A Criminal Blog: One-Shot Out December 3rd: GIANT-SIZE CRIMINAL #1

In the most two recent newsletters, sent out July 13th and August 27th, Ed Brubaker has announced the next project for the team -- more CRIMINAL, we're quite happy to report, in a "CHRISTMAS SPECIAL magazine," with the (initial) cover shown below.

Our good friend Greg just shared with us screenshots from the digital Image Scene, announcing a slightly different comic book due in December, and they're worth sharing.

The news got us scouring the Internet for more info, and AIPT is apparently the first site to have published Image's December solicitations, The solicit is below, duplicating the information shown in the issue of Image Scene, and emphasis is ours.

GIANT-SIZE CRIMINAL #1
WRITER: Ed Brubaker

ARTIST: Sean Phillips

COVER A: Sean Phillips
COVER B: Marcos Martín
COVER C: Duncan Fegredo 1:10
COVER D: J.H. Williams III 1:25
2025-12-03
48
FC (full color)
M-Mature
$5.99
THE FIRST NEW CRIMINAL SINGLE ISSUE IN OVER FIVE YEARS ARRIVES ON THE EVE OF THE STREAMING TV SERIES PREMIERE

This oversized, annual-style issue is packed with everything CRIMINAL fans love from BRUBAKER & PHILLIPS—and much more. Headlining the issue is a novella-length story starring fan-favorite character RICKY LAWLESS (a major player in the upcoming TV adaptation) as he goes solo on his latest heist—what could possibly go wrong?
But that’s just the beginning, you’ll also get:
A CRIMINAL tabletop RPG module written by KIERON GILLEN and illustrated by SEAN PHILLIPS

Behind-the-scenes insights into the CRIMINAL TV series from showrunner Brubaker himself

A fully illustrated guide to the world of CRIMINAL and its key characters
This GIANT SIZE CRIMINAL one-shot is the perfect entry point for new readers—and just in time for X-mas, it’s an even better stocking-stuffer for the diehard Brubaker and Phillips fan in your life.

Exclusively in print and only available at comic shops—our way of saying thanks to retailers!

As we have documented in the team's extensive bibliography, the last single-issue release was Criminal Volume 3 #12, the conclusion to Cruel Summer that was released in January 2020. Since then, the only "floppy" releases have been in late 2022 -- the $1 Neo-Noir "trailer" collection and the team's contribution to the Image! anthology #9, the cover story featuring Teeg Lawless in a twisted Christmas tale.

(We wonder if that Christmas story and this upcoming novella will end up being collected in the same trade paperback: two holiday stories, one with Teeg Lawless and the other with his ne'er-do-well son Ricky. We think it's almost certain they'll both appear in the next deluxe hardcover.)

Sean Phillips posted the same new cover on Instagram, and in the comments he fielded some questions, providing some additional info worth repeating here. He confirms that this is the same book as the Xmas Special and this book is in the standard size for a comic book -- not a magazine -- but is extra long at 52 pages.

(Sean also confirms what we've assumed, that they'll release the deluxe edition when they have enough material to justify the collection.)

We would love to know what motivated the change from the Xmas Special to the Giant-Size #1. Our theory is that the latter may entice new readers to the book -- just in time for the Amazon series! -- and may possibly continue to sell well after December.

This book's title is an apparent reference to Giant-Size X-Men #1, a famous one-shot that heralded the "bronze age" of comics. We hope that the title doesn't cause too much confusion: the comic book has been announced to be a one-shot and not the debut issue of a fourth monthly volume.

We note that this is the first time in ages that a Brubaker/Phillips book has had variant covers: we think this is a first for Criminal (except maybe for second printings and definitely for the magazine-sized variants), and it's definitely the first time that we have variant covers featuring different artists, including Brubaker's Friday collaborator Marcos Martín. We haven't seen the covers yet, but we'll try to post them here when they're released.

Finally, the preview pages from Image Direct haven't been featured anywhere else, so we're happy to publish them here!