Maybe I just put it out of my mind, like I didn’t want to believe Brubaker was capable of writing such a stupid reveal. I mean, I knew he was capable of stupid endings–Sleeper provided that one beyond a shadow of a doubt, but….

Really, Ed? Fight Club? That’s the best you could come up with? Ripping off Fight Club? It might not have been a big hit, but everyone’s seen the damn thing. Not to mention it being in the novel too, so even if someone hasn’t seen the movie, they might have read the book.

Brubaker’s conclusion is so weak, it would have been a far better book if he’d killed the protagonist in the first issue and filled the subsequent three with nature art from Phillips.

It’s sort of fitting all the letter pages to this arc are Brubaker touting his awful direct-to-video movie.

CREDITS

Bad Night, Part Four; writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Val Staples; publisher, Icon.

Okay, I’m mildly amused–back when I started reading Criminal again, I misremembered the first arc as this arc.

Brubaker’s really running into some pacing issues here. What’s old hat in a film noir–around an eighty minute narrative–does not work in comic book form. Brubaker also doesn’t have enough exposition to keep the reader’s reading speed in check, so this issue just flies past.

He’s got a protagonist who, on the surface, engenders a lot of sympathy but it’s all false sympathy. Brubaker makes the guy more and more tragic to get the reader interested, to divert attention away from there not being anything to the story.

I said before this arc could be done in an issue… at this point, I think it could be done in half an issue. Almost everything is padding here.

But Phillips is getting to draw daytime scenes here, which are pretty.

CREDITS

Bad Night, Part Three; writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Val Staples; publisher, Icon.

Ah, the five minute read. Nothing like the five minute read.

For a five minute read, this comic isn’t bad. It’s got beautiful Sean Phillips art and it’s not a terrible all action issue. But it’s really light and really boring. Brubaker’s pacing here is for effect, everything is hurried to get the reader anxious.

It also made me remember I have read this arc; there’s really not much to it. It left me then, like it is in the process of doing now, with very little impression.

The arc either takes place entirely at night or inside the protagonist’s house. And his house is dark. The concept–a guy taken hostage and forced to aid in a criminal’s plot–could have been done in a single issue. It doesn’t need four, especially since it’s clear it’s not going anywhere special.

Maybe I’m wrong and it turns around, but I’m not hopeful.

CREDITS

Bad Night, Part Two; writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Val Staples; publisher, Icon.

This arc of Criminal–I can’t remember if I’ve read it or not, I think I’ve read this issue because it seems familiar, but I’m not sure about the rest–is Brubaker’s first attempt at using a non-criminal as his protagonist. The guy used to be a criminal, but he’s since reformed. And he was never a tough guy. Of the five protagonists so far, all but one (the girl) was a tough guy. Now it’s two of six.

The issue’s got a nice pace to it, introducing the character, moving him through his routine. It’s the same guy who was in the second arc in the first series as a supporting character. I spent the entire issue trying to remember if that connection was correct–the always interconnected cast is getting distracting.

The pace changes in the last few pages, story veering into traditional noir.

Still, quite good.

CREDITS

Bad Night, Part One; writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Val Staples; publisher, Icon.

I’d like to say Brubaker has some kind of magic where he’s able to escape all the traps of a guy writing female narration. But he doesn’t.

It’s still a really good issue and Brubaker doesn’t make the frequent mistakes of female narration–he’s got a really good plot and he sticks to the events and his protagonist’s observations of them. Where it’s wrong is the texture… he never gets inside the character’s head. It’s no more personal a narration than someone giving a speech. There’s not one personal thing in it, other than the events she finds herself experiencing.

This finishes the informal arc of the second series of Criminal and it’s a depressing ending. The protagonist was seen dead in the first issue and seen murdered in the second. Brubaker’s revelations of the story behind her actions is problematic. He’s definitely seen The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.

CREDITS

The Female of the Species; writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Val Staples; publisher, Icon.

What Brubaker does here–a sort of prequel to the second arc of Criminal and a concurrent, companion story to the previous issue–is even better than the previous issue… which I didn’t think Brubaker could do.

Brubaker had a hard time working out the setting for Criminal in the first arc and wisely left it mostly alone in the second. But here, instead of dealing with the physical setting, he’s dealing with temporal one and he’s doing a lovely job. The protagonist of this issue is the father of the protagonist from the second arc. There are parallels between how the two men end up, but Brubaker doesn’t draw any attention to it. I don’t even think he refers to the protagonist’s sons by name, even though they were just the focus of their own arc.

This issue finally shows Criminal’s full potential as a narrative engine.

Utter perfection.

CREDITS

A Wolf Among Wolves; writer, Ed Brubaker; artist, Sean Phillips; colorist, Val Staples; publisher, Icon.