Young Ellies not lost, but she is perhaps rudderless, without an anchor, parental, guardian or otherwise. Here all the knowing guile is gone, replaced by wide-open eyes, the face-on portrait bathed under watery waves of light although it is still quite the poker-face, no? That was rendered after her death, and innocent the image is not.

I could be wrong but it bears a striking resemblance to Andy Warhols Shot Blue Marilyn, 1964, only less lurid. The first surface we encounter is the cover. Is it just an affectation of innocence? Surprisingly, predominantly, no its the evocation of a youthful innocence retained against all odds. I love that the walls have almost been sponged. These are left open for Jake to dapple and daub with sprays of light blue, silky cream, pinks and admittedly bruised purple. metaphorically speaking.īut this is indeed, on the surface at least, a strikingly different beast, so Sean Phillips has shifted gears accordingly, and startlingly, away from the twilight world of long shadows and motive-masking, half-lit faces to spot-blacks for some clothing, but otherwise crisp lines and clear forms. Romance in comics rarely ends well in any event, but FATALE proved particularly problematic for the men caught blinking in Josephines cursed headlights, while the whole crux of CRIMINAL: LAST OF THE INNOCENT was one mans attempt to reverse his wrong romantic turning at the crossroads of life by running over his wife. Previous efforts havent been promising for the protagonists involved. Sean: ∺nd this is as close as he could get. So whats Ellie really up to, and why did she scope out every other patients private files the night that she was admitted?Ī few years ago, Sean Phillips Ed Brubakers creative partner on the emphatically noir CRIMINAL, FATALE, THE FADE OUT and KILL OR BE KILLED asked Ed to write him a romance comic. Thats a lot of money to throw away without any intention of detoxifying. To herself: ∺nd I sure as hell am not planning on getting sober. Inside a palatial, five-grand-a-week rehab clinic, to be precise, with colonnades and balustrades, encircling protective wings, poplars and locked gates. Ellie on the cover, to eighteen-year-old handsome lad Skip, inside. Stevie Smith, Not Waving But Drowning,1957 CRIMINAL VOL 7: WRONG TIME, WRONG PLACE but whose stories are here expanded to include all the mock letter pages that were originally released with the magazine formats of the constituent issues. The first four issues of the most recent CRIMINAL series (the second and third issues later formed BAD WEEKEND the first and fourth were included in CRUEL SUMMER).ģ. The original graphic novel MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIESĢ. Not only do the wealth of extras contain Brubaker story notes and Sean Phillips process pieces, but also.

Ed brubaker criminal series