Innocent

“Criminal: Last of the Innocent” is noir at its most despicable level. The last time “Criminal” was this bleak was during the “Bad Night” arc. That story, arguably the best story in this title’s history, is somewhat mirrored in tone through the events of this tale. “Bad Night” ended on an incredibly bleak note. “Last of the Innocent” ends on what appears to be an upbeat turn and yet it still instills the chills in you that the world is a sucky place. Riley Richards has been our man at the center of this tale. His actions have propelled the plot, and the results he has yielded have glued us to the page. Over four issues, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips set up a man who you almost identify with and who you feel you can understand. As Riley has slowly gone over the edge and become someone you can hate with an open heart, it becomes clear this might be his story but it is not his slice of noir. The coldest genre within crime turns its unloving eye upon Riley’s new love interest, high schoo

This arc of “Criminal” hasn’t messed around at all. We’ve had the set up, then we’ve been delivered the execution, and now we get the aftermath. Riley Richards is not a very nice guy, but at least he recognizes this in himself. Over halfway through this storyline, it’s shaping up to be the best “Criminal” arc for many reasons. One major aspect that separates this book from other crime comics is that this never feels gratuitous. Ed Brubaker doesn’t set things up so he can show people getting stabbed or shot. He sets up people to be stabbed or shot so we can see the ripple of emotion and opportunity it creates in the wider story. Then he doesn’t actually show us the violence in question. It’s a bold move and one that opens up room for much more characterization. Riley made a plan and didn’t consider the difference between theory and practise. Now, on the other side of the deed, he’s reflecting on what it makes him feel. The main concern of this series is the question, “Is it worth it?

This arc of “Criminal” is gearing up to be the best one yet. While this second issue isn’t quite as good as the smashing debut, it is better at the game of comics than nearly every other rag that drops this week. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips slow things down and really delve into the character and emotion of this tale. The lead character is getting ready to make a very serious decision and this issue helps paints the motivation behind it all. Brubaker has found an amazing pace for making the noir soak into the comic pages. The captions from our seedy lead, Riley Richards, are blunt as a black jack and broad as the shoulders that wear his burden. Brubaker can’t use the terse prose to set the scene — Phillips gets that honor — so the words that appear only work to set the character forward, though perhaps downward is a better preposition. Pages are packed with panels and the claustrophobic tone makes everything feel more dire. Riley becomes the ultimate noir lead here as we unearth a

A new arc of “Criminal” begins with a perfect jumping on point, as usual. This book takes place in the same universe of the other “Criminal” minis, and it includes the odd Easter Egg-style reference to overall continuity, but it is a beast unto itself and a very savage one, at that. Ed Brubaker has been very open about the impetus for this book being the death of his own father and the personal investment on the page echoes like not enough comic writing does. This book is a study of our view of the past, both our own and a culturally ubiquitous one, as well as the start of the best noir tale you’ll find in any medium. One of the largest hooks of this arc has been the inclusion of retro pages that look like “Archie” sequences while still including the sort of content you expect from this book. To subvert the visual simplicity with a horrific complexity of moral ambiguity and decrepitude might seem an easy thing to do, and to attempt it isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it is the leve