Country: USA
Genre: Comics/Graphic Novel/Noir
Pages: 120
Yes, I'm reading Ed Brubaker's CRIMINAL again. While the two Tracy Lawless were decent at best and left me unmoved, his stories are obviously very easy to read and can be completed in one sitting of sixty to ninety minutes. An argument for reading comic books is that they are time efficient and user friendly. When my comic book friend* told me about THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT, I thought it was a very promising premise. Whenever a noirist offers something else than the traditional cops-and-robbers routine or the thugs-faceoff storyline, I am excited. Because noir is all about this feeling of impending doom, not necessarily about a define social class. In that regards, CRIMINAL: THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT scores where the Tracy Lawless stories missed the net. It's not perfect by any means, but it's Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' best offering so far.
I have to warn you though, THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT can be fully appreciated only with a little background in Archie Comics. For those who are unfamiliar, it's a very old comic that depicts the life of teenagers in the semi-fictional city of Riverdale** where all-american kids had all-american problems. Fortunately for me, I have that background. I have read way too much Archie comics in between the age of twelve and fourteen. So fast forward Archie characters a few years and see how the American dream have betrayed them in THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT. The names aren't the same, but if you know the characters, you will recognize them. Riley (Archie) married Felix (Veronica) and was given a job by her father. He feels miserable and a prisoner of his life, but it's not before he comes back to Brookview (Riverdale) and takes a peek on how good and pure life was back then, that he decides his life needs changing. That involves getting rid of his wife.
THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT feels very fresh and unlike the Tracy Lawless stories ***, it makes the most out of the graphic novel/comic book format. I don't know who of Ed Brubaker or Sean Phillips came up with it, but it's pretty cool and creative. Basically what it is, is that the "present days" dark story is intertwined with flashback vignettes of life in Brookview. Those vignettes are drawn in old school. colorful Archie style and clash visually and thematically with the CRIMINAL style you're used to. They portray a slightly debauched version of what the real Archie was about and makes good hearted fun at the innocence of its readers. Kudos also at the transformation they gave Jughead, who's now called Freakout. His addictive nature, originally around food, has translated into serious drug abuse as he grew up into adulthood. All in all, it's a very quirky and creative use of the Archie legacy and it makes for a clash of two extremes. Noir versus the American Dream.
If the concept is really interesting and well exploited, I had my issues with the actual story. While perverting somebody else's characters is easier than create some...I don't know. Something felt flat about THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT. I'm not too sure what it was. Maybe it was Riley, I think who despite being a self-centered asshole never really came across tough bumps in the road. It's building towards a climax it doesn't deliver and squeezes in some awkward coincidence to make the plot work. Ed Brubaker is a talented storyteller, but I don't know why he is so revered. He's good, but if you want some raw and scorching noir, there is a lot better than CRIMINAL out there. But let's keep it in perspective and figure it's a good introduction to the most hardcore forms of crime fiction to the unsuspecting readers. It's a good compromise in between two universes that aren't completely incompatible, but if you already have a background of crime fiction, this doesn't quite cut it.
* We all have a comic book friend. They are nice, handy and eager to share, so they're cool.
** There are a few cities in the U.S called Riverdale, but
*** Tracy Lawless does make a cameo appearance though, which I thought was pretty cool.