Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Ever since someone realized that writers and artists could work together to create comics, the medium has seen its fair share of legendary duos – a writer and an artist who work with each other in almost perfect synergy. They may separate every now and then, but whenever a new title by the pair is announced, the entirety of the comics-following population holds their breath in anticipation. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are one of those borderline flawless duos, and “Criminal” is perhaps their career-defining work.
When Brubaker and Phillips collaborate, it can be hard to talk about them as separate entities. Phillips’s art looks just like what you would expect to accompany Brubaker’s tales, and it’s almost surreal to see dialogue that is not Brubaker’s coming from the mouth of Phillips’s characters. Brubaker’s and Phillips’s each maintain a dark, cerebral quality in their creator-owned work (and most of their company work), and when the two work together, they feed off of each other and make comics that are even better than their already impressive work apart from each other. Just as Phillips’s art is always properly proportioned and true to life despite his heavy use of shadows, Brubaker’s characters are always human and believable, no matter how unlikable they get – and, believe me, they get pretty despicable. The pair first worked together when Phillips inked Michael Lark’s pencils in the Vertigo miniseries “Scene of the Crime,” followed by the Phillips-inked “Batman: Gotham Noir,” and the pair have been putting out excellent comics ever since.
“Criminal” began in 2006, as a new ongoing from the duo that was published by Marvel’s Icon imprint. Though originally an ongoing, the first two volumes of “Criminal” told a variety of crime stories that stood apart from each other; similar faces might be seen in separate stories, but typically as Easter Eggs for observant readers to catch. After the second volume, the comic has become a sequence of miniseries, which fits the structural model just fine. “Criminal” is perhaps the finest example of Brubaker and Phillips in their element, as they work that incredible synergy to show us why the human mind is so frequently drawn to stories about the other side of the law. Every story has a deeply psychological core that prompts the reader to think about what is occurring on page, always equal parts entertaining and intellectually captivating. The stories may be dark and even disturbing, but it is because the characters that are drawn into their downward spirals are so uncomfortably realistic. Phillips’s astounding art carries the can’t-look-away quality of Brubaker’s writing, giving these dismal situations an appropriate level of glamour, without distracting from the darker qualities.
The best thing about “Criminal” is that five times out of six, you can pick up a paperback and get reading. As mentioned before, and with the exception of ‘The Sinners,’ each story is its own, so there is no necessary “starting point.” You could, of course, start with ‘Coward,’ the first story of the bunch – and also a soon to be made into a feature film – wherein a heist planner notorious for keeping away from the action finds himself in a situation he cannot run away from. My second favorite of the bunch, ‘Coward’ is an off-the-rails wild ride with a thrilling conclusion, and starts the series off with a bang. Or perhaps you are a superhero fan first and foremost, and are only so willing to step out of your comfort zone, in which case I recommend the fan-favorite ‘Lawless.’ The title character, Tracy Lawless is a violent vigilante – the similarities to superhero comics end there – who is spurred on by his desire to find out what happened to his criminally-involved, deceased brother, and was a big enough hit that he received his own sequel, the aforementioned ‘The Sinners.’ If you only want the best, though, you need to pick up ‘The Last of the Innocent.’ Published as a miniseries last year, ‘The Last of the Innocent’ is the best comic by Brubaker and Phillips yet, and perhaps the best story of 2011 in any medium. It’s a story of infidelity and tainted nostalgia, and one of the most expertly pieced together pieces of crime fiction I have ever read.
The other “Criminal” stories are certainly good – great, even – but those three are simultaneously my personal favorites and the best places to start. The series is currently collected in six paperbacks and one deluxe hardcover, which contains the first three trades’ worth of the series. “Criminal” is an excellent example of two creators who get each other and the environment they are working in, and you have my deepest condolences if you have yet to experience it.
