Criminal 2 #7

I think I can safely say that Criminal is the one and only book whose individual issues I actually look forward to buying. It’s not just because there is not a single ad in the whole issue, or all the extra essays and tid bits you get on the end pages. It’s the one and only book whose individual issues never fail to deliver excellence.

The issue starts with a little delving into Herr – I mean Officer Starr and why he has always carried a personal vendetta for Jacob, even after the son of a bitch was proven innocent of his wife’s murder. Cut to Jake and Frank trying to make sense of a mess they thought was already cleaned up, resulting in one last clash between Jake, Starr, and…Frank? It all spirals downward for everyone involved until it crescendos into the final crash, when Bad Night’s final bang is complimented by a lonely, lonely whimper.

What can I possibly say about Ed Brubaker that I haven’t already? The man is a goddamn genius, especially when he gets to write this labor of love. What I believed was going to be a simple wrap-up of this current arc turned out to be just as explosive and wild as the rest of Bad Night, if not more so. Brubaker manages to further flesh out Jacob Kurtz, a character who already has depth to spare, and reveals a part of him that was all too obvious but does so in a way that still got me good. This whole issue got me good, really; the action and suspense kept its grip on me right up to the final crash.

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but goddamn is Sean Phillips good. His penciling isn’t even half of the reason why he’s so great, either. The way this guy colors this book is downright spellbinding. Who would think that a genre that was born and raised in black and white could be so bold and colorful? It’s like a goddamn rainbow of crime!

Criminal #7 gets five out of goddamn five. 'The hell out, Miller, the Goddamn Brubaker is the king of comic noir!