October 14, 2003
DAMNED
Written by Steven Grant and Drawn by Mike Zeck
Published by Cyberosia Publishing
The crime genre is easily the most underrated and ignored genre in the field of graphic novels. Part of the reason that this is true is that so few writers working in comics understand how to write the genre effectively. Too many times you wind up with what amounts to a pastiche of a crime story, rather than a true Hammett-esque, hard-boiled tale. Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Brian Bendis, and Max Collins all spring to mind when discussing great crime comic writers, but when he’s at the top of his game, few are as good as Steven Grant.
Grant and Zeck were the artistic team who took Marvel’s vigilante character the Punisher and turned the crime comic on its ear. PUNISHER: CIRCLE OF BLOOD was an enormous sales smash and generated a generation of pretenders to the hard-boiled throne. Grant and Zeck followed up with another Punisher tale, RETURN TO BIG NOTHING, eventually put together a Batman tale,
and then went quiet for a while as a team. Later, DAMNED came out as a limited series from an Image Comics imprint, but the reprint concept went into limbo for a long time…six years. So fans of the Grant Zeck combo have been waiting for this trade for the same length of time that Tarantino fans waited for KILL BILL. Fortunately, both sets of fans have been rewarded with presentations of the creators’ best work, because the trade package for DAMNED is an excellent piece of work.
The story isn’t overly complex. Recent parolee Mick Thorne made a dying promise to a friend on the inside; he would pass on a message to the dead man’s sister. However, as these things go in the crime genre, it’s never that simple. Avoiding his semi-corrupt asshole of a parole agent is the easy part; the hard part comes when he finds himself in the middle of the aftermath of his cellmate’s crime, and all the attendant double crosses that come with it. There’s local gangsters, absurd tough guys, wild women, and a whole shitload of money to be dealt with, and navigating those waters is going to take all of Mick’s wits, strength, and willpower. DAMNED is the story of a decent guy, turned hard man, and his sense of honor. Pretty standard stuff for the genre, but as in all things, the execution is all.
DAMNED became an instant classic when it was published for two primary reasons: one, Grant never tells his story in a dumb way. You’re expected to pick up on the clues and follow the labyrinth of plot twists without it being telegraphed for you. He also makes Mick Thorne an interesting character by not making him a complete innocent; he may have wound up in prison due to some unfortunate circumstances (circumstances borrowed by the script for the film CON AIR), but once he’s there, he doesn’t play the innocent in order to preserve his soul while inside. He adapts and becomes someone new and dangerous. That makes his actions on the outside even more unpredictable, which keeps the story fresh.
The second thing that makes DAMNED a classic is the career-best artwork of Mike Zeck. I became a Zeck fan at a very early point in his career, finding his work on MASTER OF KUNG FU and CAPTAIN AMERICA and appreciating his sharp line and graceful characters. But in the pages, and in the covers, of DAMNED Zeck took his style to new levels. Characters, backgrounds, layouts- Zeck’s storytelling in this book is as good as he’s been in his decades of work. The covers were also stunning; digitally painted pieces of art that Zeck himself created. They even had a sweet gimmick behind them- each cover showed a Polaroid picture of the events of the book with a note written below them. It gave a gritty feel to the work, like a creepy photographer was following the characters and documenting their lives. The best one by far is the cover to issue for, which depicts a photo of a chalk outline with the caption: “The only line no one crosses.” Awesome stuff.
DAMNED also contains some nice extras, including a section in which Zeck explains how he designed and drew the covers. Grant also provides a text piece, and there’s even a new 5-page epilogue. In short, while a bit pricey, this trade is a must own for any fan of the hard boiled comic. Grade: A
Should It Be A Movie?
Steven Grant is the owner of the Web site Paper Movies, following up on his philosophy that “Comics Are Paper Movies.” To a certain respect, I suppose this means that DAMNED is already a movie. That said, there is no doubt that DAMNED would make an excellent film.
You’d like to see a director with a real sharp sense of visual style take a crack at the story, and one who has the ability to create a pace that will keep the audience on its heels and unable to get ahead of the plot twists. Personally, someone like Robert Rodriguez would do an amazing job of translating this book into film. He has the style to direct the action in a manner consistent with Grant and Zeck’s storytelling, and the pacing technique to keep the film moving briskly.
Mick Thorne is a juicy role, and my immediate feeling is that someone like Hugh Jackman would be excellent in a big budget production or a strong character actor such as Ted Levine would be perfect in a smaller, more boutique production. DAMNED would be a suitable choice for either kind of film.
Grant’s script is already a pretty taut affair as far as dialogue goes, and I think that would allow adaptation to go smoothly. There isn’t a lot of fat to trim anywhere in the book. In fact, the very idea that they waited six years before they could find the space to put in the ending that was missing the first time around tells you how lean and mean this graphic novel is. There is not forty years of backstory and continuity to wade through in order to get to the heart here. Hopefully, someone will get it made and on the silver screen.
Current Events
The biggest story in comics fandom right now is the upheaval at the top at Marvel Comics, with Publisher/Mouthpiece Bill Jemas on his way out.
Jemas was one of the more controversial figures to ever run a major comic company, insulting retailers, fans, women, critics, and even his own creative talent (unless they were selling over 75,000 copies an issue) without remorse. Yet he was also partially responsible for the resurgence in sales at the company, an expanded trade paperback program, and the creation of the Ultimate Marvel Universe. So like most people, his legacy as he moves on is mixed.
I had always perceived, correctly or not, that Jemas fulfilled the role of being Jerry Springer for Marvel; stirring the pot, starting some shit, and spouting off on whatever crossed his mind whether he believed it or not, this owing to the concept that any publicity is good publicity, and Marvel wants and needs lots of publicity. In any case, Jemas was both very good and very bad at his job, which makes him merely human. You didn’t have to like or respect what he said, or agree with him on any point, but you should never, ever take glee in the fact that a man is out of work. At the very least, it’s bad form and bad karma.
Time will tell exactly what Jemas’ exit will do to Marvel’s publishing plans, particularly in how it schedules and produces trade paperbacks. With any luck, they’ll at least consider starting a program of original graphic novels that skip the monthly pamphlet on their way to the bookshelf. I’m also hoping they’ll go back and start reprinting some of their older material at a quicker pace. Either way, I wish the best of luck to the next person who takes the Publisher desk at Marvel Comics, and I hope he starts the healing process between Marvel and its fans and retailers; it’s a brutal business and he’s going to need all the goodwill he can engender.
Send review copies to: Marc Mason, 1756 S. College Ave, Tempe, AZ, 85281. Send happy e-mail to the address below. Send all hate mail to E-I-C Chris Ryall; he’s not nearly as sensitive as me.
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