If you are already a fan of any of Frank Miller's Sin City works, then you are probably thinking what I'm thinking. Why is there a picture of "That Yellow Bastard" in the corner, instead of the Sin City graphic novel?

If you aren't already a fan, than let me describe the situation behind the making of this comic. In the early 90's, Miller was having problems with the two big comic book publishers, Marvel & DC. Even though most comic book fans would have probably voted him the artist they most wanted to do more work, he wasn't offered any projects that interested him. I believe he wanted to do something a little more experimental with his next piece by doing it in black & white, and involving some very dark subject matters. Dark Horse comics offered him the perfect choice. There were some censorship issues floating around at the time which made the violence and very mature subject matters taboo for the bigger publishing houses. And choosing to do a comic book in all black & white in those days was comparable to Steven Spielberg having to fight to do "Schindler's List" in black & white. Dark Horse must have given him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted for him to get away with what he did. The only thing I think they demanded was that he break it up into 10 short stories that took place in their collection of other short stories called "Dark Horse Presents".

Dark Horse got to use Frank Miller's name to spread the word about their other titles, and Miller got to write as dark a story as he wanted. This is a very mature story, with very mature subject matters. There are very depraved characters, behaviors, and images. You will see serial killers, cannibalism, hookers of various varieties, and people tortured (some by the 'hero').

As I mentioned before, the entire comic is done in black & white. But these aren't sketches, by any means. The entire panels have almost as much black as they do white in them. Some people think of black & white comics as line drawings that just haven't had color put in them yet. These have so much of either color that I cannot imagine how they could be colored. Art students should study this to appreciate minimalism. There is half a chapter that is drawn outdoors in a rain scene. It seems like an amazing amount of work to recreate rain using just black and white over one another. I'm fairly certain that Miller was attempting to recreate the feelings that film noir always tries to exhibit. Using nothing but black & white may be somewhat limiting to convey a true sense of the locations, but it makes up for it with what it does for the atmosphere.

Sin City is described as a very stark place. So are the people. I imagine that the majority of the story takes place in what would normally be considered 'the bad part of town', but is probably one of the safer areas. Sin City was originally called Basin City, but became a central location for high price hookers, and thus was born the nickname that stuck.

The main character is named Marv. I've often suspected that this is supposed to represent Marvel Comics. The hooker in the beginning is named "Goldie", and possibly this has something to do with the Golden Age of comics. Maybe I'm reaching here, but it is just a thought.

As stark as the city and the story are, the main character, Marv, is even darker. He is an extremely unlikely portrayal of a hero. It is clear early on that he is not a highly intelligent man. This is not Batman who analyzes situations and tries to stay one step ahead of his adversaries. In one scene Marv, with just an axe, charges headfirst into a group of a half dozen cops wearing body armour and wielding machineguns. He hits the first one in the groin and is willing to take several bullets in order to get to each cop in turn.

Marv is very self-deprecating. This is something I don't know if I've ever seen in anything but the most 'reluctant' hero before. When confronted by a wolf he says he wants to spare its life because it is dumber than he is. When trying to convince hookers that he isn't a killer of other hookers, he tells them "Look at this ugly mug. What hooker would let me get close enough to even touch her?"

But Marv is a sort of 'Conan the Barbarian' in the modern day. He has simple thoughts, but is an unbeatable warrior. There is little that is fancy about his style. It is only when he finds an opponent who can avoid his ferocious attack does he resort to a smarter way of fighting. His opponent is able to jump and dodge about him so Marv is willing to take numerous shots until he can get close enough to handcuff them together. Marv knows he will take even more damage, but eventually he will be able to find his opponent.

The story starts with Marv believing he has just been framed for the death of a hooker. We can tell pretty early on that although he may be innocent, this is not your standard 'Hitchcockian' hero, who is an ordinary man put into an extraordinary situation. He seems to be a pretty disturbed person. We see Marv do far worse than just use an axe on people. He truly does seem to enjoy hurting people; or at least the kind of person that he thinks deserves it. When trying to get information from a hitman, he shoots him in the stomach. When the hitman begs Marv not to kill him, Marv simply tells him "I already did, just how long it will take you to die depends on what you tell me." Upon threatening another opponent he is asked if he will enjoy killing him. Marv tells him "No. But everything up to the actual killing I will."

Marv's final line in the story will remain with you for a long time. If nothing else, he is true to his character.


Recommended: Yes