The Graphic Canon of Crime and Mystery, Volume 1: From Sherlock Holmes to A Clockwork Orange to Jo Nesbø

by Russ Kick (Editor)

Overview

From James M. Cain to Stephen King, from Sophocles to the Marquis de Sade to Iceberg Slim, here are stunning and sometimes macabre visualizations of some of the greatest crime and mystery stories of all time. Rick Geary brings his crisp style to Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment; C. Frakes resurrects the forgotten novella "Talma Gordon," the first mystery written by an African American. Crime finds new life in these graphic renditions of The Arabian Nights, the Bible, James Joyce's Dubliners, Patricia Highsmith, and leading mystery writers of today like Jo Nesbø. Crime and mystery have never been so brilliantly reimagined.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609807856
Publisher:	Seven Stories Press
Publication date:	11/21/2017
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	550,854
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.70(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

RUSS KICK is the originator of the Graphic Canon series, for which he has commissioned new work from over 350 artists and illustrators, now going into its fifth volume. NPR descriped it as "easily the most ambitious and successfully realized literary project in recent memory." Kick's previous anthologies, You Are Being Lied To and Everything You Know Is Wrong, informed a whole generation of Americans with the hard truths of American politics and created a media frenzy for being the first to publish suppressed photographs of American flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq. The New York Times dubbed Kick "an information archaeologist," Details magazine described him as "a Renaissance man," and Utne Reader named him one of its "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World." His popular website, thememoryhole2.org, is active again and getting national media coverage for archiving documents that the Trump administration has been deleting.

Editorial Reviews

"Featuring adaptations of famous crime classics, most of which were created specifically for this volume, this work displays a range of absolutely stunning talent. From a relatively straight­forward depiction of the murder scene in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment to a wildly experimental take on Stanley ­Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, [Russ Kick] presents a fantastic survey of the literature concerned with criminal activity, as well as a primer on everything possible in the graphic format. ... As an introduction to the crime genre, this edition is second to none." —Library Journal

"From Poe to Kafka to Dostoyevsky, all the masters are here, in these short, graphic renderings of the darkest, most foreboding writing of all time. With different artists and illustrators taking on each tale, there are many revelations." —New York Times Book Review, New & Noteworthy

"[Russ Kick] has managed to create something unprecedented in comic art ... It is, for now, the most sustained anthology of comic art in the English language – the best showplace of what comic art is today and what it can do. That’s quite an accomplishment." —Paul Buhle, Los Angeles Review of Books

"Almost anything can be seen as a crime story, and almost anything can be adapted into a graphic novel. Few, however, have attempted such an ambitious and quirky melding of these two truths as editor and artist Russ Kick with his new anthology, The Graphic Canon of Crime and Mystery. This cleverly arranged series of graphic adaptations of classic mystery tales brings together a wide range of artists matched with a diverse list of stories, many of which are only loosely categorizable as crime fiction (that’s part of the fun of it). With everything from biblical judgements to decadent poetry to 19th century classics, Kick and his army of artists have crafted a formidable and fascinating collection." —Molly Odintz, Lit Hub

"This is a take on the crime & mystery genre that proves quite refreshing and a true eye-opener. Russ Kick, in the role of curator/editor, has taken an offbeat path in order to emphasize just how diverse and unpredictable his subject can be. ... Kick manages to keep just the right unsettling vibe running throughout this impressive anthology." —Comics Grinder

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2018
Seven Stories continues its "Graphic Canon" anthology series, this time taking a deep dive into the rich and diverse world of crime fiction. Featuring adaptations of famous crime classics, most of which were created specifically for this volume, this work displays a range of absolutely stunning talent. From a relatively straightforward depiction of the murder scene in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment to a wildly experimental take on Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, editor Kick (The Graphic Canon of Children's Literature) presents a fantastic survey of the literature concerned with criminal activity, as well as a primer on everything possible in the graphic format. Kick organizes these radical visions and interpretations in three thematic sections: "The Act," which focuses on depictions of crime; "Whodunnit," which details mysteries and famous detectives; and "Judgment," which deals with fallout and punishment and highlights parallels among stories written centuries apart. VERDICT Most of the 30 selections here adapt single chapters or scenes from their source material, which might cause some consternation among readers looking for a more immersive experience. But as an introduction to the crime genre, this edition is second to none.—TB

Library Journal