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Ryan Day

Mar 28, 2005, 11:38 am

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dh/SCTheHardGoodbye2.jpg" target="new"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dh/SCTheHardGoodbye2t.jpg" align="left" hspace="10" alt="Sin City: The Hard Goodbye"></a>Reviewer: Ryan Day Dreamhunter00@hotmail.com

Written and Illustrated by: Frank Miller

<BLOCKQUOTE>Three hours later, I've got my pants pulled on and my boots laced up and my head's feeling several sizes too big and that cold thing happens to my stomach and I realize that Goldie is dead.</blockquote>
In June of 1992, in the pages of Dark Horse Presents, Frank Miller began the story he'd always wanted to tell. Miller, still best known for his groundbreaking work with Daredevil and Batman, did something not a lot of people were doing: He told a crime story. Not a story about superheroes fighting crime, or even a crime story with incidental references to superheroes, but an honest-to-goodness crime story. He introduced the world to the town without pity, a girl named Goldie, and a guy named Marv.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/SCBlam.jpg" target="new"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/SCBlamt.jpg" align="right" hspace="10"></a>Marv may not be Miller's greatest creation, but he's bound to be the most memorable. Marv doesn't have the depth or complexity of Miller's later protagonists, but there's little doubt the big lug grabs your attention. In almost any other story, he'd be the villain, or at least an evil henchman: He's big, ugly, and not too bright. He starts fights, loves trouble, and doesn't see anything wrong with killing and torturing people to get what he wants.

But for all that, there's never any doubt that Marv is the good guy in this story. For one thing, the backdrop of Sin City makes him look good by comparison: In a town full of murderers, rapists, mobsters and pimps, Marv is practically an upstanding citizen. Marv is like a wild dog, acting out of necessity and self preservation: If someone threatens him, he'll fight back; when he needs something, he takes it. He has a very basic sense of honour and right and wrong based largely around the principal that it's okay to hurt some people and not others. The beauty of Marv's character lies in this simplicity and the fact that he's aware of all this. He knows he isn't a smart guy or a hero, but he always does what he needs to do, and tries to do what he thinks is right.

So when a beautiful woman who showed him a rare act of kindness is murdered, he takes it upon himself to find out why. Goldie is the most beautiful woman Marv's ever met, and a night with her is the closest Marv is ever going to get to heaven. After a night of passion, the sun rises on Goldie's beautiful, spotless corpse and a swarm of Sin City cops looking to pin the murder on Marv. It's a very thorough frameup orchestrated by someone with a lot of power, and Marv knows he's in over his head as soon as he hears the sirens.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/SCRightout.jpg" target="new"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dh/SCRightoutt.jpg" align="left" hspace="10"></a>From there, Miller alternates mystery and action as Marv finds his way in and out of trouble while he digs through layer upon layer of conspiracy and corruption. As Marv searches for clues and culprits, Marv takes the reader on a guided tour of Sin City: Kadies', a dive that plays gritty country and western music as the drop-dead gorgeous Nancy gyrates for drunks and losers; the Farm, haunted by many ghosts; Old Town, where a guy can find all his desires, just as long as he behaves himself. Most of the places Marv visits will reappear in later visits to Sin City and take on greater significance, as will the timing of certain events.

In a way, The Hard Goodbye is most effective as an introduction to the buildings and characters of Sin City. The original serial nature of the story becomes apparent in collected format: It's hard not to notice the stop-start-stop cycle that appears every 8 pages. There's a sense of experimentation and evolution in the story as Miller becomes increasingly aware of his cast and setting. At times, there seem to be just a few too many characters and plot twists, and it seems as though Miller is just ecstatic to be able to play in his own sandbox for once; after spending most of his career chronicling the adventures of trademarks, it must have been incredibly liberating to have his own toys to play with.

The evolution is apparent in Miller's art as well. While the first few chapters bear a similarity to his work on Ronin and Dark Knight, Miller truly finds his way as the book progresses. By the end of the book, he's established the Sin City style that's become so well known: Looking at the pages, it's as though he's simply covered them with the blackest ink and then scratched out the relevant white areas. Miller's work on Sin City is a staggering lesson on how to use detail and silhouette: He can draw the sultriest women on the planet with a few basic curves, and his rain-strewn Marv is a work to behold; Marv is defined almost entirely by where the rain isn't. While Miller certainly gets better than this, The Hard Goodbye is remarkable for establishing the style that makes Miller's later works so distinctive.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dh/SCTheHardGoodbye1.jpg" target="new"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dh/SCTheHardGoodbye1t.jpg" align="right" hspace="10"></a> The Hard Goodbye probably isn't the best place to start reading Sin City. A Dame To Kill For and That Yellow Bastard are both more complex and involving books, and use Marv more effectively as a backup character. But this is still an involving work. It's full of violence and conspiracies, gorgeous dames and brutal killers. It's got that edge Miller bestows upon all of his best work; that feeling you get when reading something by a creator who's really cutting loose and firing on all cylinders. It's a must for fans of Sin City, Frank Miller, crime fiction and anyone who wants to be in the know when all the Johnny-come-lately's are talking about the movie.

ART:
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STORY:
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OVERALL:
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Read more Sin City reviews! (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32936)

James Groves

Mar 28, 2005, 12:21 pm

I LOVE this book. :cloud9:

Noir Heaven.

Paul Shinn

Mar 28, 2005, 01:27 pm

Has this digest-sized version been released yet? I picked up The Big Fat Kill and That Yellow Bastard at the weekend, but couldn't see this one.

Vyns

Mar 28, 2005, 01:39 pm

Question: Why are the digest sized books still the same price as the regular ones? What kinda shaft are they trying to shove up here?

Blessed

Mar 28, 2005, 02:39 pm

God, how i loved that book...
Got no words for it :P
Great review too

Ryan Day

Mar 28, 2005, 02:44 pm

Question: Why are the digest sized books still the same price as the regular ones? What kinda shaft are they trying to shove up here?

Well, they're not technically "digest" sized - they're a bit bigger, somewhere between digest and a regular tpb.

But as for the price... well, I guess they're the same amount because that's how much Dark Horse thinks they can charge. The paper quality is still excellent, and the size isn't reduced to such an extent that the artwork suffers.

I own about half the series in the old tpb format and half in original issues, and while I'm quite happy with the old tpbs, I don't have any qualms about buying the new trades.

Patriot

Mar 28, 2005, 03:08 pm

I've never read Sin City but this sounds damn good.............could someone PM me a list of all the Sin City books plz?

James Groves

Mar 28, 2005, 03:24 pm

I've never read Sin City but this sounds damn good.............could someone PM me a list of all the Sin City books plz?

Sent you a pm. :)

Iceman_Fan15

Mar 28, 2005, 03:36 pm

beat me to it James ;)

Yeah, Sin City is incredible :love: , loved this one almost as much as Big Fat Kill. Marvs a great charachter and the fights are very good.
It seems like SC fans are growing out of the ground these days.

-rememmbers to change avatar and wanders off in that direction-

couple seconds later... No Sin CIty avatars? Shame on comixfan :nonono:

Paul Shinn

Mar 28, 2005, 04:09 pm

Question: Why are the digest sized books still the same price as the regular ones? What kinda shaft are they trying to shove up here?

As has already been mentioned, these are slightly larger than Marvel's digest books, and the paper quality and printing are in-line with the regular trade editions. There is also some added material: cover galleries and artist pin-ups that I don't think are included in the regular editions. Overall, I think this size is better suited to this series as a whole, and is a nice package.

Jordan T. Maxwell

Mar 28, 2005, 05:16 pm

nice review. i disagree that this is a good starting point, though. this book so very effectively established the mood and atmosphere of Sin City, as well as several key characters who'll pop up later (Nancy, Gail, Shellie, Goldie and Wendy, the Roark family). i started out with A Dame To Kill For and was blown away, but i think i would have dug it even more if i'd been in on it from the beginning and been able to pick out all the Easter eggs and overlaps with Hard Goodbye. And while i love Dwight and Hartigan, Marv is one of the best characters to start in on because of his ambiguity. He's a thug, no more and no less. There's not a great deal of depth or complexity to him. He's simple to understand and easy to root for even when he's doing utterly despicable things. And because of these extraordinary circumstances, he gets to be something he could never be otherwise: noble. a hero. a champion. i think that gray area and the ending that could be seen as both happy and tragic at the same time better defines the world of Sin City than any other story so far. even if i am more partial to Dwight. ;)

Ken Boehm

Mar 28, 2005, 05:55 pm

A good book(though not quite as good as Ronin), but not worth seventeen bucks the tpb is wanting, since a good half of the book has no dialogue in it.

Jordan T. Maxwell

Mar 28, 2005, 06:16 pm

A good book(though not quite as good as Ronin), but not worth seventeen bucks the tpb is wanting, since a good half of the book has no dialogue in it.

and if this were a radio program, i'd certainly agree with you. but seeing as how it's a comic book, i just kind of have to point and laugh.

(and that "good half" that has no dialogue is pretty much taken up with voice over monologue so even if your complaint is "there aren't enough words," which seems like a somewhat ludicrous complaint in a medium where the story is told as much through the pictures as the words, if not moreso...it seems like a pretty baseless complaint to me)

Ken Boehm

Mar 28, 2005, 07:32 pm

Point and laugh all you want, but 17 bucks seems like an awful lot to pay for about 100 pages of dialogue. That's just my frugal opinion.

Anyways, I've always wondered this: did Frank Miller draw Kevin like himself?

Jordan T. Maxwell

Mar 28, 2005, 07:43 pm

and like i said, i'd agree if dialogue were the only worthwhile aspect or if it were a storytelling medium wholly dependent upon dialogue. neither is the case here and the pictures are just as compelling and tell the story just as much if not moreso than the words. so no, it doesn't seem like an awful lot to me.

but then again, i paid fifteen bucks for mine. but what difference is two bucks? :P

disturbed_dsmw

Mar 29, 2005, 09:55 am

This book literally blew me away when i read it for the first time. I had never seen anything like it, even outside of my regular spandex books. There really is nothing out there to compare this to. The complimentary style of art and words take the story to a new level. Sin City is one of the most gripping stories that I have ever read. I read The Hard Goodbye, as it is now called, in one sitting, cover to cover. Then imediately picked up A Dame to Kill For. It was that damn good. I have been counting down the days to the movie adn I am so excited that it is almost here.

Threespot

Mar 29, 2005, 10:15 pm

To me the simplicity of the story is perfect since we see it all through the eyes of Marv, who is by his own admission simple. The story does not have the sense of desperation that Hartigan's Yellow Bastard or the passion of Dwight's The Big Fat Kill, but Marv's own touch of stoicism, confusion, and inevitability.

km5973

Mar 30, 2005, 01:52 am

tormented_spawn

Mar 30, 2005, 02:02 am

Not me, I was only buying X-Men titles, ten years ago (poor, young me), never heard of Sin City.

Vyns

Mar 30, 2005, 02:08 am

Hrmm 10 years ago I was dealing with acne, and reading geometry and Texas History books. OH and I was starting to get use to this new sexy deep voice I just aquired. (well it's not that deep..... now that I think about it, it's not that sexy too, but it was new damn it.)

Jordan T. Maxwell

Mar 30, 2005, 03:15 am

So am I the only one who remembers that when this first came out it wasn't nearly as well received as it is now.

So 'fess up - 10 years ago (give or take) how many of you thought Sin City sucked because it was black and white with no super heroes?

And just for the record, I wasn't one of them. Although a lot of people hated it, also a lot loved it, so I decided to try out the second series to see what all the fuss was about.

and the one after that, and the one after that and....

10 years ago? um, i was probably reading Big Fat Kill around then after being so impressed with A Dame To Kill For. ;) i know, i know you said "give or take." so...summer of 92 when this was first released? I was 11 then and just out of elementary school and still thought that X-Men were the end all, be all of comic books. didn't get into more indie fare for another couple of years...6th or 7th grade when i discovered Bone, Sin City (A Dame To Kill For was my first venture into the town without pity), Strangers in Paradise and Lone Wolf and Cub. Fortunately, i had a cool comic shop that knew i was rather mature for my age and let me buy such titles. totally opened up my eyes to the possibilities of the medium. discovered Sandman and Vertigo around the same time as well. those were good times...i remember when Legend first hit and i was exposed to such wonders as A Dame To Kill For, Monkeyman and O'Brien, Hellboy and Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot. Never read Next Men (even at that point, i think i was beginning to understand what a jerk John Byrne could be...:D). it was like an imagination explosion for me.

Not me, I was only buying X-Men titles, ten years ago (poor, young me), never heard of Sin City.

i hope you mean you hadn't heard of Sin City back then (which is still a grand disservice). because if you still haven't heard of it...well, it's a little sad.

tormented_spawn

Mar 30, 2005, 04:35 am

Yes, sad as sitting alone in the bar, getting yourself drunk by shots of whiskey, while listening to some depressing blues music...

Err, meant to say haven't heard of Sin City ten years ago, only started reading Sin City a year ago, still have to read a few more trades. Yeah, I did start the Sin City thread here in the Darkhorse section. I agree it's sad, though, hope people who haven't read Sin City don't read that cause...well, you said, get him, not me...*T_Spawn flees*

Dylan McKay

Mar 30, 2005, 05:21 am

I just got this trade a few weeks back.

Miller's art here is the best of his career IMO. I just love the intensely high contrast nature. No shades of grey. And a wicked plot as well. My one problem, unlike most, I really don't care for Marv. I don't hate him, I just felt he was nothing more than a means to move the plot.

I will be picking up the rest of the trades though. I really like the new format. And Ken, it's 200 pages of oh so much more than dialogue.

Ryan Day

Mar 30, 2005, 10:03 am

So 'fess up - 10 years ago (give or take) how many of you thought Sin City sucked because it was black and white with no super heroes?

And just for the record, I wasn't one of them. Although a lot of people hated it, also a lot loved it, so I decided to try out the second series to see what all the fuss was about.

I admit that I didn't read the first Sin City when it first came out. I didn't get hooked until Dame To Kill For, which just blew me away.

And I'll just come out and say it: People who don't like Black & White suck.

i remember when Legend first hit and i was exposed to such wonders as A Dame To Kill For, Monkeyman and O'Brien, Hellboy and Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot. Never read Next Men (even at that point, i think i was beginning to understand what a jerk John Byrne could be...:D). it was like an imagination explosion for me.

The Legend imprint produced some of the best comics of the nineties. There was also Paul Chadwick's Concrete, Mike Allred's Madman, and Miller & Gibbons' Martha Washington thrown into the mix - and just about all of it was pure gold.

But really, you should read Next Men - it's one of the best things Byrne has ever done. Just fantastic stuff, and probably one of the best superhero books I've ever read. I'm no fan of Byrne's current work, but the man was pretty awesome before he was swallowed by his own ego.

Jordan T. Maxwell

Mar 30, 2005, 05:52 pm

oh, i forgot Madman was in on that too. still haven't picked up Concrete, though i desperately want to. and i've only read the first pre-Legend Martha Washington book, Give Me Liberty (which was some of the best damn satire i've ever read). Next Men just never appealed to me though, i don't know why.

(didn't Walt Simonson do something with the group too? i know he was a member, but can't recall his book)

Jesse Baer

Mar 30, 2005, 07:58 pm

I've been pretty pumped up about the movie, so today I went to the book store and got The Hard Goodbye, the only of the Sin City trade they had, and I really loved it. Got me even more excited about the movie, and a little mad that it was the only book they had in stock. I think it was a pretty good introduction to Sin City, got me interested and wanting to read more.

tormented_spawn

Mar 31, 2005, 04:13 am

Dylan McKay

Mar 31, 2005, 04:19 am

tormented_spawn

Mar 31, 2005, 04:25 am

err, you talking to me? I don't know, I sometimes read Hellboy and other titles relating to it, Samurai: Heaven & Earth, though missed on a few issues, thought about reading Conan since written by Busiek but other than that the Star Wars comics doesn't interest me and also Buffy.

Apart from Sin City, no other Darkhorse title really excites me.

Dylan McKay

Mar 31, 2005, 04:35 am

Not you specifically, just a general question.

Ryan Day

Mar 31, 2005, 10:18 am

I gotta ask, if Darkhorse was so cool then and they published all these memorable titles. What happened? It seems like everything they do now that isn't a lisenced property is DOA with everyone avoiding it like the plague. I mean sure Goon isn't Sin City level good, but still. It just seems like no one cares about Darkhorse anymore...

Well, there was that whole industry implosion in the late nineties; sales just plummetted. For a while, Dark Horse even had its own big superhero line, though it really didn't last long.

Most of the Legends guys just got busy with other stuff: Miller did DK2, then got involved in the movie; Mignola had his movie to look after; Byrne started doing suckier, more profitable books with DC; Art Adams just abandoned any sort of pretense of doing a monthly book. Allred just took Madman to his own publishing company, and Chadwick's worked on Matrix stuff in-between Concrete books.

But yeah, Dark Horse takes a lot fewer artistic chances these days. They've really gone back to their roots, relying heavily on licensed properties. Though there is a new Hellboy series, written and drawn by Mignola, coming out later this year. Yay!

Jordan - I don't think Simonson ever did anything with the Legend group. IIRC, he did a creator-owned project - Starslammers? - with another publisher at about the same time.

captainmarveljr

Mar 31, 2005, 12:09 pm

Excellent, excellent book, probably my favourite Sin City. I think thats mostly to do with the beautiful chiaroscuro artwork, which although looks great in the other books, really looked best here. Also the fact that Marv is such a great character probably secured it the top spot.

I'm absolutely extactic that they re-released these books, I've been looking for them for a bout 2 years and these new editions are a god-send. Its hurting my wallet though, 5 volumes in 6 days.