Comics enjoy worldwide popularity, with creators and audiences spanning the globe. There are also rich and distinct regional traditions around the medium, although it’s still easy for readers to essentially wall themselves off, consuming only local comic and graphic novel entertainment, or that which shares their mother tongue.
We’re guilty of it too, which is why today we’re spotlighting a project that takes English-language readers outside their comfort zone in a few key ways, while also still offering familiar and accessible genre fare.
Available as of today is First Degree: A Crime Anthology from iconic European comic book and graphic novel publisher Humanoids (AKA Les Humanoïdes Associés). Featuring the efforts of dozens of international creators, the 148-page comic collection brings together over twenty short stories with a crime noir theme.
First Degree: A Crime Anthology has been released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the POLAR Festival in Cognac, France – a premier crime fiction festival that has, since its start in 1996, expanded beyond novels and graphic novels to celebrate the crime genre’s depiction in cinema, TV and theatre as well.
This new English-language edition of the First Degree anthology combines tales by writers and artists recognized at the POLAR Festival, along with a selection of Humanoids’ best crime fiction, and cover art by David (Hawkeye) Aja. The book also opens with an all-new story by Eisner Award-winners David F. (Bitter Root) Walker and Michael (Lazarus, Gotham Central) Lark.
Being an anthology, different readers will gravitate to different standalone tales. Think having your favorite episode of Black Mirror, or, more appropriate for this collection, Sin City yarn or Pulp Fiction storyline. The short stories that make up First Degree: A Crime Anthology are wildly different, with art styles to match. The expected botched schemes and contemporary crime investigations with a twist in the tail are joined by tales that lean in the direction of science fiction, history and the supernatural. There really is something for everyone – everyone with darker tastes that is.
For us, a standout is Overdose, by Jim MacDonald and d-pi, where two heroin addicts turn OD-triggered out of body experiences to profit. d-pi’s warped visuals really accentuate the trippy-ness of the story. There’s also the retro-styled, classy Born to Draw by David Morancho, about a hitman with artistic ambitions; and tense The Game, by Thierry Lamy and Pierre Taranzano, where an unstable woman confronts her cheating husband and his mistress. Walker and Lark’s contribution, meanwhile, opens the collection on a tragic note, depicting an all-too-familiar real-world injustice.
Something to bear in mind is that the nature of the crime noir genre is pretty grim, so First Degree is not a cheery read at all. That said, you’ll probably appreciate the satisfying venom in a few stories.
First Degree: A Crime Anthology releases today in hardcover format. It remains to be seen if the book will become available as a digital edition in future.