Writer Ed Brubaker hasn't written anything great lately for Marvel. His one-shot prelude to "Fear Itself" was fairly inane, and his run on Captain America has gotten pretty dull lately. Perhaps he shouldn't even waste his time writing superheroes. His latest issue of Criminal, for Marvel's indie imprint Icon, is a masterpiece. It might just be the best book I've read all year (Morning Glories #8 was also one of the year's best so far). This issue starts off like the film Garden State; a schlub goes back to his hometown to see his sick father. He meets his old high school friends and gets all wrapped up in nostalgia (the flahbacks are drawn in an Archie comics type style...which is terrific). The catch comes in the last panel, a knock-your-socks of classic noir cliffhanger. The big reason this issue works, though, is that Brubaker's dad did recently die and that adds a layer of sadness and realism to the proceedings. He's writing from the heart and it shows; the book is swift, entertaining, but also emotional and true. The art by Sean Phillips is great; his range is really shown here as he gets to play in the sandbox a bit. Just an all around classic issue of a great book. **** (out of ****)
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