Product Description

This brand new book contains fifteen of Vachss' most compelling, life-at-ground-zero stories, brought to life by an outstanding line-up of comics' most talented writers and artists. This exciting book also contains "Half-Breed, a never-before-published story by Vachss, with illustrations and a new cover by Geof Darrow, conceptual designer for the motion pictures "The Matrix I, The Matrix Reloaded, and "The Matrix Revolutions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1039688 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-30
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .1 pounds
• Binding: Paperback

From Publishers Weekly
This well-crafted collection of comics adaptations of stories by Vachss, creator of the popular Burke mystery series and a former federal investigator, is an unlikely artistic triumph. Vachss, who wrote an authorized novel based on Batman in 1995, is not shy about moralizing; he operates in an ethical gray area, where traditional lines between good and bad, cop and criminal, are constantly blurred and broken. While highlighting the law's ambiguities, Vachss also teases out lessons and consequences for his characters, usually in the form of unexpected endings. No matter how hard the characters try, they can't escape brutal victimization. An unbalanced hostage negotiator, having successfully freed a captive, shoots the unarmed kidnapper at the end of "Hostage," and in "Replay," an over-eager phone sex operator realizes the man whose pedophilic fantasies she's entertaining is her own father, and she was his first victim. A young gang member, bragging of his successful (and bloody) initiation rite, is killed by associates of his victims; and so on. Left alone, a few of these stark, graphic stories go a long way, but enhanced by artwork contributed by a group of superb cartoonists, they come alive in new and unexpected ways. The artists include David Lloyd, Bruce Jones and Warren Pleece, who share a shadowy pen and ink style particularly well suited to these pieces' mood and the subject matter. George Pratt's expressionistic work illuminates the despair at the heart of these stories, while Gary Gianni's accurate line work superbly depicts the urban landscape. Such a diverse group of art styles keeps the anthology from groaning under its own weight and provides different interpretations of Vachss's otherwise fairly similar stories.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher
Andrew Vachss is the author of the Burke series of novels, the 14th of which, Only Child, will be released Fall 2002 by Alfred A. Knopf. His books have been translated into twenty languages and have won The Gran Prix de Litterature Policiere (France), The Falcon Award (Japan), The Deutschen Krimi Preis (Germany), and The Raymond Chandler Award (Italy). His work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, The New York Times, Playboy, and numerous other forums.

About the Author
Andrew Vachss is the author of the Burke series of novels [Flood, Dead and Gone], about a State-raised abused child turned career criminal, now a man-for-hire and urban survivalist whose only religion is revenge. He and his family-of-choice live below the radar, emerging only to poach on "citizens" and predators alike. Vachss is also an attorney whose clients are children.