Criminal Deluxe Edition Vol. 3

As I write this, March is coming to an end. It's a crazy thing as this comic I'd received for Christmas (much like the previous volumes in years past) and you'd have thought that it would be the first book I'd crack open.

Of course, it hasn't been for want of trying. Every week since 2024 has seen another and then another and then another comic trade/series blush its way into my reading schedule.

But, finally, the time has arrived and the adage 'leave the vest to last' has never felt more appropriate.

Criminal Deluxe Edition Vol. 3 is, as the title would suggest, the third oversized collection of stories from the award winning crime series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Collecting their final selection of tales, including novellas Bad Weekend and My Heroes have always been Junkies as well as four other short stories.

Whenever I read something which absolutely blows me away, I always fear that the follow up will, somehow, not live up to the expectation set. When I get to the third book of a series that has done that, my worry exponentially increases.

(Maybe that's the reason it took me three months to get to this book).

Certainly, my hopes weren't lifted when Brubaker's introduction implied a collection simply to clear out the last junk from the Criminal drawer.

However, how wrong I was and unfounded my fears were.

Much like with Volumes 1 and 2, Brubaker writes a score of stellar stories where he 'fills in the gaps' of the lives for the characters he has already introduced and we've gotten to know. This series, now more than ever, feels a little like a contemporary version of Frank Millar's Sin City, except far more grounded and where the 'heroes' do not win.

Without doubt, the best entries are the novellas. Bad Weekend really feels like this is a story that's very much based on real experience (I mean, what fiction isn't?) and is used for Brubaker to expel some comic book demons from his 20 + year career (well, I certainly think that's the length of time he's been writing). Meanwhile, My Heroes have Always been Junkies is a very different kind of story; much more introspective but still very much in the zeitgeist of the genre that he's really made his own (and, to be honest, this story perfectly explained why it got its own release. I sure hope this entry wasn't an abridged version).

Meanwhile Sean Phillips, along with Jacob Phillips and Elizabeth Breitweiser on colours, delivers just truly stunning and seminal artwork to this volume. To be fair, you'd think he couldn't raise the already high ceiling he'd set himself after the prior two entries I read, but thanks to Junkies as well the in universe pulp comic pages, this artistic team just raise the bar and finish this series with as big a bang as it started.

I want to have a negative about this series to even things out, but all I have is the negative that Criminal has now ended (for me. The series proper ended quite some time ago). Beyond that, I have nothing bad to say about Criminal as either this book in particular or the series in general. Its been an extraordinary read that I look forward to reading in its entirety in one go some day in the future.

Besides that though, I think I'll have to look into Fatale or Kill or Be Killed to get my Brubaker/Philips fix.

Penguin Vol. 2: All Bad Things

After reading Penguin Volume 1 last week, the decision for this week's read was pretty much decided for me, knowing I had to see I'm which direction this particular bird flew.

So, I read Penguin Vol. 2: All Bad Things, which saw Tom King and Rafael De LaTorre wrap up their twelve issue series about the second coming of Oswald Cobblepot. Picking up from the last trade, the Titular villain and his cohorts put their plans into action, as the Penguin attempts to wrest control of Gotham City from his children. However, with last minute betrayals, twists, alliances and even that pesky Bat along with a corrupt Federal agent lying in wait, the Penguin could find his prize is a little too high than he can flap to.

Now, whereas, the first seven issues were all about the plan and gaining the necessary resources, this second volume was all action. Starting with an explosion, this read felt all action but one with a truly excellent story interweaved into it.

Once again, I loved the Machiavellian vibe that King laces into his plot, with events that initially seeming random, coming across on a second thought as though maybe they were part of a bigger plan after all. The depiction of the Penguin is amazing, given the man a true intelligence and really raising his reputation as he goes toe to toe with Batman on a cerebral battlefield, rather than one that's more physical.

De LaTorre also helps in reinforcing this characters greatness with a design of the Penguin that while leaning into his classic look, still keeps him grounded and maintains an err of seriousness. Of course, everything that De LaTorre draws, from character to locale has such a smooth style (a la Stefano Casselli on Secret Warriors in my mind) that it's like watching Layer Cake or Ocean's 11 (or maybe a combination of the two) in terms of its storytelling class.

The Penguin is devoid of problems, although they are the bare minimum being the depiction of one member of the Force of July who is too chaotic for my tastes and the rest of the team whose personalities are bare bones. However, beyond that very little is wrong with how this story hit me. Even Batman's appearance feels stronger compared to the first volume, although he does seem a lot more villainous (although, given that he is the bad guy of this story, that does make sense).

In fact, once of the final epilogue King pens gives this story even more of a twist so that, looking back to the beginning of the story, I can't help but wonder if anything Oswald Cobblepot does before his return to being the Penguin is real? If it isn't, then it is one hell of mask he wears.

From the looks of it, issue 12 was the end of this story and there'll be no more trades, for which I'm thankful; stories like this do seem to run out of steam if stretched on too long (Clone Saga, anyone?). But Tom King and Rafael De LaTorre's Penguin series has been a thrilling, engrossing read, that (I think) has reinforced the respectability and danger the character has maybe been lacking for much of his life.

Anyway, with one Criminal series put to bed, I can finally return to another.

Re-reading ... Penguin Vol. 1 - The Prodigal Bird

This week, I had planned to (finally) read Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips' Criminal Vol. 3.

That was until I realised that Volume 2 of the Penguin was being released.

As such, I decided, in preparation for going through this new release, I'd re-read its predecessor first.

Penguin Vol. 1: The Prodigal Bird boasts and all-star creative team, written by Tom King (Issues 1-7) and Chip Zdarsky (Issue 0) and drawn by Rafael De LaTorre (Issue 1-5), Stevan Subic (Issues 6-7) and Belen Ortega (Issue 0) follows Oswald Cobblepot, the former crime boss of Gotham, who is now living a new life in Metropolis after his 'death' at the hands of Batman. However, when a sinister Government agent coerces him to regain his former empire, the 'Penguin' must rise again, acquiring allies both old and new in order to eliminate Gotham's newest Kingpins; his own children.

Despite the rather polarising opinions towards his Batman run, I've always enjoyed Tom King's work in the past (not to mention Rafael De LaTorre's art) and so, upon seeing this on the shelf in my LCS late last year (and because I wanted to lean more towards trades going forward .... Which is working out SO well), I decided to pick it up and give it a go.

I really enjoyed this volume of the series. While the story starts off quiet and slow, depicting a character so far removed from the Penguin we've seen for decades, King shows this as a mask, ever but a moment from slipping and reveal the monster. Of course, once that mask is ripped away, we are off to the races, as King produces a sinisterly Machiavellian chain of events as the Penguin prepares for his attack on his children and their grip of the underworld. The best part of this journey has got to be the Help, an (presumably) original character who seems to be Alfred, if Alfred had been trained to become Batman. Of course, that's not to discount the Penguin himself, who comes across as the truly dangerous man, we've come to expect, although his intelligence seems to be at a level not previously expected.

No more is that latter point apparent, than in the origin story contained within Issues 5 and 6. I originally didn't take to this tale but after I readthrough, I'm much more appreciative of King's story, which sees Cobblepot's rise to infamy. What I loved about this story was that, the once and future Penguin subtly played both sides, with neither even considering him a true threat, in order to become powerful while remaining (mostly) free. That said, this story also had the adverse effect of making Batman look a little stupid. Oh well, you can't be prepared for everything.

The art of this story by Stevan Subic perfectly portrays the dark and sinister workings of Oswald's plans as well as his macabre look and surroundings. In fact, all three artists' styles perfectly match the respective stories they are visualising.

Upon it's first read, I felt that this open entry into the Penguin's re-emergence was a good read. However, second time round its fair to say that its improved in my opinion to something a little closer to excellent.

But now the prep work is done, I certainly hope the execution of the Penguins plans live up to this trade.