Early Review of This Week's Issue, and A Look Ahead.

After a hiatus of nearly fifteen months, our favorite crime comic returns. The first issue of Criminal: The Last of the Innocent is in stores this week. I believe it reaches stores Wednesday for most retailers, and IGN has an advance review, giving the issue 9.0 out of 10 and writing that this arc could outshine all that has come before it.

Comics Alliance includes the series in a list of top noir comics, alongside Brubaker and Phillips' Batman: Gotham Noir (reprinted this July), Gotham Central, and Darwyn Cooke's Parker adaptations.

Looking forward, we already have a good bit of information about the rest of the series. Marvel's August solicitations include the third issue of the mini-series, with an August 3rd release date. The issue is third of apparently four issues, and Sean Phillips has posted cover art for what is presumably the finale, as a sketch, pencils, an in-progress painting, and as the final cover.

And did we mention the return of Teeg Lawless?

We previously reported Ed Brubaker's criticism of too much info being out there too soon, but everything I've seen for "The Last of the Innocent" has whet the appetite without spoiling anything.

The trade for Incognito: Bad Influences is due later this month, and with the reprint of Batman: Gotham Noir, it's a fairly big couple of months for Brubaker/Phillips fans.

Criminal Previews... and a Brubaker/Phillips Rarity.

We're moving ever closer to the return of our favorite crime comic, as Sean Phillips has begun posting preview images from Criminal: The Last of the Innocent. The almost invisible narration from the first preview reminds this reader of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren."

There are things in this city...
...that pull me in..
...like a siren...
...calling to a sailor...
...lost at sea.

And, the most recent image shows us a little more of the nostalgic, Archie-esque style that was briefly seen in the two-page teaser.

The July solicitations are already out, and Marvel's list includes the second issue, complete with cover art, reprinted above. The solicitation, also available at Sean's blog, mentions murder and a double cross -- would we expect anything less? -- and Marvel lists a July 6th release date.

Last Tuesday, Ed Brubaker wrote a bit about how fans may be getting too much information, too soon (e.g., here), but on the other hand, the Friday before he let drop this little tidbit.

Got a page from @seanpphillips today, and it had Teeg Lawless on it.

With Teeg in the picture, we know things are gonna get ugly.

And, on the subject of solicitations, there's a quite happy coincidence with Jason's excellent blog entry from earlier today. In DC's July solicitations we see a "DC Presents" reprint of Brubaker and Phillips' Batman: Gotham Noir, scheduled to be released on July 13th.

Originally published as a prestige-format comic, the story has NEVER been reprinted and isn't the easiest book to find. Not counting his inkwork on Michael Lark's pencils for most of the issues of Scene of the Cirme, the 2001 comic marks the very first collaboration between Brubaker and Phillips.

The reprint includes a single issue (#604) from Brubaker's Batman run, which hasn't seen many reprints beyond the recent "DC Presents" comics. Even without this bonus issue, the comic is a must-have for Criminal fans.

Brubaker Podcast and Assorted Bullets.

Out yesterday: the latest Word Balloon podcast to feature Ed Brubaker. I haven't had the chance to give it a listen, but, along with recent developments in his mainstream Marvel work, Brubaker discusses both Criminal and Incognito, the new story for the former and the just-completed story for the latter.

I have a few other noteworthy links, from Ed's Twitter, Sean's blog, and elsewhere on the web.

• Incognito Reviews. The second mini-series concluded to somewhat mixed reviews: CBR describes Bad Influences as a "good comic that suffers for being a sequel to a great comic," giving the fifth issue a 3-star review, out of five. IGN awards a 7.5/10, writing that, even when the series succeeds, the writer feels that "it has yet to deliver as satisfying an experience as Criminal's dark noir fare."
  
  
• Gotham Central Reviews. Five years after its conclusion -- and after a subsequent 2007 review that's worth a late look -- Comics Alliance remembers Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka's Gotham Central. John Parker compares the series to the Velvet Underground, whose work was critically praised while being largely ignored by the general public. With the complete series now available in a four-volume hardcover set (which is in the midst of a softcover re-release), this is no better opportunity for Criminal fans to see what the fuss is all about.
  
  
• French Award for the Sinners. The Marvel press release mentioned it, but it's worth noting that Criminal: The Sinners has won the 2011 award for Best Crime Comic at the International Noir Fest in Lyon: the announcement, in French, appears to be online.
  
  
• Brubaker Blurb on Captain America. There's been a lot of recent press about changes in his more traditional titles, and Ed Brubaker joined artist Steve McNiven in an interview with Newsarama, to discuss the soon-to-be-relaunched Captain America.
  
  
• Sunset Comic. Finally, LA Times Magazine has published a short comic by crime writer Don Winslow with arresting artwork by Sean Phillips (previewed at his blog) -- a comic whose layout works surprisingly well, both in print or in a single webpage: SUNSET ON SUNSET.

Buy Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips comics from Amazon.com

Incognito: Bad Influences #5 In Stores Now.

At my local comic shop, I confirmed the arrival of the fifth and final issue of Incognito: Bad Influences. The postscript includes a small reproduction of the cover art to Criminal: The Last of the Innocent, and Ed Brubaker points the reader online for the two-page preview, which I hope will find its way to print before June.

A few news sites have posted the preview and bits of the press release posted at Marvel.com. Alongside the conclusion to the Incognito sequel, the press release is worth reading in its own right -- and it raises an subject or two that might be worth further discussion in the next few days.

CRIMINAL: THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT!

Ed Brubaker said it himself:

"http://criminalcomic.blogspot.com/ is always a good place to check out for Criminal-related news."

We have a reputation to maintain, so here's what we know about Criminal: The Last of The Innocent, starting with the gorgeous cover art to the first issue.



This issue will be released in June, the same month as the trade paperback for Incognito: Bad Influences -- the same day, as a matter of fact.

Ed Brubaker is encouraging comics news sites to update their June solicitations, and Marvel's official site has already published pages for both the return of Criminal and the second Incognito trade. The former has a June 1st release date listed, the latter has June 22nd, and I'm inclined to believe that we'll see both on June 22nd.

It's going to be "a few more days," but a two-page teaser will be released for "The Last of the Innocent."

In the meantime, Sean Phillips has published the solicitation, including the first look at the striking cover art, which we've reprinted above.

CRIMINAL: The Last of the Innocent #1
By Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips with Val Staples on colors

The best-selling crime comic finally returns, and with their most ambitious story yet. Obsession, sex, money, murder, and nostalgia for days long past all collide in THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT.

Riley Richards got it all… The hottest girl in school and a ticket to the big time… so why isn’t he happy now? Why is he getting involved in gambling and drugs and shady characters in the city? Why can’t he forget the life he left behind in small town Brookview? And why is he suddenly plotting murder?

And as always, each issue of Criminal contains unique back-up features, articles and artwork, which are only available in the single issues.

32 PGS/Mature Content… $3.50

It's not what I was expecting -- late last year, the sequel to the first arc "Coward" seemed likely to be the next story to be told -- but I'm quite intrigued by what we already know about this upcoming arc.

Brubaker and Phillips seem to do their very best work whenever they really push the boundaries of their Criminal universe -- as with the trio of stories that would become "The Dead and the Dying" and the very twisted "Bad Night."

I can't wait to see where this is going, and we'll be there to cover the new arc from the teaser to preview art, to the reviews and the trade collection.

CRIMINAL: THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT?

Just today, Sean Phillips posted a photo of what's on his drawing board:



From the details, it appears to be the first page of a teaser for Criminal: The Last of the Innocent.

Apparently we aren't the only ones eager to return to the Criminal universe.

Gotham Noir and Gotham Central, In Stores Now, More or Less.

I've seen a few more reviews for the latest issue of Incognito: Bad Influences #4 than I have for the last few issues: specifically, IGN and Comic Book Resources have both posted fairly positive reviews.

Looking to older material for a moment, on Monday Sean Phillips announced that his Amazon store was offering "a few copies" of his first major collaboration with Ed Brubaker, the prestige-format Elseworlds story, Batman: Gotham Noir, published in 2000.

(I say "major" because, the year before, Phillips inked Michael Lark's pencils for the last three issues of Brubaker and Lark's regretfully short-lived Vertigo series, Scene of the Crime. All four issues and a rare short story are available in a trade paperback.)

It wasn't there yesterday, but it's there now. I wouldn't bet on its being available for long, because the pulpy mystery has never been republished. I was lucky to find a copy at Dragon*Con a year or two back, and I recommend die-hard fans to check it out.

Easier to find this week is Gotham Central, Brubaker's acclaimed collaboration with Greg Rucka. The fourth and final hardcover collection reached retailer shelves today, along with a softcover reprint of Gotham Central Book 1, collecting the first ten issues.

Gotham Central Book 4: Corrigan (an unfortunate title) features the last nine issues of the title's forty-issue run. Ed Brubaker left before the end of the series, but this volume includes the excellent "Dead Robin," his last collaboration. Starting with that arc and issue #33, Sean Phillips created the cover art for all but one issue, and this artwork should be included in the collection.