Murder, passion, and criminal enterprise are presented here at their darkest, directly from the most talented writers and artists in crime comics! In these thirteen pitch-black noir stories, you'll find deadly conmen and embittered detectives converging on femme fatales and accidental murderers, all presented in sharp black and white by masters of the craft. Featuring stories by Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and many more of crime comics' top talent!

Wolf Haas' Detective Brenner series has become wildly popular around the world for a reason: They're timely, edgy stories told in a wry, quirky voice that's often hilarious, and with a protagonist it's hard not to love. In this episode, Brenner forced out of the police force tries to get away from detective work by taking a job as the personal chauffeur for two-year-old Helena, the daughter of a Munich construction giant and a Viennese abortion doctor. One day, while Brenner's attention is turned to picking out a chocolate bar for Helena at a gas station, Helena gets snatched from the car. Abruptly out of a job, Brenner decides to investigate her disappearance on his own. With both parents in the public eye, there's no scarcity of leads the father's latest development project has spurred public protest, and the mother's clinic has been targeted by the zealous leader of an anti-abortion group. Brenner and God is told with a dark humor that leaves no character, including Brenner, unscathed. Haas tells the story of a fallible hero who can be indecisive and world-weary, baffled and disillusioned by what he finds, but who presses forward nonetheless out of a stubborn sense of decency a two-year-old is kidnapped, so you find her, because that's just what you do.

A new play by the writer of the hit comedy Bones published to tie in with the production at Newcastle Playhouse in May 2002 George is on the hunt for the man who is seducing his wife Ruth, a lecturer in film noir at the University. Alison, an adult chat-line operator tells her shrink a dream that she was shot in the woods by her father, Howard, who the Reverend Lang happens to suspect of stealing £20,000 from the church accounts. When Morris, Ruth's seducer, turns up as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant, things take a sinister turn for the worse. NOIR is a dark comedy of desire, dreams and coincidental disappearances. It was co-produced by the Live Theatre and Northern Stage Enemble and premiered at Newcastle Playhouse in May 2002.Praise for Peter Straughan's previous play BONES: "cracking...uproarious...your reviewer came perilously close to becoming incontinent with laughter...hilarious...Hugely entertaining" Daily Telegraph "brilliant...riotous...a writer of tremendous force, who can write parts that actors will fight to play" Independent

How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling is an instructional book based on the cinematic, high contrast noir style of acclaimed comic book and graphic novel illustrator, Shawn Martinbrough. Martinbrough’s work has been published by DC Comics, Vertigo and Marvel Comics, illustrating stories ranging from Batman to the X-Men. This is his first book, released through Watson-Guptill Publications and The Nielsen Company. In How to Draw Noir Comics, Martinbrough shows how the expert use of the color black is critical for drawing noir comics. He demonstrates how to set a mood, design characters and locations, stage action and enhance drama, and discusses important topics like page layout, panel design, and cover design. How to Draw Noir Comics includes The Truce, an original graphic novel written and illustrated by Martinbrough which incorporates the many lessons addressed throughout the book, and has an introduction by critically-acclaimed novelist Greg Rucka, author of the graphic novel Whiteout, currently in production as a major motion picture.

THE RETURN OF THE MOST ACCLAIMED CRIME COMIC OF THE 21ST CENTURY! Hot off their bestselling series KILL OR BE KILLED and their original graphic novel MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES, crime comic masters ED BRUBAKER and SEAN PHILLIPS finally return to their most-demanded title as a new MONTHLY SERIES! In this double-sized (at no additional cost!) debut issue, Teeg Lawless is back in town. But he finds himself in more trouble than ever, thanks to his delinquent teenage son and this time, fists and bullets may not be enough to solve his problems. A perfect introduction to CRIMINAL and its dark, exciting world, this series will also include back page art and articles to bring readers more fully into the noir experience.

The hard-boiled adventures of the grittiest webslinger in the Spider-Verse! In the dark days of the Great Depression, young reporter Peter Parker finds himself forever changed by a spider's bite - and resolves to take on crime and corruption as the urban vigilante called Spider-Man! And there are no shortage of foes - from gangland bosses the Goblin and Crime Master, to pulp-era twists on familiar faces like Kraven, Chameleon, Doctor Octopus and more! But will the seductive Felicia Hardy prove friend or foe? Plus, Spider-Man Noir enters the Spider-Verse via an encounter with Mysterio - and shares a spectacular team-up with a six-armed Spidey! And a brand-new video comic adventure, in print for the first time! Collecting SPIDER-MAN NOIR #1-4, SPIDER-MAN NOIR: EYES WITHOUT A FACE #1-4, EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #1, SPIDER-GEDDON: SPIDER-MAN NOIR VIDEO COMIC and material from SPIDER-VERSE TEAM-UP #1.

A compendium of classic, character-driven drama written and drawn by the king of crime, Brian Michael Bendis! What brings David Goldfish, an enigmatic grifter with a heart of gold, back to his old haunts - where his old fl ame practically runs the city's underbelly, and his ex-partner-in-crime is now a police detective? Who is the bounty hunter Jinx Alameda, and what treasure is she hunting? How will she get drawn into Eliot Ness's real-life pursuit of one of America's most notorious serial killers? Plus: Bendis draws from real life in a compelling exploration of the complex world of international intelligence! For fans of powerful, modern takes on pulp fiction and true-world crime stories, it doesn't come any better than Bendis! COLLECTING: AKA GOLDFISH: ACE, JACK, QUEEN, KING, JOKER; JINX 1-5; FIRE 1-2; JINX: TORSO 1-6