Review: Criminal #2

Gwen Dylan Stacy

6 years ago

Â From its opening pages, Ed Brubaker“s Criminal is brilliantly self-aware of the industry in which it speaks, that industry being comics. It pits its reader against the many problematic things about the industry that we, as fans, already knew about; sexism, the steady decline of from print to store support that creators have spoken about in real-time, as well as somewhat toxic behaviors of those within the industry itself that creates a sense of the world imploding in on itself because of such. It touches upon the life of a once brilliant gem in the industry“s downfall and the reasons that might attribute to his poisonous behavior and lack of concern for something that once was his muse.

The mirrored decline of Hal Crane“s life is splashed upon the pages in neo noir art by Sean Phillips, and manages to recreate that same sort of tinged with darkness mentality that our main character exudes from the core of his being. Weirdly, if I had to really and truly make a good comparative analogy? Crane“s entire story reminds me a bit of John Constantine. A troubled man who once was something glorious that had fallen to the wayside in favor of darker appetites that were fueled by an intense self loathing created by the guilt of an event that he may or may not could have changed. The bitterness that is present in every bubble of Crane“s speech hangs on every word like a loose coat meant to keep him warm in spite of the cold truth staring him in the face.

Our main character“s keeper comme narrator, Jacob, seems content to keep mostly mum, knowing the past history of someone who was once his idol. If there“s anything that I know from comics, it“s that oftentimes this stance can come back to bite a protagonist in the hindquarters. Especially when information that he hadn“t previously been aware of, like who Lucinda is (don“t worry, I“m not here to spoil that!) comes to light. It festers, building a facade of unease that“s mixed with compassion and muddied by what Hal eventually comes to ask Jacob to do for him. We“re not sure, yet, if Hal is actually the person that everyone else in the community makes him out to be, or a victim of unfortunate circumstance that he“s allowed to play out, fueled by the darker bits of his nature.

The brilliant part of this title is the fact that we“re subjected to both sides of Hal“s story. We“re left to deduce for ourselves about whether or not who he seems to be is actually who he is or if there“s something larger at work. For me, the idea of figuring this out along with the gritty realism of the title itself is enough for me to want to continue to read on. I“ll give Criminal“s secondary issue a 4 out of five stars, as I find it engaging as well as interesting considering the bulk of the main plot being based upon something that you and I both know and love as readers; comics. Have you checked out Criminals? If so, what did you rate it?

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(W) Ed Brubaker (A/CA) Sean Phillips