Criminal #3

In two issues, Brubaker and the Philips have crafted a story about comics and the people behind them with more depth than most series achieve with years worth of arcs. Read Full Review

The issue is amazing blending fact and fiction to deliver a comic that entertains but will also leave you pondering the truth of it all. Criminal is three issues in and one of the best comics on the market (again). It's not too late to dive in as this is a comic that should be on everyone's pull list. Read Full Review

This issue is fantastic from beginning to end. There is not a single thing that is lacking in the storytelling or the artwork. Criminal (2019) #3 serves as another perfect entry to a rebooted series that has so far also been flawless. Read Full Review

Criminal #3, like the rest of Brubaker and Phillips latest series, is a real comics fans comic, filled with insider touches and meta commentary, all encased within the duos all-time great creative chemistry. This book is a must-read, every damn month. Read Full Review

I adored the reveal of the source of Hal's great trauma, it was brilliant and I won't reveal it. I also loved this panel, which basically describes my life: Read Full Review

Sean Phillips does great work with the art and continues a film noir style that is very atmospheric. Read Full Review

A great story and a meta-take on the shoddy treatment meted out to the great comic book artists and writers of yore, Criminal #3 will captivate from first page to last. If you're not salivating at the prospect of the next issue after reading this beauty, there's no pleasing you. Read Full Review

I was hesitant about doing this review. Having never read any of Criminal's seminal installment, I knew that there were going to be things I didn't understand, characters I wouldn't recognize or even know. Ed Brubaker does a great job of making this transition an easy one for new readers; it quickly extinguishes any feelings of intimidation. This was a "slow-burn" of a read, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. Read Full Review

Brion Salazar

Mar 22, 2019

The finale of the two-part arc “Bad Weekend”, Criminal #3 is another terrific installment from what has become one of the most consistent titles on the shelves. Brubaker and Phillips deliver solid performances with every issue and have built a world full of characters that readers can care for, feel sorry for, and empathize with. Set ten years before (it’s not a sequel) the “Bad Night” storyline, Jacob Kurtz is a younger, but still struggling cartoonist hustling for work. He is contacted by the operators of a comic book convention and told that his old mentor Hal Crane, a legendary comic book artist and pain in the ass, has asked for him specifically be his minder for the weekend. Jacob reluctantly agrees and almost immediatel y regrets it. Blending fantasy with reality the story unravels over the course of the weekend as Jacob struggles to keep an angry, bitter, and alcoholic Hal in line long enough to fulfill his commitments to the fans and organizers of the “Comic Fest” convention. When he discovers the real reason Hal asked for him, Jacob has to retreat into the criminal past he thought he left behind to try and help a guy he once idolized and now feels sorry for. Mixing real-life comic book characters, industry legend, and fictional, yet familiar, events - this story is both a history lesson on the underhanded inner workings of the business of comics, as well as a touching character study about choices and regrets. Hal Crane is a fictional creation but also an amalgamation of many different comic book creators, whose sad stories of misery and sorrow riddle the history of the comic book industry like pox marks. It is tragic that Brubaker and Phillips have such a wide range of real-life subjects and events to pull from. Alex Toth, Alex Raymond, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and Jack Kirby are just a few of the real-life figures that are represented in one way or another. Those less familiar with the skeletons in the closet of the comic industry may find themselves wondering if this story is fact or fiction. Like the saying goes, “Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.” more