Support CBH on Patreon for exclusive rewards, or Donate here! Thank you for reading! Coward When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a qualifying affiliate commission.Ĭomic Book Herald’s reading orders and guides are also made possible by reader support on Patreon, and generous reader donations.Īny size contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. The first Criminal Deluxe Edition collects the three arcs that introduce us to Criminal, and the inhabitants of Center City.Ĭomic Book Herald is reader-supported. Each story is stand alone, yet they build on one another, fleshing out the world, the families, the histories. The noir themes, the eye for character and detail, and the moody atmosphere developed between Brubaker and Phillips, they’re all brought together in the world of Criminal. And as for his creator-owned work with Phillips, there are vigilantes haunted by demons, an immortal femme fatale hunted by Lovecraftian horrors, and a supervillain in witness protection. He’s shown cops in Gotham city having their lives made miserable by some bat-freak who ignores due process. He’s put Matt Murdock in prison, dealing with genuine moral and legal problems in the process. Brubaker’s worked on Batman, Daredevil, and Captain America, carrying noir sensibilities into the realm of superheroes. The centerpiece of Brubaker and Phillips’ career, Criminal shouldn’t carry any surprises if you’re familiar with their other work. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal delivers on every one of these points.

People who I relate to, or, if I don’t relate to, who I recognize.

Who fear, who love, who have secret thoughts and feelings. People who are true to life, who have motivations, and desires, and needs. Sometimes the plot itself is clever, all the different pieces fitting together, feeding into one another.īut most of all, what I’m looking for are characters. Sometimes a character’s clever, in their speech or actions. Comic images, comic panels, they’re little portals, simultaneously drawing you in and showing you the world the characters inhabit. Tropes or characters or techniques that draw me in. What do you look for in a story? There are different aspects that speak to me.

Sean phillips criminal