Criminal: The Sinners 5

Criminal: The Sinners 5

Mar 2010

The Sinners - Part Five

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Leon and Danny execute Evan for his transgression, as ordered by Father Mike. Sebastian Hyde beats Elaine half to death for cheating on him with Tracy. Yocum saves Tracy from getting beat to death by the Triad. Tracy returns the favor and then uses that goodwill to gain the time he needs to set up traps for Hyde, Father Mike, Leon, and Danny. He uses himself to bait the traps and takes another beating. 

Criminal: The Sinners 4

Criminal: The Sinners 4

Feb 2010

The Sinners - Part Four

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Tracy headbuts Yocum and then dives from a third story window while Yocum is shooting at him. Tracy lands on a parked van and survives the fall. He escapes with some help from Evan who has had a change of heart about what he did.

The incident is observed by one of Hyde’s men who calls Chester to let him know what he just saw. Evan drops Tracy off. Tracy calls Elaine. She comes, pulls the bullet out of Tracy’s back, and patches him up. Hyde’s man sees it all from a distance and reports back into Chester.

Criminal: The Sinners 3

Criminal: The Sinners 3

Dec 2009

The Sinners - Part Three

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Tracy talks to Father Mike about Father Grant’s murder. Father Mike is suspicious of Tracy’s motives. Father Mike orders Evan to tail Tracy after he leaves the church.

Tracy heads to Chinatown, thinking that the killer may be from the triads. He beats up a pimp and tells him to arrange a meeting with his boss. Evan watches from a distance and then reports back to Father Mike. 

Criminal: The Sinners 2

Criminal: The Sinners 2

Nov 2009

The Sinners - Part Two

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Special Agent Yocum checks in with the local police department to let them know what he’s up to and find out if they can help him with some information about Lawless. The local PD give him what they’ve got. 

Criminal: The Sinners 1

Criminal: The Sinners 1

Sep 2009

The Sinners - Part One

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Sebastian Hyde is fed up with Tracy Lawless, his top killer, who seems to have something of a conscience, but Hyde decides to give him another chance. Hyde asks Lawless to figure out who has been killing some of his other top people, people that most criminals know are untouchable.

Criminal (2008) 7

Criminal (2008) 7

Nov 2008

Bad Night - Part Four

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Starr was in charge of investigating the disappearance of Jake’s wife. He went at the case tenaciously. He didn’t let up, even after Jake had been cleared, until he was ordered t stop it. He was still convinced that Jake needed to pay for his wife’s death. 

Jake tries to break into Starr’s home. Starr catches him in the act. They get into a fight. Starr gets the upper hand and is getting ready to call in for backup when Jake shoots and kills Starr, with one of Starr’s own guns. 

Jake gets some help disposing of the body and then goes to find Iris. He tells her a version of the truth, that Starr skipped town, won’t be back, but will get blamed for Danny’s murder. Iris has had enough of Jake but he’s not ready to give up on her. He kidnaps her and takes her driving down the same road where his wife crashed years before. 

Jake’s driving recklessly. He crashes. He is the only survivor but he’s seriously injured. 

Criminal (2008) 6

Criminal (2008) 6

Oct 2008

Bad Night - Part Three

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Jake and Iris dispose of Danny’s body. They burn Jake’s car and they go back to his place. They get into a fight but they wind up in bed together afterwards. Jake can’t stop thinking about the people that might come after them. 

Jake and Iris separate the next day, temporarily. Jake has a dream in which Frank Kafka, the character from his comic strip, comes after them and guns them down. 

Jake gets a visit from a police detective named Starr. Jake senses that something doesn’t smell right about the visit. He starts to wonder if Iris had something to do with it. He tries calling her but she doesn’t pickup the phone. 

Criminal (2008) 5

Criminal (2008) 5

Sep 2008

Bad Night - Part Two

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Iris seduces Jake for the second time. Danny firms up his plane while Jake is working on forging him FBI credentials. Danny insists that Jake take part in the job he is planning. Jake doesn’t want to but it’s that or Danny shoots him. 

Jake drives. Danny goes in with the forged FBI credentials and picks up a bag with $100K in unmarked bills from a mobster. Iris tries talking Jake into killing Danny, when he comes back. Jake says no. Iris shoots Danny, killing him. Danny shoots Jake as Iris is shooting him but Jake, unlike Danny, survives. 

Criminal (2008) 4

Criminal (2008) 4

Jul 2008

Bad Night - Part One

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Jake, a cartoonist who draws a detective strip called a Frank Kafka, suffers from insomnia. He is still recovering from serious injuries when he meets Iris. They were both in the Blue Fly Diner. She was with Danny, her boyfriend, who got into a fight with the cook. Jake was by himself, sitting at the counter.

He tried to give her a ride home but she fell asleep in his car. He took her back to his place. She got into bed with him when she woke up. He told her about how he used to be counterfeiter and about his wife who was killed in a car accident. 

Iris disappeared the next morning but later that day Danny showed up at Jake’s home. He wanted Jake to make him some FBI credentials. Danny didn’t give Jake much of a choice in the matter. 

Criminal (2008) 3

Criminal (2008) 3

Apr 2008

Female of the Species

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

This is Danica’s story. Gnarly gets mentioned a couple times. Sebastian plays a slightly more prominent role. Teeg does not get a mention. 

This is the story, the full story, of what drove Danica out of town and why she returned. It is the only one of the three installments that goes into any detail about what her life was like for the five years she was away.

Criminal (2008) 2

Criminal (2008) 2

Mar 2008

A Wolf Among Wolves

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Teeg Lawless returned home in 1972 after two tours of duty in the war in Vietnam. The war changed him. He came home scarred on the inside. He owed two grand to Barber, a crime boss, when he left. He now owes Barber fifteen grand with all the interest that accumulated while he was gone.

Barber gives him two weeks to pay up. It isn’t enough. Teeg gets desperate and robs the wrong people. He makes a deal with Hamsunn, owner of the Undertown, and Danica, one of the waitresses, who put him on to the opportunity. He will do the job with his friend Willy and cut them in for a share. 

Criminal (2008) 1

Criminal (2008) 1

Feb 2008

Second Chance in Hell

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Gnarly Brown’s father almost killed Walter Hyde, father of Sebastian Hyde, in 1954. Walter talked Clevon Hyde out of killing him and into forming a partnership, of sorts. They went on a tear and before long were major players in town. Clevon was officially Walter’s driver and bodyguard but behind closed doors he was his righthand man.

Gnarly grew up with Sebastian. They were friends up to a point. Something drove them apart. Someone drove them apart, Danica Briggs. Gnarly and Sebastian weren’t friends like they used to be but Gnarly understood the score. He kept his emotions in check until 1972 when Danica returned.

Danica broke his heart in 1967 when she picked Sebastian over Gnarly. She had her hooks into Sebastian but Walter wasn’t going to have her become part of his family. Danica returned in 1972 to try and play a different sort of game. Once again she lost but this time the stakes were higher.

Criminal (2006) 10

Criminal (2006) 10

Oct 2007

Lawless - Part 5

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

The heist occurs but not everything goes according to plan. Tracy is to blame for things going sideways. He and Mallory escape but the others are caught or killed by the police. Tracy takes Mallory to his childhood home, now a deserted house.

She tells him about her relationship with Ricky and the circumstances of his death. She’s ready for Tracy to kill her but he lets her go. She doesn’t get very far. Chester has found them and holds her hostage. Chester takes them to see Sebastian Hyde, his boss.

Criminal (2006) 9

Criminal (2006) 9

Sep 2007

Lawless - Part 4

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Tracy talks to Jake who tells him that the money is counterfeit. Tracy wants Jake’s help figuring out who the four men were that attacked him but Jake has had enough and flat out refuses to help.

Tracy goes to the Undertow. He talks to Nelson about the history of the gang. He talks to Gnarly who makes it clear that he knows who Jake is and warns him that he will be in a world of pain if Mallory gets hurt.

Criminal (2006) 8

Criminal (2006) 8

Jul 2007

Lawless - Part 3

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Tracy and Mallory start hanging out together, sleeping together. They rob an ATM, together. The other members of the crew are suspicious of him, still. They warn him about Mallory. Tracy learns that he reminds them of someone; he assumes it is his brother.

Tracy gets attacked by armed men on the street one night. He kills all four of them. They were there for the money he stole in Part 1. Tracy doesn’t know it, but that was counterfeit money.

Criminal (2006) 7

Criminal (2006) 7

Jun 2007

Lawless - Part 2

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Tracy demonstrates his driving skills to Mallory, one of the crew that he hopes to join in his quest to find out what happened to his brother. He passes that test with flying colors but that’s not enough.

Tracy goes to see Leo who is now locked up. Leo was a friend of Rick, Tracy’s brother. He talks Leo into vouching for him, if and when someone calls him for a reference. Leo is reluctant but agrees to do it. Tracy finds out soon thereafter that he has been accepted by the crew.

Criminal (2006) 6

Criminal (2006) 6

May 2007

Lawless - Part 1

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Tracy Lawless goes AWOL and returns to his hometown, not long after getting out of the brig. He learned that Rick, his brother, had been killed months earlier at the time he returned to his unit. He suspects foul play and is looking for payback.

Tracy turns to Jake, an old acquaintance, who for the right price, helps set Tracy up. Jake also points out the crew that Rick used to hang with. Tracy hangs out at the Undertow and keeps an eye on them.

Tracy kills one of them, efficiently disposes of the body, and then offers his services to Rick’s old buddies.

Criminal (2006) 5

Criminal (2006) 5

Feb 2007

Coward - Part 5

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Leo returns to the farm but it is too late. Greta is already dead. She didn’t go easy or painlessly from the looks of it. Seymour is still there and gets the drop on Leo. The two men argue but Seymour has a gun, Leo does not. They walk back to Leo’s car to retrieve the case full of heroin.

Leo turns the tables on Seymour and kills him. He burns down the farm house and then goes looking for Delron and Angie, Greta’s daughter. He catches up to them at a motel. Delron draw s first blood but the fight doesn’t last long, once Leo gets his hands on Delron’s knife.

Criminal (2006) 4

Criminal (2006) 4

Jan 2007

Coward - Part 4

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Delron and Jeff visit Greta’s mother. She is reluctant to talk to them until she sees Jeff’s badge.

Leo wakes up and goes looking for Ivan. He finds him dead in the bathroom with a needle in his arm. Leo blames himself. Greta tries to tell him that it’s not his fault but that isn’t enough to convince him. He buries Ivan in the backyard.

Leo thinks about his past, when his father and Ivan were teaching him how to be a pickpocket. He remembers the day his father got arrested. Greta tries talking to Leo about what happened. There’s something in his past that he doesn’t want to talk to her about. They get into a fight. He leaves and goes into the city.

Criminal (2006) 3

Criminal (2006) 3

Dec 2006

Coward - Part 3

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Val Staples

Greta wakes up, a day after the blown heist. Leo has taken her to a farm house far outside of town. He has also had a doctor stitch her up.

Jeff has big problems. Roy L. T. isn’t satisfied with the outcome of the heist. He wants his suitcase full of drugs back. He kills Larry, one of Jeff’s associates, and then orders Jeff to work with Delron, his right hand man, to recover the drugs.