World Famous Comics: The Hard Goodbye (Sin City, Book 1: Second Edition)
The Hard Goodbye (Sin City, Book 1: Second Edition)
By: Frank Miller Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 208 Publication Date: February 09, 2005
Amazon.com: Sin City launched the long-running, critically acclaimed series of comics novels by Frank Miller. Having worked on some of the most important comic books in the 1980s, including Marvel Comics's Daredevil and the influential Batman graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, Miller was already a heavy-weight cartoonist, but he hit his stride with Sin City. It gave him the freedom that doesn't come when working on someone else's characters. While the art isn't as polished as in later books, it is in many ways the quintessential Sin City story: tough-guy Marv finds the girl of his dreams, an incredible beauty named Goldie. But when Goldie is murdered on their first night together, Marv scours the bars and back alleys of Sin City to find her killer in hopes of avenging her death.
Product Description: Legendary artist Frank Miller opened a noir opus in Sin City. This critically-acclaimed triumph-honored by both an Eisner Award and the prestigious National Cartoonists' Award-combines the pulp intensity of writers like Spillane and Cain with the gritty graphic storytelling that only Miller can deliver. Sin City is the place-tough as leather and dry as tinder. Love is the fuel, and the now-infamous character Marv has the match ... not to mention a "condition." He's gunning after Goldie's killer, so it's time to watch this town burn! Frank Miller is one of modern comic's first talents to publish a comic book that he created, crafted, and owned. That book is Sin City, which grew from the wellspring of Miller's passionate desire to create a comic book with two distinct qualities - it wouldn't be a superhero comic, and it had to be a crime comic. Enter Marv and Goldie. And a psychotic killer. And a crime-drenched town. And a corrupted diocese. Sin City is a town like no other, but most places resemble it in one way or another. In real life, thugs live everywhere and women sell their bodies all the time, but if everyday life is a storm, Sin City exists in the eye of a hurricane.
A Hard book to Put down It is phisically impossible once you get started reading this Graphic Novel to put it down... You will continue to want to read further and further, Time will fall away and the world will Blur around you. One of the best reads that I have ever had the chance to get lost in. Burned through the pages in one evening (and it was due to this graphic novel that I was almost late for the last trolley back to Base!). Dynamic Characters, Illustrated in a style that is one of a kind and all good, with a storyline that is both simple and complex. As the plot developes it hits you upside the head like a freight train, and before you know it you have burned an evening, and you are left picking up the pieces of your mind as pieces of it may still be glued to the pages. A Must Read if your "into" the Graphic Novel Genre.
go get 'em Marv Frank Miller is, quite frankly, the greatest comic book writer/arist ever. Hands down. He redefined Batman. He rescued Daredevil. And he is constantly making comic book history. See Sin City. First, the story is great, Marv is trying to... redeem himself in a sort of way by avenging the one person who ever showed him kindness (though I'd have to say, his parole officer also is 'on his side'). It's some sort of cross between the real world and the comic book universe. Some elements of both. And the artwork, I tell ya, Miller outdid himself. It's all pen and ink, and what Miller does with just a white page and black ink is magical. This is definitely a comic book must. Loved it.
Graphic SF Reader A violent, brutal, story, but somehow it is good. A cannibal bishop and his superfreak protege enjoy a lot of female long pig. One night, they kill the wrong girl, set up a hulking thug named Marv to take the fall. They mess up, fail to get him. He likes the girl they killed, a lot. Maximum carnage ensues.
"Here's a sign." Frank Miller starts his Sin City series off with a bang. Marv is probably the best anti-hero since Dirty Harry. His sense of justice is rough and his means of enforcing it is rougher. And watching it play out makes THE HARD GOODBYE an excellent introduction to these books.
Marv is not the most introspective man around. He is as psychologically troubled in his everyday life as he is psychologically untroubled by his use of violence to help and avenge those he deems to be worthy of such. In THE HARD GOODBYE, he focuses his attention on Goldie, the only woman to ever show him the slightest bit of solace. After she winds up dead, Marv has no other purpose but to find and kill those responsible. Woe to those who get in the way.
Though not the sharpest crayon in the box, Marv nonetheless shows more smarts than many would give him credit for. His ensnaring of Kevin, a truly scary character, demonstrates an ability to plan things out in detail when necessary to accomplish his goals. If Marv lacks subtlety, it is most likely because, well, he does not need it.
THE HARD GOODBYE sets the tone for the rest of the Sin City catalog. The action and characters are usually as black and white as the art. The characters are often archetypes and it is to Frank Miller's credit that they do not become stereotypical. It may not be the most intellectual of reading, but for those times you just want the action, these books fit the bill.
A classic in the comic medium. No comic book series has ever went outside the lines as much as Frank Miller's Sin City. Book 1 of 7, The Hard Goodbye is a tale of love lost and revenge. Featuring hardcore violence and gritty dialogue, this story is as dark as they come. If you like noir, this will become your paradise. Be sure to check out the other graphic novels as well, and the movie too. I hope you enjoy this book!
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