SCENE OF THE CRIME (Image, 2012; Hardcover)
Collects
Scene
of the Crime
Nos.
1-4 and
a story from Vertigo:
Winter's Edge
No. 2 (cover dates January- August, 1999)
Writer:
Ed Brubaker
Artists:
Michael Lark (penciler) and Sean Phillips (inker)
Colorist:
James Sinclair
Do
you know what it's like, when you would discover an earlier album
that you never knew existed by a band that you like? That's exactly
how this book felt to me. Like wow, not only did I not know that
this existed, but it is every bit as great as what they're doing
today. Ingredients that are found in Criminal or Fatale
are already present here, although the recipe might not be as
refined. In the Afterword, Brubaker states that he cringes at how
wordy some of these panels are. Hogwash! This is great stuff. This
story reads just fine. The artwork by the team of Michael Lark and
Sean Phillips is excellent and helps the series look current 14 years
after it was originally published. This looks like it could have been
released this year.
Scene
of the Crime was originally published by Vertigo (DC's mature
readers imprint), and as such, this is not all ages friendly reading.
It's the story of Jack Herriman, a private investigator who is hired
to track down a missing girl. This leads Jack into a world of cults,
blackmail, and crooked cops. Kudos to Image for giving this the
deluxe treatment that it so richly deserves.
There is a story included as a bonus in the back of the book from Vertigo: Winter's Edge No. 2. While the original was published in black and white, this short story is recolored here for the first time. God and Sinners is a heart-wrenching, disturbing holiday tale that made me a little nauseous.
The
covers are all collected in a gallery in the back, which must be a
Brubaker thing. The Criminal hardcovers are the same way. My
OCD prefers them to be inserted as chapter breaks before the issue so
that it gives the feel of reading the comic books. Putting them in
the back makes it read more like a “graphic novel”. Your mileage
may vary.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- This is a decent package overall, and below you'll find
exactly why I feel this way.
Paper
rating: 5 out of 5. This has super thick coated stock paper, and
it smells great to boot. Not toxic Chinese ink great, but that funky
Canadian ink smell great.
Binding
rating: 4.75 out of 5. While this book has sewn binding, it does
not lay as flat as Chinese books with sewn binding. See, Canadians
adhere to child labor laws, while Chinese bookmakers use children
with tiny hands to make their books. That's their ancient Chinese
secret.
Hardback
cover coating rating: 4 out of 5. It is becoming increasingly
apparent that dustjackets are going to become extinct for these types
of books. This has the image printed directly on the hardback, and
has a coating of decent thickness. It can be scuffed, so be
careful, folks.
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