{"id":28044,"date":"2023-05-22T09:10:58","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T09:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=28044"},"modified":"2023-05-19T17:27:44","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T17:27:44","slug":"raymond-chandlers-marlowe-a-trilogy-of-crime-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/05\/22\/raymond-chandlers-marlowe-a-trilogy-of-crime-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Raymond Chandler\u2019s Marlowe: A Trilogy of Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nAdapted by Tom DeHaven<\/strong> & Rian Hughes<\/strong>; Jerome Charyn <\/strong>& David Lloyd<\/strong>; James<\/strong> Rose<\/strong>, Lee Moyer<\/strong> & Alfredo Alcala<\/strong>, & various (iBooks)
\nISBN: 978-0-7434-7489-4 (HB), 978-1-59687-839-6 (TPB 2016 edition)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to adapt classic, evocative crime stories into graphic narrative there really isn\u2019t no better source material than Chandler. This follow-up to the adaptation of Raymond Chandler\u2019s Marlowe: The Little Sister<\/strong> was last reissued in 2016 as Raymond Chandler\u2019s Marlowe: The Graphic Novel<\/strong>: once again the fruit of comics visionary Byron Preiss.<\/p>\n

It adroitly adapts three short tales from the master of hard-boiled fiction. Significantly, they are all rendered in a variety of unique and impressive styles by an international array of top-flight creators\u2026<\/p>\n

Opening the show is \u2018Goldfish\u2019<\/em>, first published in 1949 and the writer\u2019s ninth short story sale. It preceded his first Marlowe novel by three years and is here adapted by Tom DeHaven (Green Candles<\/strong>, It\u2019s Superman!<\/strong>) & lettered by Willie Schubert. The stylish illustration comes courtesy of British designer\/artist Rian Hughes (Dare<\/strong>, I Am a Number<\/strong>) using muted colour tones that have only the merest hint of hue to them. The effect is powerfully evocative and atmospheric.<\/p>\n

When former cop Kathy Horne <\/em>sidles into the tough guy\u2019s seedy office, she brings a tale of lost pearls, an absconded convict and a huge reward just waiting to be claimed. Dragged far out of his comfort zone and sent up and down the Pacific Seaboard, our world-weary shamus is just steps ahead of sadistic, casually murderous Carol Donovan<\/em> and her gang of thugs in a superb thriller of double-cross and double-jeopardy\u2026<\/p>\n

Next up is \u2018The Pencil\u2019<\/em>, scripted by award-winning mystery novelist Jerome Charyn (Isaac Sidel<\/strong> series, The Magician\u2019s Wife<\/strong>, New York Cannibals<\/strong>), brilliantly rendered by British comics legend David Lloyd (V for Vendetta<\/strong>, Hellblazer<\/strong>, Wasteland<\/strong>, Aces Weekly<\/strong>) in moody, dry-brush black and white, and lettered by long-term collaborator Elitta Fell. This was Chandler\u2019s 21st<\/sup> – and final – Marlowe adventure, published posthumously in 1959, shortly after the author\u2019s death. You might know it as Marlowe Takes on the Syndicate<\/strong>, Wrong Pigeon<\/strong> or even Philip Marlowe\u2019s Last Case<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Hollywood 1955: Ikky Rossen<\/em> is a bad man, a career gangster and mob leg-breaker. When he crosses his bosses he hopes Marlowe can get him safely out of the City of Angels before The Organization\u2019s East Coast \u201cbutton men\u201d send him to Hell. Marlowe knows these are people to be avoided at all costs and only one thing is always true: everybody lies\u2026<\/p>\n

Closing the casebook – and somewhat ill-considered and misplaced to my mind – is \u2018Trouble is My Business\u2019 <\/em>as interpreted by James Rose (Thundercats<\/strong>, Savage sword of Conan<\/strong>), Lee Moyer (Starstruck<\/strong>, Dungeons & Dragons<\/strong>) & Alfredo Alcala (Voltar<\/strong>, Swamp Thing<\/strong>, Man Thing<\/strong>, Batman<\/strong>, Savage Sword of Conan<\/strong>), with Schubert again filling the word balloons.<\/p>\n

This is a weak tale of vengeful Harriet Huntress <\/em>who intends to destroy two generations of wealthy socialites mixed up in the gambling rackets originated in 1939: a rather tame and straightforward yarn in comparison to the other stories here, not to mention the landmark first full novel The Big Sleep<\/strong>, which was also published in that year.<\/p>\n

Moyer and Alcala do a solid job of illustrating the plot (although it\u2019s a little pretty for my tastes) but the cynical edge that is the hallmark of Chandler\u2019s iconic creation is muted if not actually extinguished here.<\/p>\n

Despite ending on a sour note, this is still a superb sample of Detective comics any fan can revel in, with the incredible Steranko cover alone well worth the effort of tracking down…
\nAdaptations and illustrations \u00a9 2003 Byron Preiss Visual Publications Inc. Original stories \u201cGoldfish\u201d and \u201cTrouble is my Business\u201d \u00a9 2003 Philip Marlowe BV (Estate of Raymond Chandler) All Rights Reserved. \u201cThe Pencil\u201d \u00a9 1971 Helga Greene, Executrix, Estate of Raymond Chandler. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adapted by Tom DeHaven & Rian Hughes; Jerome Charyn & David Lloyd; James Rose, Lee Moyer & Alfredo Alcala, & various (iBooks) ISBN: 978-0-7434-7489-4 (HB), 978-1-59687-839-6 (TPB 2016 edition) If you\u2019re going to adapt classic, evocative crime stories into graphic narrative there really isn\u2019t no better source material than Chandler. This follow-up to the adaptation … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Raymond Chandler\u2019s Marlowe: A Trilogy of Crime”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[80,75,122,225,160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adaptations","category-crime-comics","category-historical","category-mystery","category-pocket-paperback-collections"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7ik","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28044"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28048,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28044\/revisions\/28048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}