Crimespree Magazine #56 Page 18
Parker is looking for jobs, but the Outfit is still looking for him. Parker realizes that even with a new face, he is going to be dogged by the Outfit until he finally puts an end to it. He sends out messages to everyone in the business he knows, encouraging them to knock over any Outfit operations. As the mobsters are taking a beating in both personnel and the pocketbook, Parker is tracking down the one member of the Outfit who can’t seem to let this go.
The Score—Vol 3
Parker is called in for a job—a job so big, it seems insane. A new guy, Edgars, has an entire town out in the Dakotas cased for knocking over. There’s only one way in or out of the town, and it calls for a big crew. But if they can pull it off, there’s a huge score for each man.
Slayground—Vol 4
A car heist goes bad when the wheelman loses control of the car in a snowstorm, and Parker finds himself trapped inside a closed-down amusement park. The local mafia happen to see his escape, and decide they would rather keep the bag of money Parker made off with. There’s only one way in and out, and it becomes a game of cat and mouse.
The illustrations of each of these volumes are amazing. Dark and shadowy, they perfectly reflect the tone of the novels and of Parker himself. Each volume is completely colored with one tone—THE HUNTER is all in shades of green, THE OUTFIT is shades of blue-violet, and THE SCORE is orange, SLAYLAND in blue—giving them a uniformity that is appealing while focusing attention on the story being told. Cooke has also done an outstanding job of capturing the feel of the 1960’s these novels are set in. I felt as though I had stepped back in time. The clothes, the hairstyles, cars, diners and roadside motels all feel perfectly suited to the period and to the story.
In lesser hands, this project may have fallen apart. But the stories stay true to the original Stark, using a beautiful blend of illustration and wording. Cooke avoided using too much verbal narrative—a trap that might have been easy to fall into with these novels. Instead there is a wonderful balance between written narrative and illustration. In fact, some pages have no words at all—the illustrations alone speak volumes. I think fans and newcomers to the series alike will fall in love with these adaptations. The only downside is that we have to wait until 2015 for the next installment.
Erica Ruth Neubauer
R.E.M.
What if you could live 23 hours a day? What would you do with your extra time? There is so much more to life that could get done if all you needed was one hour of sleep. It should be a dream come true, but when there’s no more time to dream, it becomes a nightmare.
Michael Letto has done something that seems impossible, he’s made sleep obsolete. He’s invented the Soma, a chair that gives anyone a perfect, well-rested night’s sleep in an hour. You’re not jacked like you’ve taken drugs nor is there a crash like an energy drink. Unfortunately, he has done nothing with this discovery but use it to his own advantage. The sad, lonely man is trying to find his deceased love. He believes the chair can unlock potential to somehow get even just another moment with her. Or more. As always, when there is something this incredible, and no one is sharing, others will come calling. Or rather, demanding, bribing, and threatening. When word gets out on something as incredible as a machine that replaces sleep there is going to be many interested parties. Nothing like a lack of sleep and people coming after you to keep you watching over your shoulder.
I had the privilege of meeting the creators of “R.E.M.” at c2e2 this year and they sold me on this book instantly. Ryan Colucci has crafted this story that has a beautiful ethereal feel. He’s written it in a way that feels like a dream. You feel like your sliding between the panels. It draws you to what’s next. His collaboration with Zsombor Huszka takes the book right where it needs to be. Huszka line work is sharp and distinct. His eye on how to frame a panel is wonderful. He understands his own art and the strengths of how it looks. He has a noir-shadow like quality that, when combined with Colucci’s words, make the dream-like quality of the story even more succinct. I am drawn in by Huszka’s art because of how it looks like a sketch book but every piece drawn is clear and easily identifiable. Colucci and Huszak are a phenomenal team.
They are professionals already. “R.E.M.” is a great introduction to these creators. It’s a dark tale of paranoia and personal heartbreak. A tale that will keep any reader wanting to know more. The noir feel makes “R.E.M.” a perfect book to get sucked in to. I can’t wait for more from these creators.
Jo Schmidt
C.O.W.L.
Image Comics
Chicago in 1962. Super heroes are real. The streets are safe. Peace in the big city is inevitable. All thanks to C.O.W.L. The Chicago Organized Worker’s League. But we know peace never lasts. And C.O.W.L. will be needed to keep the city safe. To the normal people, they’re the perfect group of well-organized heroes around. Behind the cape, there’s a few rips and runs in the costume that is C.O.W.L.
They are a highly effective organization just trying to make Chicago safe. You’d think stopping an assassination would be easy, but nothing is ever as simple as one hopes. Between the thwarting of evil-doers comes the political leg-work. C.O.W.L. is a union and contracts need to be negotiated. Geoffrey Warner runs the outfit outfit and is determined to keep things running smoothly. A 1940’s super hero himself he formed C.O.W.L. to keep his home the perfect city. As that goal gets closer it seems like something bigger than just one man trying to kill a Alderman has happened.
Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel have created a perfect segue comic. His instantly absorbing book is the type of book you hand to someone that “isn’t into comics,” or “doesn’t read super heroes.” It feels like a 60’s crime-story book. It’s easy to read this like it stepped right out of time as a gift to us, today. There are different elements at play and they all feel connected, you just don’t know how yet. Higgins and Siegel have the tone and feel down to an art. It’s easily accessible but not shy on packing the first issue with just the right of information. They know their readers aren’t stupid and they reward us for it. And these writers have chosen the absolute best artist for their story. Rod Reis’ style is very distinct and unique. Coming from the Bill Sienkiewicz school of stylized work, his work is just the right mood and look for this “Classic” style book.
These three are a team who knows how to bring out the best in each other. And “C.O.W.L.” is the best and will only get better. This is a perfect series to get into. It has a long life ahead of it.
Jo Schmidt
THE BLACK BEETLE
Dark Horse Comics
Volume one of this series from Franceso Francavilla is “No Way Out” and it’s a hell of a way to get people onboard with a great book. Written and drawn by Francavilla this has a perfect pulp feel to it. The story is set in the early 1940’s and every page of the book reflects it perfectly in the art. If I was put on the spot I would call the art a cross between Darwyn Cooke and Neal Adams, which as far as I’m concerned means it’s about as good as you can get. While it is in color, the color pallet is minimal and it really adds to the atmosphere of the tale.
And what a tale it is. Francavilla doesn’t weigh us down with loads of back story or exposition on who the Black Beetle is, we jump right in and follow him on a case. The case is an explosion that leaves the mobsters of Coast City without a clear leader and anyone who has ever read a comic book or seen a noir movie knows a vacuum in power with the bad guys is never a good thing. A nice blend of action and detective work has the Black Beetle solve who is behind the power play and he also finds time to rescue a curious artifact which could bring him some trouble later.
I love all kinds of comics but I have a real soft spot for stories set in this era, especially with heroes who get by with their wits. Reminiscent of the best of Sandman Mystery Theater and this is one of my favorite books of recent years.
I strongly urge you to pick it up, the sooner the better. Meanwhile, Mr. Francavilla? When can we expect volume 2???
Jon Jordan
SEX CRIMINALS
Volume one
Image Comics
I am a big fan of Matt Fraction however I didn’t read Sex Criminals in regular issues. While we were at C2E2 I picked up a trade of the first story arc after flipping through it a bit. I knew nothing about it other than Fraction wrote it and the art looked cool.
Well much to my relief it’s not some hard core porn comic but rather a very interesting character driven piece about some people who find each other and fall in love. There is also some larceny involved as the pull of a number of heists, but they do it to save a library, and I’m cool with a few big conglomerates taking a bit of a hit to keep libraries open.
So here’s the run down. Susie discovers while in her teens that when she reaches orgasm time around her freezes for a while. At first it freaks her out, but eventually she gets used to it and sometimes even uses it to her advantage. Flash forward a few years, Suzie is working at a library and has a party to help raise money to keep it open. During the party she hooks up with a guy named Jon. They end up in bed and much to the surprise of them both when they both with that magic point during sex, the other person is not frozen. They both have the same condition. Eventually they start having sex in banks and taking money while everyone is frozen. Towards the end of the book we discover that there are other people like them and some act as sex police to keep the folks who freeze time from doing anything illegal.
It’s crazy and it’s awesome. I love the art by Chop Zdarsky, it is playful yet works well for the action and dramatic scenes.
Volume One is called ONE WEIRD TRICK and it’s from Image comics. I think you need to read this!
Jon
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Cooking with Crimespree
True Grits By Nancy Allen
Issue 56
My debut novel, The Code of the Hills, is a legal thriller set in the Ozark Mountains. And if there’s one thing we know in the Ozarks, it’s grits. Buttered grits, cheese grits, grits and gravy. There’s no wrong way to serve them, though I have no regard for eating grits without savory additions. Like most plain grains, grits need fat to give them pizzazz.
Grits are a humble food. It’s just corn, dried and ground. They are cooked in salted water to make a thick gruel, and then—this is crucial—you glam them up. Because only Oliver Twist could stomach them plain.
We enjoy them at breakfast on weekends. Buttered grits with salt and ground pepper will sop up an egg yolk far more elegantly than a slice of toast. But for special occasions, when we’re living high off the hog, I make the family favorite: cheese grits.
It would be cool to announce that I’m revealing a secret family recipe, handed down through generations of hillbillies. In fact, I copied it out of my mother’s Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook about twenty-five years ago. It’s an old standby, but it’s still the best, in my opinion.
CHEESE GRITS*
Ingredients:
1 cup quick (NOT INSTANT) grits
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (hahaha I use 2 cups cheese)
½ cup butter (That’s 1 stick, a ¼ pound. Do not use margarine. Because life is short.)
2 eggs
In a good-sized pot (I use a 5 quart) bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the grits and salt and stir till it returns to a boil. Reduce the heat, then cook and stir for about 5 minutes, until the grits are thick.
Stir the stick of butter and the cheese into the hot grits till they are melted. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl. Dip up a cup of the hot mixture and add it gradually to the eggs. (If you add the hot stuff all at once, it will cook the eggs, so do it a little at a time.) Stir the egg/grits back into the pot. Then pour the whole mixture into a greased 8x8x2 baking dish.
Bake it uncovered at 325 degrees for 35 minutes. I like it brown around the edges. Let the grits stand for ten minutes.
This dish serves: 4 Missourians, or
8 Michiganders, or
12 New Yorkers/Californians
*This dish would be especially enjoyable while reading a good crime novel. I suggest The Code of the Hills, to be released on April 15 by HarperCollins’ Witness imprint. The protagonist, Elsie Arnold, would not hesitate to dig into a plate of grits between court appearances. Eat up!
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