Hard-Boiled Comics, and Why I Love 'Em

This past Wednesday saw the publication of the final issue of Jason Aaron and R.M. Guerra’s noir masterpiece Scalped, reminding me 1) I really need to get off my ass and catch up on the issues published over the past year; and 2) I’ve yet to really rant about my love of crime fiction on this nifty new blog of mine.

The first concern I plan to remedy this weekend, one of the only quiet ones I’ve had in a long time. As for the second, we can take care of that right here and now, and maybe even throw in a few recommendations for you fellow noir enthusiasts looking to sample the best hard-boiled crime fiction the comics medium has to offer.

 

Crime fiction is without a doubt my favorite genre of storytelling, and there’s not even a close second. It’s been that way for a while, ever since an introduction to the novels of Elmore Leonard at a young and impressionable age led to a long, intense obsession with the modern master of the genre, the Demon Dog of American crime fiction himself, James Ellroy. It was pretty much all downhill from there, as I’ve spent the past ten years devouring a steady, gluttonous diet of noir through novels, comics, television, movies – basically anyway I can get it.

There are a lot of reasons why I love the genre –the violence, booze, drugs, guns, dangerous and sexy women, crime, tough guys, seedy environments and corruption that are all such staples of noir certainly helped make it my favorite style of storytelling. The fact that it’s damn entertaining also hasn’t hurt. All that being said, what makes crime fiction my favorite genre and – at least in my estimation – the most compelling has to do with the brutal, unwaveringly honest way it handles its characters.

Because it deals almost exclusively in flawed, fucked-up characters wrestling with morally ambiguous questions in a harsh and unforgiving world, of all the genres crime fiction is hands down the most precise, effective and clear vehicle with which to honestly examine the human condition. Screw all that slice-of-life bullshit fiction you’ll find down at the local chain bookstore or the pretentious literary drivel they passed around in my undergrad creative writing workshops – in terms of holding a mirror up to our collective souls, nothing gets the job done better than a good crime writer putting an emotionally damaged protagonist through the ringer of a bad, dangerous situation filled with violent criminals. You might not be able to relate to the specifics of a noir story’s given situation, but when a good writer is at work you’ll damn sure be able to see yourself in one of the struggling characters.

I also love the roles structure and formula play in crime fiction, elevating great writers to reach new heights in the same way the structure of a song or standard propels a great jazz or blues guitarist to new, unseen truths on his or instrument. As in the case of all great music derived from the blues, the structure in crime fiction is the opposite of constricting – it’s emboldening. Arm a great writer with the standard tools of a detective or private eye story, and as long as he keeps his character pointed towards the tragic inevitably that drives all great crime stories, you’ll wind up with something damn powerful.

I can ramble on forever about my love of the genre, and if you stay tuned to this space you’ll find me doing just that quite often, I guarantee it. For now, as promised I’ll move on and let you know where to get your hard-boiled fiction fix from the comics medium. Here are just a few of the modern masterworks that I absolutely love:

Scalped by Jason Aaron and RM Guerra

This sixty-issue epic just wrapped up on Wednesday, and even though I’ve yet to read the ending, I’m still comfortable calling it one of the best, most entertaining and powerful pieces of crime fiction I’ve encountered in any genre over the past decade. I’ve heard it described as “The Sopranos on an Indian Reservation,” but that type of bullshit Hollywood tagline doesn’t begin to do it justice. The series begins with a rock solid hook – FBI Agent Dashiell Bad Horse returns undercover to the insanely impoverished and corrupt South Dakota Indian reservation he fled as a teenager – then blooms into a sweeping yet intimate examination of the entire reservation and its unsavory cast of characters. In that regard, it’s more like The Wire and its exploration of modern Baltimore than any other HBO analogy. An incredible read that will leave you at the edge of your seat and break your heart in the course of the same page, I couldn’t recommend this series highly enough. I’m already praying to the comic book gods for writer Aaron and artist Guerra to get together for another project.

Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

Possibly my favorite writer/artist duo working in comics today, Brubaker and Phillips’ series is essentially one giant love letter to the genre, complete with back-up essays about crime fiction that are way more eloquent and readable than this post. This series of interconnected stories takes place in the same dingy city and follows a cast of loosely connected characters through their deadly and often heartbreaking misadventures in crime. Think of the way Frank Miller’s Sin City vignettes interconnect, then remove all the ninja prostitutes and superhuman tough guys, and you’ll get an idea of how this series’ fictional world operates. Essentially each story is an excuse for Brubaker and Phillips to tell whatever type of crime tale they please, with the added bonus of weaving subtle and not-so-subtle links between the different characters and plots. If you don’t trust that vague description, trust my word when I say any collection of Criminal comics you pick up will blow your mind and leave you begging for more.

Gotham Central by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka and various artists

Here’s one for anyone still hesitant to read a comic without a superhero in it. This brilliant gem of a series takes the street level perspective of Gotham City’s Major Crimes Unit as they attempt to not only police the craziest, most deranged and violent city in all of fiction, but do so while a certain caped crusader is making them look incompetent and obsolete at every turn. What would it be like being a good, hard-working cop in a city overrun by costumed lunatics and ruled ever so tentatively by the Batman? Brubaker and Rucka ask that fascinating question while diving into the sort of fantastic character exploration found in all great ensemble cop stories. The best part about the series is the way Batman’s presence is only ever really hinted at, keeping the focus and spotlight firmly on the human beings charged with cleaning up his mess. There’s a reason Christopher Nolan and David Goyer used this book as an inspiration for the tone they achieved with their Batman trilogy – it’s got all the coolness inherent in the Batman mythos grounded firmly in human drama and real life consequences.

 ---------------------

That’s it for now. It’s late, I’m tired, I have a few more beers to drink before bed and another long day tomorrow. As always, please pass this link and word of the blog around to your friends if you think they might like it. And sorry again for the sporadic schedule. I’ll figure it out eventually.