Teams so well-suited for collaboration are rare in comics - Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso are the only other duo that work as well, particularly on 100 Bullets, another top five entry for the best in crime comics. Phillips' artwork is so perfect for the material that 'Criminal' could easily pass as the product of a single mind, as many of the best crime comics are. 'The Last of the Innocents', however, sees Brubaker flexing some intellectual muscles, delving into meta-narratives that are closer to Paul Auster and his 'New York Trilogy' than Jim Thompson or Richard Price.
'Bad Night' is where Brubaker begins to play with the ideas he will put to good use later, while 'The Sinners' once again features Lawless in one of the best stories yet. Even the more straight-forward plots of 'Coward' and 'Lawless' provided Brubaker-patented twists that were far from predictable, whether or not you happen to be a fan of Hammett, Chandler, Thompson, et al.
As Volume 2 demonstrates, this is more than just your average crime story. Given what the two have accomplished thus far, I'm guessing the hiatus won't become a permanent vacation, though it may be a long one. The success of both works means that what began as a short diversion between 'Criminal' story-arcs is now their creative focus, with no end-dates forthcoming.īelow and following - some examples of Sean Phillips' brilliant original art pages for Criminal, some from this volume, some from the first: Lovecraft - and 'The Fade Out', they may be there for some time. Now that Brubaker and Phillips have moved from Icon to Image with their genre-blending titles 'Fatale' - which combines the noir elements of 'Criminal' with the cosmic horror of H.P. The second volume of Criminal wraps up what is one of the best crime comics ever made, but it won't be gone forever.
The Last Of The Criminals? Damn, I Hope Not
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