Category: Crime
Sons of Anarchy #1 / Z-View
Sons of Anarchy #1 of a six issue mini-series from Boom! Studios Writer: Christopher Golden Artist: Damian Couceiro Colors by Stephen Downer Cover Shown: Damian Couceiro
Sons of Anarchy fans will be excited to get their hands on a comic series featuring their favorite motorcycle outlaws. Writer Christopher Golden gets the feel for the characters right and artist Damian Couceiro creates likenesses that are generally very good. Yet for all that, something feels a bit off.
The Sons are on a mission to deliver an item to a bar. The stop off to give Tig time to grieve at the grave of his daughter. When Tig returns to the gang, Jax is ready to call the whole thing off. They don’t and go to the bar where Tig gets into a fight to defend a woman getting abused by her boyfriend. Tig beats the boyfriend down and then gets a beat down of his own from the guy’s friends. And while Tig’s getting his butt handed to him, the Sons are watching.
Really? Yep. Really. Then Jax negotiates a peaceful resolution.
There’s a subplot about a woman on the run that ends up at the Sons’ garage looking for shelter… and a couple of hitmen known as the Ghost Brothers who are hired to find and kill her.
Rating: 3 out of 5
The Devil Doesn’t Want Me
See the mug above. That’s Eric Beetner.
I first learned about him from his 60 Second Book Reviews blog. Beetner’s reviews, for the books that I’ve read, are directly in line with my thoughts. So, if Beetner likes it, it’s a good bet that I will as well.
Then I learned Eric Beetner was a writer of crime fiction and his books were all getting 5 star reviews. Now I was intrigued. So I bookmarked Beetner’s blog.
Next I discovered this trailer for Beetner’s The Devil Doesn’t Want Me. Nice.
So I broke down and ordered Beetner’s Dig Two Graves; One Too Many Blows to the Head and A Bouquet of Bullets. I’ve read and enjoyed and highly recommend all of ’em.
Z-View: Kiss Me Satan #1
Kiss Me Satan #1 of a five issue mini-series from Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Victor Gischler
Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Cover Shown: Dave Johnson
Barnabus Black is a fallen angel.. one of the many that followed Lucifer out of Heaven and the only one who decided to return. Only going back isn’t that easy. Black must earn his return. In the best of worlds that wouldn’t be easy.
Now that Black has a retrieval team from Hell on his tail things just got a whole lot harder. Especially since he’s been given the task of protecting an old woman with psychic powers from a criminal organization led by werewolves.
Victor Gischler has set up a story that could easily become silly. Yet, if you’re willing to by into the supernatural elements, you’re in for an action-packed thrill ride. Juan Ferreyra’s art is a joy and walks the line between serious and cartoony to perfectly fit the story.
Rating: B
Z-View: Hit #1
Hit #1 of a four issue mini-series from Boom! Studios
Writer: Bryce Carlson
Artist: Vanesa R. Del Rey
Colors by Archie Van Buren
Cover Shown: Ryan Sook
Los Angeles. 1955. Crime is rampant. Corrupt cops and judges are making it easy for thugs like Karlo “The Shark” Infantino to beat the system. As Detective Harvey Slater says, “Just because you’re proven not guilty doesn’t mean you’re innocent.”
Slater leads a squad of cops are unofficially sanctioned to take out the criminals that the courts can’t. So where does that put Slater and his crew? They’re killers working outside the law. Doesn’t that make them as bad as those they’re putting down? What happens when clean cops start investigating them? And how is Slater going to explain a dead cop in his apartment?
Carlson has tapped into a story with a lot of potential. Fans of crime fiction, James Elroy, LA Confidential and the upcoming Mob City are going to be all over this. Del Ray’s art evokes the time period and is complimented by Van Buren’s colors. I’m looking forward to the second issue!
Rating: B+
Jake (Hell on Church Street) Hinkson is an Author to Watch!
With just two crime / noir novels (Hell on Chruch Street and The Posthumous Man) to his credit, Jake Hinson has made a name as a new author to watch. Both novels were well received by fans and critics alike and get my highest recommendation. (I liked Hell on Church Street a bit more than The Posthumous Man, but they are both excellent reads so why quibble?)
Cooke To Illustrate Parker Prose Novels
Darwyn Cooke’s two graphic novel adaptations of (Donald Westlake aka) Richard Stark’s Parker novels have been resounding successes with fans and critics alike. So it only made sense that a third adaption, Slayground would be coming at Christmas.
Recently Cooke, the estate of Donald Westlake and publisher IDW announced…
For the first time, the Parker novels will be published in a deluxe, hardcover format, and with Cooke designing the series, as well as providing stunning color illustrations to accompany Westlake’s (AKA, Richard Stark’s) crime classics! The first book, The Hunter, will arrive in the first half of 2014. Additional editions will be released in chronological order thereafter.
I can not wait!
Source: Sequential Highway
Frank Bill & Drew Moss Have Something to Crow About
There’s a new Crow mini-series coming in 2014 and it won’t be for the faint-of-heart.
The Crow: Pestilence will be written by novelist Frank Bill, the author who exploded on the crime fiction scene with a brutal one-two punch: his short-story collection, Crimes in Southern Indiana followed by his debut novel, Donnybrook. Bill will be joined by artist Drew Moss (interior art) and Crow creator, J. O’Barr (providing covers).
For the full story check out CBR.com’s The Crow Rises Again…
“Breaking Bad” Series in Less Than 7 Minutes!
Here’s a really well done video summation of Breaking Bad. BEWARE SPOILERS!!
Matt Wagner Creates Grendel & Shadow Crossover!
Matt Wagner fans are going to be excited to hear that Wagner is writing and drawing a three issue (48 pages per) prestige mini-series featuring a cross-over between The Shadow and Wagner’s creation, Grendel.
As excited as his fans may be, Wagner may be even more excited…
“Ever since the smash success of my two previous crossover events (with Batman), I’ve had many offers over the years to see Grendel cross blades with a varied host of other characters,” comments Grendel creator, Matt Wagner. “But none of those opportunities ever excited me as much as this possibility. I’ve been a huge fan ofThe Shadow for many, many years and my love of the character finally saw fruition when I got the chance to literally re-define his origins by writing The Shadow: Year One for Dynamite. To have the chance to both write and draw The Shadow facing my own creation is something of a dream come true! It’s also adds yet another instant classic to my long legacy of Grendel projects with Dark Horse Comics.”
Click over to Sequential Highway for the full report.
The 1st & Last Appearance of Every Major Character on “Breaking Bad”
Would you like to see an animated gif of the first and last appearance of every major character on Breaking Bad?
Sure, you would.
‘Breaking Bad’ Creator Vince Gilligan Explains Series Finale
I believe that Breaking Bad is probably the best television series ever.
There have been other great series, but Breaking Bad was the most consistently good series that did exactly what it set out to accomplish.
Unfortunately all good bad things must come to an end. If you’re like me, you like to speculate about what happened to the characters after the final fade to black. Breaking Bad series creator, Vince Gilligan and the show’s writers have their own ideas about what happened next and they shared them with Entertainment Weekly.
Breaking Bad: Francavilla is Wired & My Predictions for the Finale
We’re about six hours away from the series finale of Breaking Bad. My guess is you still need a little something to hold you over.
How about Wired’s profile of Franco Francavilla’s Breaking Bad minimalistic episode posters?
Or… my predictions for the Breaking Bad finale?
I think that Walter is going to die, but first he’ll earn a bit of redemption.
Here’s how I see it going down:
- Walter will free Jesse from the White Supremacists. I believe he will use the Scarface machine gun for this. Although Walter initially wanted Jesse dead (blaming Jesse for Hank’s murder), I think the months alone in the cabin have given Walter time to reflect and the desire to set things right before he dies. Jesse will be given money and Robert Forster’s character will get him away to a new life.
- Walter will use the Ricen to kill Lydia. By killing Lydia and the white supremacists, this will effectively stop the distribution of the Heisenberg meth. This will also allow Walter to get his money back for his family.
- Walter will set things up for his family’s security. I’m not sure if they will assume new identities or the money will be filtered to them after the dust settles.
- Walter will confess to everything. The dust will settle after Walter confesses to everything and clears Skyler of any knowledge of his drug-related activities. His confession will do two things: 1) Clear Skyler and 2) Cement his legacy as an “empire builder.” I do wonder if Walt will turn himself in after everything is set for his family’s security or if he will get the family taken care of and wait until he is close to dying from the cancer.
The great thing about Breaking Bad is, you never know what is going to happen. So don’t be surprised if I’m wrong. Dead wrong.
“Schrader” Faux “Breaking Bad” Poster!
Entertainment Weekly commissioned a poster for each of their five favorite Breaking Bad episodes. Sadly they are no longer online, but I did save the one above. I wish I knew the name of the person who created it. If you do, let me know and I’ll credit them here.
Zablo in Gravedigger’s Universe Thanks to Chris Mills and Rick Burchett!
If you’re a fan of great crime comics, you should be reading Gravedigger by Chris Mills and Rick Burchett. I’ve been singing the praises of Gravedigger since before it was released. I knew from the premise and with Chris and Rick at the helm that Gravedigger would be a winner.
And it is.
Keep in mind, that my love for Gravedigger happened long before I became a part of his universe!
