...And Looking Ahead to 2010.

There's only so much public information about what's coming in the next few months, but I'll review what's already known and what's likely.

First -- and most immediately -- issue #4 of Criminal: The Sinners is in stores February 3rd, and yesterday Comic Book Resources posted a six-page preview of the story's penultimate issue, which resolves last issue's cliffhanger with a little violence and a surprising amount of humor.

It's worth noting that the second and third pages -- presumably facing pages -- break somewhat from the series' familiar three-row pattern. This is only the second time that page layout has changed, the first being in the first page in "Second Chance in Hell," from Volume #2, Issue #1.

After that?

The fifth and final issue of Criminal: The Sinners should be released in just a few more weeks. As of the time of this writing, Marvel.com has the issue still scheduled for its original solicitation date of February 24th, and Sean Phillips is already working on the finale.

Marvel's solicitations for March and April mention no new Icon material from Brubaker and Phillips. If history is any guide, we should still see the trade collection for "The Sinners" sooner rather than later -- May would be my guess.

The next arc after "The Sinners" may well be the sequel to Incognito, if plans haven't changed from interviews Brubaker gave last April and August. Brubaker may have alluded to this sequel in the afterward to the mini-series' trade paperback, apparently written this past October.

"If you like Incognito, you'll be pleased to hear there's more coming next year. Hopefully a lot more, because I've got quite a few ideas that I want to get in this little pulp world we created."

A five- or six-issue sequel that is published monthly and begins in April or May will get us to fall.

Beyond that, who knows? I do hope that Criminal isn't eclipsed by the Incognito universe, and I hope that we're still going to see "Coward's Way Out," the story of Leo's prison break, which was, according to Brubaker, pushed back in favor of "The Sinners."


What I find really interesting is DC's April solicitations, which provide an advance solicitation for the third hardcover collection for Ed Brubaker's Gotham Central.

GOTHAM CENTRAL BOOK 3: ON THE FREAK BEAT HC
Advance-solicited • On sale JUNE 9 • 224 pg, FC $29.99 US
Written by GREG RUCKA & ED BRUBAKER
Art by MICHAEL LARK, JASON ALEXANDER & others
Cover by CLIFF CHIANG

Detective Renee Montoya investigates the disappearance of evidence amid a gang war and travels to Keystone City in an attempt to unveil the truth about a fellow officer’s strange mutation in this collection featuring issues #23-31 of the award-winning series. Plus, the dead body of Robin, the Boy Wonder, is found on the streets, forcing the detectives to solve the case while dealing with Batman and The Teen Titans.

The first two volumes collected ten issues and twelve issues, so if the entire, 40-issue series is going to be collected in hardcover editions, one would expect the third collection and the final collection each to contain nine issues. This solicitation meets that expectation.

Even though this book contains fewer issues, its retail price is still $29.99, but the price didn't go up for the twelve-issue second volume, either. If all forty issues are released in four volumes at this price, then the MSRP is essentially $3.00 an issue, which isn't bad considering the series' original cover price of $2.50.

What's really odd, though, is that the solicitation mentions "issues #23-31" but clearly alludes to the story, "Dead Robin," found in issues #33-36. Presently the official site has the same discrepancy, but I suspect that these hardcover collections will contain the entire run -- as the softcover volumes did not -- and that the "Dead Robin" arc will be left for the final nine-issue volume.

(Leaving "Dead Robin" to the last collection makes sense in terms of trade dress, anyway: it's Brubaker's last arc on the series, so saving it for Book Four will allow all the covers to give the same prominent attribution to both Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka.)

I'll update the blog if and when the discrepancy is addressed -- or, in the worst case, when I buy and open my copy of the book.


In the meantime, Criminal: The Sinners #4 is in stores this upcoming Wednesday.

Looking Back on 2009...

I never did get around to one last post to wrap up the year, and A Criminal Blog has been pretty quiet since. I've found a couple new items worth a remark or two, but first, 2009 deserves a quick review as possibly the most successful year so far for Brubaker and Phillips' collaborative work.


We saw 2008 end with the conclusion of "Bad Night," a story that was twisted and intricately plotted even for Criminal, and its trade paperback collection was published at the end of January, 2009.

But the year really began with Incognito, the "apocalyptic pulp noir" whose first issue reached stores over New Year's. It tweaked the visual style of Criminal and told a story that reversed the undercover premise of Sleeper, all while introducing a new super-powered universe that we should visit again soon.

Like Ed Brubaker's Captain America: Reborn, which began later in the year, Incognito was originally a five-issue mini-series and ended up expanding into a sixth issue. The title was surprisingly successful commercially, leading to a reprint of issue #1 and the "must-have one shot" collecting the first two issues -- both a first for Brubaker and Phillips' work at Icon.

Over the course of the summer, DC Comics republished the complete Sleeper, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' first major collaboration. They first released a new trade paperback edition of the prelude story Point Blank, featuring new cover art by Sean Phillips, and then DC released a complete twelve-issue collection for each of the two "seasons" of Sleeper. These last two trades are less expensively priced than the earlier four-volume set, and the second trade includes a prologue story that has never been collected before.

Incognito reached its violent conclusion in September, kicking off a very busy fall season. Along with the final Sleeper collection, DC published the second hardcover collection for Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka's Gotham Central, the critically acclaimed series that would eventually feature cover art by Sean Phillips.

Icon published the trade paperback collection for Incognito, where Brubaker explained in the afterward that Jess Nevins' essay on the "zeppelin pulps" wasn't entirely rooted in history.

And then there was Criminal: The Deluxe Edition. Along with the stories from the first three trade collections, the beautiful oversized hardcover includes some 70 pages of extra content, pretty much everything a fan would want:

• all of Sean Phillips' cover art for the individual issues and the trades
  
• all of Phillps' art for the supplemental essays, along with the essays Ed Brubaker wrote himself
  
• the five-page "trailer" that introduced the series to the world
  
• the Criminal prose story "Caught in the Undertow" from the very first issue
  
• the Criminal "emission" called "No One Rides for Free," from Liberty Comics #1
  
• and a brief glimpse behind the scenes, showing Phillips' process for creating the cover and for translating the script to the page

To say that this book is a "must-have" is a gross understatement.

Fall wasn't just a busy time for reprints, as October finally saw the return of Criminal, first in the debut issue of Criminal: The Sinners, and then in the twisted black-and-white short story "21st Century Noir," found in the Dark Horse anthology Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics.

The third issue of "The Sinners" reached stores the week before Christmas. The five-issue arc features the return of Tracy Lawless, who is hunting down a killer for mob boss Sebastian Hyde, all while he is being hunted for going AWOL. Surprisingly, the mini-series revealed at least part of the mystery in the very first issue, but we're entering the new year still waiting for all the pieces to fit together.


Incredibly, almost everything Brubaker and Phillips have ever produced together was released or republished in 2009, from Sleeper to Criminal to Incognito.

(A complete compilation of their collaborative work would include 1999's Scene of the Crime, where, for the last three issues, Phillips did the inks over Michael Lark's pencils; Gotham Central, where Phillips began cover art work in issue #33, before Brubaker left with issue #36; and the prestige-format Elseworlds story, Batman: Gotham Noir. I found a copy of this book at last year's Dragon*Con in Atlanta, but I don't believe this book has ever been republished. From 2001, this book is, I believe, the first work that could really be considered a comic book by Brubaker and Phillips.)

Sleeper and Incognito are easy enough to collect with three trade paperbacks -- four, if you count Point Blank.

Criminal, on the other hand, debuted in late 2006, is in the middle of its fifth arc, and has had two short-story "emissions" released in separate anthologies. Still, one can collect the entire Criminal canon up to this point with 2009 releases: Criminal: The Deluxe Edition, the "Bad Night" trade paperback, the Dark Horse Noir anthology, and the first three issues of Criminal: The Sinners.


It's been a busy year for Ed Brubaker. In mainstream comics, Brubaker wrapped up his acclaimed run on Daredevil, and he began Captain America: Reborn and The Marvels Project. Perhaps more interestingly, his live-action mini-series Angel of Death debuted online, was shown on Spike TV, and was released on DVD.


It's also been a good year in general for crime, noir, and pulp comics.

We saw the finale of 100 Bullets and the debut of the surprise hit Chew -- a twisted comic that I find to be the perfect complement to Criminal.

Marvel introduced its series of "Noir" stories riffing on traditional Marvel characters; DC released the first comic book in a pulp universe guided by Brian Azzarello and featuring Doc Savage, the Spirit, and "the Batman;" Dark Horse published the afore-mentioned Noir anthology; and Vertigo debuted its series of original graphic novels, Vertigo Crime.

Boom Studios began its 24-issue maxi-series illustrating Philip K. Dick's neo-noir, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

And, last but certainly not least, Darwyn Cooke released his first adaptation of Richard Stark's Parker, in the beautiful but brutal hardcover, The Hunter.


The Sleeper adaptation, currently attached to Tom Cruise, may eventually move from development to the theaters, or -- who knows? -- Criminal might eventually become a live-action mini-series on HBO.

But until then, fans should look back on 2009 as a high-water mark, as a very good year indeed.

Criminal: The Sinners #3 Preview.

I hope to have a "bullets" post up before New Year's, but very briefly, the next issue of Criminal: The Sinners will be in stores tomorrow. Comic Book Resources has a five-page preview, here.

A Criminal Blog wishes everyone a very safe and merry Christmas.

On the letters page in this week's new issue of Criminal: The Sinners, Ed Brubaker mentions "family health issues" in explaining the short delay. I for one appreciate his occasional note acknowledging that not every issue comes out precisely as scheduled, but there are far more important things than the timely release of a comic book, even when the book as is consistently enjoyable as this one.

We hope that the health issue is nothing serious, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Brubaker family this Thanksgiving.

Bullets: New Criminal and Incognito Trade This Week, and More.

A quick list of bullets for the week of Thanksgiving.

• New Releases This Week. The big fall quarter is wrapping up this week, with only a few minor delays from the schedule I assembled a few months back. I've checked my two regular sources for weekly release info -- San Francisco's Comix Experience and my local shop, Great Escape Comics in Marietta, Georgia -- and at least the West Coast shop confirms the arrival of two books for fans of Brubaker and Phillips. It's not yet clear that the books will make East Coast stores before the holiday.
  
  UPDATE, NOVEMBER 24. A quick call to Great Escape this afternoon confirmed the new arrivals, which appear to be available nationwide this week.
  
  Available in at least some stores this week, and everywhere next week, is the trade paperback collection for Incognito and the second issue of Criminal: The Sinners. Comic Book Resources has a five-page preview of the new issue, featuring the return of Jen Waters, who we last saw in "Coward." While the military begins to close in on the AWOL Tracy Lawless, it seems that he'll have a run-in with Jen, as they both investigate the same crime scene, for crime boss Sebastian Hyde and for the city police, respectively.
  
  Next month is shaping up to be pretty quiet, but late in December we should see the third issue of "The Sinners."
  
  
• Criminal: The Deluxe Edition in the NY Times. Looking back to this month's biggest release, Ed Brubaker links to the New York Times' Christmas gift guide. Its list of graphic novels includes Criminal: The Deluxe Edition, which is in stores now.
  
  
• Sinners Finale in February Solicitations. Looking ahead, Newsarama has posted Marvel's full solicitations for February, 2010. The listings include Criminal: The Sinners #5, scheduled for a February 24th release.

  It’s the action-packed and twist-filled finale of THE SINNERS as TRACY LAWLESS finds himself trapped between hardened killers who want to torture and kill him, and a tough Military Investigator who wants to bring him back to the Army in chains.
  
  All the intrigue you’ve come to expect from Criminal, plus more exclusive back-up features and interviews.

  My guess is that we can expect anything with the ending, except for a happy ending.
  
  
• Miscellany Regarding Other Comics. Earlier this month, Newsarama also featured an interview with Ed Brubaker, about Captain America Reborn...
  
  Fans of the pulp universe in Incognito should check out this month's Batman / Doc Savage Special, which introduces DC's pulp universe and features preview sketches that are also found at DC's blog...
  
  And fans of Criminal and other noir comics should check out this month's debut issue of Stumptown by Gotham Central co-creator Greg Rucka, who also wrote Whiteout and Queen & Country, and who's currently making waves with Batwoman in Detective Comics. 4thletter! has a good review of the first issue, describing the title as the law-and-order flipside of Criminal. CBR's first review makes comparisons to Gotham Central's artist Michael Lark and to The Big Sleep; and a new column focusing on women in comics debuts with a review that applauds both the writing and the artwork. Ed Brubaker strongly recommends the book: "Go buy it, people. Great work from Rucka and Southworth."

Here's hoping that everyone has a good Thanksgiving -- a far happier and safer holiday than the typical Criminal storyline.

CRIMINAL: DELUXE IN STORES THIS WEEK.

Big news: Over at the Savage Critic(s), Brian Hibbs reports that Criminal: The Deluxe Edition will be arriving in San Francisco's Comix Experience this week. By glancing at the upcoming titles at their website and making a quick phone call, I confirmed that my local shop -- Great Escape Comics in Marietta, Georgia -- received the hardcover this afternoon, to go on-sale tomorrow.

For Criminal fans, Christmas comes early, as pretty much everything we've reported so far -- from its first official confirmation and solicitation in June, to the Amazon.com description we noted last week -- suggests that the 432-page hardcover will be worth every penny of its $49.99 MSRP.

Bullets: News on Upcoming Releases, &c.

The second issue of Criminal: The Sinners was originally solicited to be released this week, and it is currently delayed only by a couple weeks, to November 18th. The mini-series should still be on track for a December release for issue #3, and a January release for issue #4 -- about which I have more to say, shortly.

• Update on Incognito "Bookplate" Edition. As I relayed in an update to the previous entry, I confirmed that the limited "bookplate" edition of Incognito will be available to customers outside the UK. For more details, see the blog for Gosh! Comics in London.
  
  
• IGN Review of The Sinners #1. In addition to CBR's excellent review, we have stumbled across a review at IGN, here, for the first issue of Criminal: The Sinners. I frankly agree with its assessment that, compared to earlier arcs, the new story "just doesn't burst out of the gates" with its first issue, but Dan Phillips is right that -- between the story and the extra content -- the series continues to be "the best bang for your buck out of any monthly on the stands."
  
  
• January Solicitations. The next two issues should be out before the end of the year, but after that? Newsarama has published Marvel's January solicitations, which includes Criminal: The Sinners #4. The description reads as follows:

  The Award-Winning crime series continues! Tracy Lawless is getting close to finding the killers he's been searching for... but before he can put all the pieces together, he finds himself in their crosshairs in Chinatown, with enemies all around him. This can't end well, or wouldn't be an issue of Criminal, would it?

  The issue is scheduled for a January 27th release.
  
  
• Cover Art for The Sinners #5. Meanwhile, Sean Phillips is already posting cover art previews for Criminal: The Sinners #5. Along with interior art, presumably of the next issue, in various stages of completion, Sean has posted the sketch, the inks, and the final artwork for the brutal, moody cover -- where things aren't looking good for Tracy Lawless.
  
  
• Criminal Hardcover, at the Printers. The hardcover collection is also on its way, and over on his Twitter page, Ed Brubaker reports that Criminal: The Deluxe Edition is now apparently being published. He's seen a printed copy, "and it looks great."
  
  Brubaker links to Amazon's listing for the book -- blog readers are welcome to visit Amazon through our links -- and the listing includes the first detailed description I've seen.

  A fantastically-designed and printed book showcasing the Eisner and Harvey Award-Winning crime comics from the creators of Sleeper and Incognito, this oversized, deluxe hardback edition features Criminal books 1 thru 3 - Cowards, Lawless, and The Dead and the Dying. Also features many extras, including a Criminal short story and the never-before-printed five page "movie trailer in comics form" that Brubaker and Phillips created to announce the series online, plus illustrations, selected articles, behind-the-scenes glimpses, painted covers, and much more! Features an introduction by comics legend and Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons. Collects Criminal (2006) #1-10 and Criminal (2008) #1-7.

  We reported earlier that it appears the "selected articles" are only ones that Brubaker himself wrote.
  
  The "Criminal short story" might be "No One Rides for Free" from Liberty Comics #1, or it could the prose story for the very first issue, or the hardcover may well include both.
  
  And, strictly speaking, the "movie trailer in comics form" was previously published, in Walking Dead #30, which our own Alan David Doane predicts will become "the Holy Grail" for Criminal fans.
  
  The page also has a publication date of December 2nd, when the book was solicited for November, but I'm not sure that that date reflects when the book will reach the direct market.
  
  
• More Details about DC's Pulp Comics. Finally, in an update to earlier news about a new DC Comics continuity for pulp heroes like Doc Savage and "The" Batman, Dan DiDio provided a few more details to Newsarama: after November's (The) Batman/Doc Savage Special, the universe will be kick-started in March with a mini-series now officially titled First Wave.
  
  After that, we'll see new ongoing titles for Doc Savage and The Spirit, with a title for The Batman "under consideration." The Spirit monthly will be a genuinely new ongoing title, to be written by Mark Shultz, to replace the series that apparently concluded in August.
  
  This collection of new titles might not be as interesting as Incognito, but -- as with Marvel's reimagined Noir books for its mainstream superheroes -- a successful pulp line from DC might really help broaden the base for Brubaker and Phillips' creator-owned projects.

Buy Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips comics from Amazon.com

Bullets: Criminal in Dark Horse Noir, Reviews, Previews, & More.

Our own Alan David Doane highlighted A Criminal Blog at a very new group blog, Comic Book Galaxy's Trouble With Comics. Check it out, for more than just its links to an old-school Batman comic that came with an action figure from Kenner's Super Powers and a track-by-track guide to They Might Be Giants' Flood, which is celebrating its twentieth(!) anniversary.

Of course, we have our own interesting links here...

• Criminal-related comics out this week. Fans should be on the lookout for two different books that were released this past Wednesday. First up is Liberty Comics #2, which we first mentioned in July. The comic book is published by Image Comics to benefit The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
  
  Last year's first issue of Liberty Comics featured "No One Rides for Free," a Criminal "emission" featuring Tracy Lawless. While Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Val Staples didn't contribute to this second issue, the issue includes contributions by Dave Gibbons, Paul Pope, and Neil Gaiman with Jim Lee. The proceeds of the book go to a worthy cause, so everyone should consider buying two copies -- one with cover art by Tim Sale, the other with a "Kick Ass" cover by John Romita, Jr.
  
  Second is Dark Horse Noir -- or, more precisely, Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics by Dark Horse Comics. Those who have been anticipating this book (as we have for some time) might notice that the cover art has changed since the book was first listed. I believe the new cover (on the right) is a dramatic improvement from the plain artwork that we originally saw, as it subtly features an essential "character" to most noir: the city at night.
  
  
  
  The small, relatively inexpensive paperback (MSRP $12.95) is a 120-page, black-and-white anthology of new crime stories by creators such as Brian Azzarello and David Lapham. Most importantly, it features a new CRIMINAL "emission" by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. It's not clear how (or whether) the short story, "21st Century Noir," fits into the larger Criminal universe. Sean posted preview art of the story across four separate entries back in April -- including the completed artwork for the first full page, here -- but there was no indication of just how dark the story would get in its six brief pages. While last week's first chapter of "The Sinners" was well worth reading, this story delivers a far more brutal punch to the gut, and every Criminal fan should track down this book immediately.
  
  
• Criminal Review and Preview Art. On the subject of Criminal: The Sinners, Comic Book Resources has a five-star review of the first issue. Greg McElhatton notes that there is no real status quo for the title's setting, that the series "has always been a moving target when it comes to its stories; you may stop for a second, but it's forever marching forward and changing things up."
  
  That's absolutely right: in every story so far, the protagonist's world is irrevocably changed, and so far it's always been for the worst. While characters do find even years of relative stability tending bar or picking pockets, the stories focus on the events that turn their worlds upside-down, often framed in the context of a personal history that makes the tragedy seem inevitable. For those who want to follow the title beyond each self-contained arc, this tendency makes each story absolutely essential.
  
  What also makes each story essential to the Criminal fan is the interconnectedness of the characters. As Ed Brubaker promised, we're already begging to see in the new arc the "Easter eggs" that reward faithful readers. The first chapter of "The Sinners" found Tracy visiting the Blue Fly Diner, which was a significant locale in "Bad Night." And, the issue reveals that Tracy holds in contempt gamblers who cannot pay back their debts, a very interesting look into his psyche, given his father's motivations in the three stories collected in "The Dead and the Dying."
  
  Over at his blog, Sean Phillips continues to post preview art of upcoming issues, in various stages of completion. (He also indicates the subject matter of an upcoming essay.) One page -- posted as thumbnails, then pencils, and finally inks -- shows the return of "Genuine Jen" Waters. An old friend of Leo and Tracy, she now works in the city police's Internal Affairs Division and is something of a pariah wherever she goes. She made one brief appearance in the fourth part of "Coward" -- Volume 1, Issue 4, from early 2007 -- where she filled Leo in on the crooked cops who double-crossed him. The Gotham Central fan in me finds her to be one of the more intriguing secondary characters, and I'm quite happy to see her return.
  
  
• Limited "Bookplate" Edition of Incognito. Also at his blog, Sean highlighted the sale of a limited edition of the Incognito trade paperback at a London comic shop called Gosh! The store is taking orders for an exclusive "bookplate" edition, which (the site explains) is the regular trade paperback with an extra feature: toward the front is glued a card signed by both Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.
  
  I'm not sure whether this book is available only to British customers, but I'm making inquiries and will update this blog entry if and when I find out.
  
  UPDATE, OCT 22. Both by email and through comments at their blog, Gosh! confirms that U.S. residents will be able to order the bookplate edition of Incognito. They only accept payment in British pounds, but using PayPal or credit card should handle the conversion. Check out the link for contact info.
  
  
• Doc Savage, The Spirit, and The Batman in DC Pulp Comics. Finally, there's a couple other bits of comic news that I might document in the comments for my own sake, but there's one announcement that Incognito fans might find particularly interesting: in a news story at Comic Book Resources, Brian Azzarello reveals that we'll soon see a new pulp universe from DC Comics.
  
  The writer of 100 Bullets explains that this new universe will have plenty of villains and heroes but no superpowers, and everything kicks off with November's "Batman/Doc Savage Special," to be followed next year by a six-part prestige-format mini-series called "First Wave." After that, there will be new ongoing titles for Doc Savage and The Spirit. Hopefully -- almost presumably, given how well even mediocre Bat-titles sell -- we'll see an ongoing title for "the Batman," the gun-toting crimefighter who is closer to the hero's original pulp roots.
  
  Read the story for more info on who's in, who's not, and some significant differences between the characters in this setting and those in the main DC continuity.
  
  As someone who's become increasingly disinterested in that main continuity, and who thinks Doc Savage makes no sense in that continuity, I like this news. As someone who's becoming more interested in classic pulp -- in part because of modern works like Incognito, the Gabriel Hunt books from the editor of Hard Case Crime, and Pixar's enchanting movie Up -- I think this might be the best news out of DC in the last three years or so.

I might have more to say later, about the short story in what will probably be colloquially known as Dark Horse Noir. For now I reiterate that Criminal fans should seek out this trade paperback at their local retailers.



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