Direct Quote: "My pussy is a deadly weapon"
By: Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Wow. This is the third installment of the critically acclaimed “Criminal Series” by the Brubaker/Phillips duo. I am IMMENSELY impressed with this piece of literature and the artwork that frames it. This graphic novel is fluid and refined with its addictive text pulling the reader further and further into the dark. Brubaker develops these characters with a master’s touch, and their disgusting lives and uninhibited actions repulse and fascinate with the same stroke. This edition is divided into three separate sections (equal in size) with each section belonging to a different main character. I shall share the details here:
Second Chance In Hell
In this section, we follow the story of Jake or “Gnarly” as he is known in the Undertow. Because this whole story takes place in the 1970s, we are peaking into his life when he was a young and very successful heavy weight boxer. His story is especially tragic, because he really wants no part of the criminal realm he has grown up in. Ultimately, like everyone else, he is unable to truly escape.
A Wolf Among Wolves
Here our protagonist is Teegar Lawless. Name ring a bell? Yes, he is the father of Tracy Lawless, the main character of the last trade. He comes home from the Vietnam War with a load of new skills and a head full of rage and bad memories. We watch him throw his family in and out of trouble, and spend the majority of his days in a haze of booze and drugs. This section was hard to read, because Teegs is such a bad man. In reality he isn’t to blame for he is only a product of his experiences. It rips my heart in half to think about his poor kids and the life they are going to live.
Female of the Species
The last section was frightening. Danica, the black femme fatale from the cover of the trade, reveals her story through the tint of her addictions. She speaks of the horrendous crimes inflicted upon her, and her struggle to come to terms with being a victim. We witness her metamorphosis, as she transforms into a sex wielding manipulator and starts taking revenge.
Each of these stories are a masterpiece by themselves, but the real magic occurs when they are brought together. They overlap, fulfill, expound and reveal the true story line that ties them together. A symphony of written words and liquid art.
Mirth
