REVIEW: The Crow

The Crow (Comic)

By J. O’Barr

First published in 2002

The Crow (comic)

·         The work notably comes with both comics and poetry, with the poetry being part of the narrative about loss.

·         The comic is illustrated in two styles, with it being jagged and having heavier lines with the violent post-death scenes of the Crow’s loved one and the soft almost acrylic look of the comic in the pre-death scenes.

·         The nature of the Crow’s powers is not made clear in the story, but it does add to the supernatural element of the piece and the surreal Horror genre feel of the tale.

·         The Crow’s mercy of Funny Boy is notable in that he gives Funny Boy a fast and painless death of illegal drug overdose due to Funny Boy’s recognition of his own sins. While the other rapist and murderers tried to make their lives more positive after the death of Shelley, Funny Boy morbidly accepted his death and so the Crow gave him the least gruesome death.

·         The Crow notably has mercy to the innocent in that a police officer, a prostitute, a little girl and other noted side characters not the rapists. He even wishes them a good life as with the case of the officer and the little girl.

·         There is a noted “women in refrigerator” story narrative with the rape, death and mutilation of the Crow’s beloved Shelley was there only for progress the story of the narrative.

·         The flashbacks with Shelley are notably in mostly white as opposed to the dark pages this book is mostly made of.

·         Cats are common in the series as a herald to the Crow being in the area, much like the magic crow which brought the man the Crow back to life.

·         The villains have no depth to them other than that they were rapist and murderers. This seems sociopathic almost in the depiction as the lack of redeeming qualities make the antagonists seem more beast rather than murdering people. Granted this may be what the author was aiming for in depicting people doing dark deeds.

·         The actual death of T Bird and the Crow are notably absent, the former possibly being tortured to an extent that even this series can’t convey. The latter possibly could mean that he finally could die with the murderers dead or that he continued in existence as a vengeful antihero.

·         The one time The Crow smiled he found disturbing given his new nature. This shows his more human side which he shuns now is somehow still there.

·         It is never explained how Shelley knew how her precious Eric (The Crow) saw everything as a magic crow in her rape and death.

·         It is never explained how the commissioner knew of the Crow and accepted his revenge.

·         The irony of constantly seeing Shelley saying she’s safe with Eric or Eric notably seeing the murderers as not a threat before becoming the Crow is used to an almost stupid amount.

Bibliography

O'Barr, J. The Crow. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink, 1994. Print.