Pulp Fiction...

Recently finished three graphic novels, each linked by Dean Motter (acting as scripter and historian across the three books below) with sideways links pulling in Steranko and Michael Lark.

The Little Sister, and A Trilogy of Crime both feature sequentially illustrated adaptations of Raymond Chandler's: Philip Marlowe, while The Batman in Nine Lives features the feel of Marlowe as a packaged Batman Elseworlds.

The Little Sister is a full length OGN adapting the self-same Chandler detective yarn, featuring a semi-strong Steranko cover, and illustrated by a novice Lark, who has proven that time enhances talent (Lark has fun with the backgrounds tho, spot the Bogart references scattered throughout). The work is a shadow of what he currently outputs in the monthly Gotham Central, featuring rotating writers of Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, and Nine Lives which he illustrates, and Dean Motter writes.

Nine Lives is a serviceable Elseworlds, with semi-clever hard-boiled takes on the Batman cast, but looks better than it reads, and is packaged better than most (sideways-like, with spot varnished covers) making the softcover the way to go if you're so inclined. No Steranko cover here, woulda been a nice touch. You can live without this, but an A for effort...

Rounding out the pack (of smokes, straights of course.) is A Trilogy of Crime sporting a fantastic Steranko cover (and the semi-strong cover from The Little Sister on the back, only flipped-like...) and three Marlowe tales adapted by three different creative teams.

The strongest piece artisitically is "The Pencil", with art by David Lloyd; The story itself is good, but not exceptional. The first piece, "Goldfish" is the most interesting tale of the bunch, with Rian Hughes subbing for the Pander Brothers (look it up, I'm older than you) on the art. The last piece, "Trouble is my Business" is the worst of the lot, as the story jumps (I thought pages were misisng the cuts were that confusing in some spots), and the art by Lee Moyer and Alfredo Alcala is stiff and lifeless. Still, two out of three ain't bad... and that cover's real, real nice.

/joe