124 CRIME COMICS
1994–98), AKA Goldfi sh (Caliber, 5 issues, 1995–96), and To r s o (Image, 6 issues,
1998–99), the last based on an actual unsolved series of murders in Cleveland in the late
1930s, were all innovative in their presentation of sparse, intentionally repetitive dialog
with bleak, elemental images. Th e retroactive designation and appreciation of many
Hollywood crime fi lms as fi lm noir has allowed many contemporary crime comics (such
as Bendis’s) to be understood in similar terms, though none seem as indebted to this
legacy as Frank Miller’s infl uential, highly stylized Sin City (Dark Horse, 1991–98),
rendered in deep black shadows with most images only partially illuminated. Perhaps
more fully than many of his peers, Miller’s series acknowledges and accepts the impor-
tance of style over story, though his grim tales of battered men and beautiful women are
solidly in the tradition he invokes his well.
While alternative crime comics thrived, mainstream publishers also found ways
to reanimate the dormant genre. A few miniseries eff ectively took up the form of the
police procedural: Underworld (DC, 1987–88, written by Robert Loren Fleming, art
by Ernie Colon) and Cops: Th e Job (Marvel, 1992, written by Larry Hama and former
cop Joe Jusko, art by Mike Harris and Jimmy Palmiotti) were unusual forays into real-
ism from both companies. Cops also came to the fore in more ingenious series: DC’s
Gotham Central (40 issues, 2003–6) written by Ed Brubaker and Rucka, and subtly
illustrated by Michael Lark, off ered an often beleaguered cop’s-eye point of view of a
city dominated by a costumed superhero and supervillains, creating an especially vivid
character in Police Detective Renee Montoya, whose outing as a lesbian was made as
dramatic as the superheroics now relegated to the background of the story. At Marvel,
Alias (28 issues, 2001–4) by writer Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos, functioned in a
similar way. Th e narrative centers around private investigator Jessica Jones; the fact that
she was once a minor member of the superhero team Th e Avengers allows her access to
her former world despite her loss of powers, and allows her encounters with characters
in the lower tiers of Marvel’s pantheon during gritty crime investigations, which in turn
off ers a clever walk along the border of the two genres. Th e series mutated into Th e
Pulse (14 issues, 2004–6) to focus on investigative journalism. In many ways, Alias was
the Marvel universe version of Bendis’s simultaneous series Powers (Image and later
Icon, 2001–), illustrated with sharp geometrical precision by Michael Avon Oeming.
Chronicling the adventures of homicide detective Christian Walker and his partner
Deena Pilgrim, Powers consistently poses the question of what role the police could play
in a world of (outlawed) superheroes. Finally, Alan Moore’s Top 10 (DC/America’s
Best Comics, 12 issues, 1999–2001) was a witty send-up of both the superhero genre
and the team-driven police procedural: in his Neopolis, everyone is a superhero, and so
maintaining the peace is a complex negotiation of bizarre and often hilarious powers.
Formed in 1993 as a division of DC, Paradox Press released a series of digest-sized
black and white comics (usually in three volumes) that were also notable contributions
to the crime genre, despite somewhat disappointing sales: both the 1930s gangland
saga Road to Perdition (1998), written by Max Allan Collins with art by Richard Piers
Rayner, and A History of Violence (1997), written by John Wagner and illustrated by
