” he is “creating a testament to the glory of Christ.”

So we learn about Daniel’s hatred of abortionists and how this brought about the loss of his job as a college professor.  We wonder how Daniel, now jobless, will take care of his wife who still suffers from injuries that have left her not only physically scarred but mentally diminished.

The pressure continues to build so that when Daniel agrees to go looking for his young sister-in-law who may have run off with a thug, we know that things are not going to end well.  And they don’t.

This novella is not for the feint of heart or younger readers, but if you’re a fan of crime fiction and noir my guess is you’ll really dig this.  My only complaint is that it ended too soon.  I wanted more.  Of course, isn’t that what good authors do… leave their readers wanting more?

I’m a Jake Hinkson fan.  And like Hell on Church Street and The Posthumous Man, I recommend Saint Homicide and will look forward to Hinson’s next novel(la).

Rating: 3 out of 5

Bill Frank, Drew Moss and The Crow: Pestilence

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The cover above is by J. O’Barr for the new mini-series Crow: Pestilence by Frank Bill [writer] and Drew Moss [artist].  I love it when creators whose work I enjoy come together on a project.

I’ve been a J. O’Barr Crow fan since the character’s first appearance back in Caliber Presents.

Frank Bill burst on the crime fiction scene in a big way with his Crimes in Southern Indiana (book of short stories) and follow-up novel Donnybrook.  (I’ve read and recommend both!)

I met Drew Moss about a year ago and got two sketches from him.  Moss is a talented artist, and a funny guy.

I’m really looking forward to Crow: Pestilence and even more so after reading this CBR.com interview with Frank Bill.