Graphic Novel Review: SIN CITY, THE HARD GOODBYE

THE HARD GOODBYE (SIN CITY, VOLUME ONE) graphic novel by Frank Miller. (Dark Horse Books, March 2005, second edition) Paperback, 208 pages. Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

Now a much-anticipated movie, Frank Miller's gritty crime noir tale gets a new lease of life in this spectacular redesigned and reformatted edition. 

Beautifully and boldly rendered in black and white by one of comics' greatest artists and storytellers comes a tale of love, loss, revenge, and fine coats! 

Meet Marv, not one of Sin City's more peaceful residents, as he falls for a beautiful young girl, Goldie. They spend the night together, but on waking Marv finds Goldie dead and the police at the door. Now it's down to Marv to try and put things right. 

"Sin City" has won both Eisner and Harvey awards and this new collection sports a Chip Kidd redesign and features a Frank Miller gallery section.  

My Five-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

    I wanted to re-visit this landmark series, originally presented in serialized fashion in DARK HORSE PRESENTS beginning in 1991. Miller has always utilized elements of film noir in his work, but this series is his masterpiece of that technique. Prior to this, I’d never seen such gorgeous, highly stylized black and white art. 

    Taking his inspiration from the old crime movies (James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart) with their moralistic tales, as well as some key lines from Sympathy For The Devil, the classic Rolling Stones song (“where every cop’s a criminal, and all the sinners are saints”), Miller created the rough world of SIN CITY, where it seems the only good deeds are those that come out of bad situations. 

    The Wikipedia entry for SIN CITY summarizes what makes this so significant in fewer words that I ever could: “the film noir influence on the series artwork is seen in its use of shadow and stark backgrounds. Black and white are the sole colors most of the time,with the exception of red, yellow, blue, and pink, of which limited use is made in some stories to draw attention to particular characters.

      The writing style also draws heavily on detective and crime pulp fiction. Miller’s SIN CITY work challenges some conventions of comic book form. The letters of onomatopoeic words like “blam” are often incorporated into scenes via lighting effects, or are suggested by the negative space between panels, or are created by the outline of the panels themselves.”

     THE HARD GOODBYE introduces Marv, who plays a role in later stories (but earlier in his lifespan). A huge, ugly, thuggish man who lives on the criminal side but has a soft heart, especially for beautiful women - - that leads to his being set-up for a murder charge. There are plenty of colorful characters in this first story arc, but the one that left the biggest and most disturbing impression was the cannibalistic farm boy serial killer of prostitutes. Essential reading.