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  Comic Reviews: Criminal Vol. 4: Bad Night trade paperback (Marvel Comics)
  17 Jun 2013 at 3:02pm
  [Guest reviewer Zach King blogs about movies as The Cinema King]
  
  I'm halfway through the six Criminal collections, and the series has been so delightful that I'm considering purchasing the deluxe edition hardcovers even though I've been borrowing the shorter trades from my local public library. At $50 each, though, they're quite expensive, so a part of me has been continuing to read the series to see if the quality drops enough to warrant not buying the deluxe editions.
  
  With the fourth collection, Criminal: Bad Night, I haven't found that qualitative drop-off the cynic in me has come to expect. Instead, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips ... well, what can I say about how good this series is that I haven't already said about the first three volumes?
  
  In Bad Night, we get the scoop on Jacob Kurtz, the cartoonist behind the inscrutable Frank Kafka, PI, strips. Presumed guilty after his wife disappeared, Jacob has become an insomniac and a slave to his work; though his innocence was proven when his wife's car crash was ruled an accident, Jacob is dogged by a cop who hates him, to say nothing of the ghostly presence of Frank Kafka himself. As a former counterfeiter, Jacob is kidnapped by one-night-stand Iris and her thug boyfriend Danny, finding himself at the epicenter of a mounting stack of bodies as his tenuous grasp on sanity begins to slip.
  
  Maybe I'm the only one who missed it, but the fact that Tracy Lawless's counterfeiter buddy from Lawless is also the artist behind Frank Kafka came as a great surprise to me, one of those great epiphany moments that I have come to cherish with Criminal. Brubaker continues to fill in gaps by proving just how interconnected all the parts are, and his notes on Center City must look something like Batman's map of Leviathan (from Batman Incorporated [vol. 2] #3). It's like Sin City done realistically; each successive volume expands the web, making Criminal ideal fodder for a TV show now that neo-noir seems to be making a comeback.
  
  Brubaker's use of Frank Kafka is of particular interest because the comic book-within-a-comic book doesn't fit into the larger story the way you'd expect. Since Watchmen and Tales of the Black Freighter, we've been trained to expect some sort of meta-commentary within the story. In Bad Night, however, it's a breath of fresh air when Jacob admits that the "total artistic freedom" that comes from his contract with Sebastian Hyde (yep, the same Sebastian Hyde we've seen throughout Criminal) has led to a strip that doesn't make much sense. Instead of going the easy route, Brubaker makes Frank a second psyche for Jacob, spending time with him like an invisible friend.
  
  Likewise, instead of rendering Frank realistically to give the book an ambiguous is-he-or-isn't-he angle, Phillips's artwork makes Frank as cartoonish as possible, his permanent scowl and oversized fedora like something straight out of Dick Tracy. Phillips adjusts his style to make Frank an exaggerated caricature in grayscale, cluing us in that Jacob's sanity should always be in question. For Brubaker and Phillips, Frank is the Tyler Durden of Bad Night, and letting us know in advance that he's not real allows the reader to enjoy the book more effectively. It also builds to a fantastic payoff when Frank appears to shoot someone, where any narrative slight-of-hand is betrayed by the artwork, which clues in the reader if they're not taken in by the surreal narrative.
  
  That's not to say that Phillips is slouching on the realism of the comic book. Rather, he continues to do great work with facial expressions and body language, particularly in the case of sad sack insomniac Jacob. Phillips also does a great job with Iris, ostensibly the first true femme fatale of the series (after The Dead and the Dying did a phenomenal job humanizing Danica Briggs). Now, I'm not the world's biggest fan of cheesecake art -- Guillem March is about all I can take in my book -- but take a look at that cover. Phillips paints a gorgeous nude Iris, cloaked only in a pink sheet that accents her red hair. This image is a perfect one, since it tells us what kind of a character Iris will be -- especially when we see the gun in her hand.
  
  As with all the other trades in this series thus far, this fourth volume was a one-sitting read -- not that the book was incredibly short or breezy, but because I quite literally could not bring myself to set it aside. And an evening spent reading Criminal Vol. 4: Bad Night is anything but.

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  This post was syndicated from Collected Editions, the chronicles of a "wait-for-trade-er" -- the new breed of comic book book fans who forgo monthly "floppies" for trade paperbacks and collected editions -- reviews, commentaries, low price alerts, news, and the occasional scoop. Visit collectededitions.blogspot.com.

  
  
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  DC Trade Solicitations for September 2013 - Superman: Celebration of 75 Years...
  14 Jun 2013 at 3:02pm
  Time for DC comicbooks's September 2013 trade paperback and collections solicitations. We've all been waiting for these solicits to arrive to finally get the full scoop on DC's now annual September event, which this time is Villains Month/Forever Evil.
  
  But September's solicitations also bring with them a spate of Superman-themed collections (timed, certainly, for the Man of Steel movie, though one would think these would be better off arriving now than being order-able now), plus more Batman: Death of the Family collections and a few odds and ends. Let's take a look, shall we?
  
  ? Superman: A Celebration of 75 Years HC
  ? Lois Lane: A Celebration of 75 Years HC
  
  Though it's nice to see Superman and especially Lois Lane receiving these anniversary collections, there's some confusion in the contents list. The Superman volume, for instance, includes Action comicbooks #0, #1, and #2. That zero issue is undoubtedly the New 52 Zero Month issue, while Action #1 and #2 are probably the 1938 issues, though the solicitation doesn't make that distinction between the original numbering and New 52 issues.  (If it turns out the Superman collection includes the New 52 Action comicbooks #1-2 and not the 1938 issues, I imagine some people will have something to say about that.)
  
  One might equally wonder in the Superman book whether the Superman issues listed are pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, or New 52 (Superman has changed its numbering three times, while Action comicbooks has only changed numbering twice). Surely issues like Superman #11, #17, and #53 are the Golden Age comic books and not the Byrne era; at the same time, Superman #75 listed right after them is probably the Dan Jurgens "Death of Superman" issue.
  
  The issue listings for the Lois Lane book are equally unclear.
  
  ? Superman: The Man of Steel?Believe TP
  
  This collection of seemingly inspirational-themed Superman stories includes some nice uncollected issues from various eras, including Adventures of Superman #623 by Joe Casey (during a run where Casey never had Superman resort to violence to save the day), Action comicbooks #810 by Joe Kelly, and Superman #185 by Geoff Johns, all from the introspective time just before and after the Ending Battle storyline.
  
  ? Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis TP 
  
  Please pre-order this. Don't read the description DC has released, which unequivocally spoils the last page of the book.  Just take my advice and buy it. This trade collects an early Dan Jurgens/Jerry Ordway/Roger Stern Superman story -- perhaps one of my favorite Superman eras -- in which a murder in Gotham brings Batman to Metropolis, just as Superman is dealing with he, Lois, and others being targeted by Intergang. It's an interesting mystery, there's great interplay between Superman and Batman (surpassed only perhaps by Dave Gibbons and Steve Rude's World's Finest), and the end of the story is an important event in post-Crisis continuity -- I've long thought that every fan knows what happens at the end of "Dark Knight Over Metropolis," they just don't realize this is where it happened.
  
  For years, Dark Knight Over Metropolis has been on my personal short list for issues I'd like to see collected. I will be crushed -- crushed! -- if this book doesn't make it through.
  
  ? Superman Adventures: The Man of Steel TP
  
  ? Superman: H?el On Earth HC
  
  Collects Superman #13-17, Superboy #14-17, and Supergirl #14-17. As with DC's other recent crossover collections, I'll be skipping this and just picking the individual volumes for each books.
  
  ? Batman, Incorporated Vol. 2: Gotham?s Most Wanted HC
  
  Villains Month nothing -- this is the big release of September 2013 (actually doesn't come out until November). Includes the Batman, Inc. special, which itself doesn't actually come out until August.
  
  ? Batman and Robin Vol. 3: Death of the Family HC
  ? Catwoman: Death of the Family TP
  ? Batman: Detective comicbooks Vol. 3 -- Emperor Penguin HC
  
  Also here comes the "Death of the Family" tie in volumes, the Batman books in November and the Catwoman book in October. These will make for kind of funny reading, because Batman, Inc. Vol. 2 takes place in the middle of these, after "Death of the Family" but before "Requiem" -- for the complete story, you may have to switch back and forth between volumes.
  
  ? Deadshot: Beginnings TP
  
  I don't feel nearly as strongly about this book as I do Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis, but if you want this Deadshot volumes, I recommend pre-ordering it; it feels like another one that could be cancelled before publication. Includes a couple of Batman issues plus John Ostrander's four-part Deadshot miniseries; I'm (just a little) disappointed they didn't include Deadshot's top hat-wearing appearance, too, and mildly surprised they didn't find a way to work some Green Arrow material in here in reference to the Arrow TV show.
  
  ? Aquaman Vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis HC
  
  The Aquaman book, disappointingly, still holds at collecting Aquaman #14-16, #0, and Justice League #15-17.  The Justice League: Throne of Atlantis book includes all of those issues and more, with just the exception of the zero issue. This is a definite skip for me; I might as well just get the Justice League book and buy Aquaman #0 digitally for a fraction of the price.
  
  ? Justice League of America Vol. 1: World?s Most Dangerous HC
  
  I'm curious whether DC will include all 52 state variants within this collection.  Maybe thumbnails of each?
  
  ? I, Vampire Vol. 3: Wave of Mutilation TP
  ? Suicide Squad Vol. 3: Death Is For Suckers TP
  
  The final collection of I, Vampire (sob!) and also the last collection of Adam Glass on Suicide Squad -- I started out quite wary of his run but grew to like it quite a bit.
  
  Those are my picks -- what's on your buying list for September? (Hint -- Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis!)

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  This post was syndicated from Collected Editions, the chronicles of a "wait-for-trade-er" -- the new breed of comic book book fans who forgo monthly "floppies" for trade paperbacks and collected editions -- reviews, commentaries, low price alerts, news, and the occasional scoop. Visit collectededitions.blogspot.com.

  
  

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