By Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips (Titan Books)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-611-5
This follow-up to the first volume (Criminal: Coward ISBN: 1-84576-610-5) utilises the classic plot of a man returning to his home town after his brother is murdered. But when that man is Tracy Lawless, son of a legendary bad-guy, and his dead brother appears to have been nothing like he seemed, the scene is set for another superbly dark and brooding thriller in a world where nobody is redeemable and everyone has an angle.
Our relentless protagonist lies, cheats and steals his way to what he thinks he wants but as is usually the case in this seamy, seedy world what you want and what you get are never going to make for a happy ending.
Collecting issues #6-10 of the monthly comic book this nihilistic, brutal tale is wickedly mesmerising, masterfully underplayed and powerfully addictive. The shadowy world has never been more alluring or frightening.
© 2007 Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips. All Rights Reserved.