The unique promotional format of ‘Neo Noir: The World of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’
In Image Firsts Neo Noir: The World of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, writer David Harper examines the creator-owned comics works of two longtime collaborators, writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips. Priced at one dollar, this distinctive promotional publication from Image Comics makes good use of the creative duo’s unique portfolio of short “movie trailer”-style comics teasers that were created to advertise their upcoming projects, allowing for an interesting visual exploration of these larger works amid Harper’s overview.
With commentary from Brubaker and Phillips, Harper’s text deftly guides readers through the history of their creative partnership while providing critical appraisals of their work. Harper, the creator and owner of the comics-focused site SKTCHD and host of the Off Panel comics interview podcast, declares his intention that Neo Noir will be a resource for both new and veteran readers of Brubaker and Phillips’ comics:
For the initiated, it’s a tour through the history of this duo and the comics they’ve crafted together. You’ll walk away with a greater understanding of what makes them tick, and maybe more than a little desire to reread your favorite Brubaker and Phillips works. For the uninitiated, though, it’s an introduction, helping you better understand why their comics cannot be missed and why this partnership isn’t just a good and lasting one; it’s one of the finest in the history of the medium.
Harper achieves these aims, providing insightful summations and analysis regarding the respective comics works, along with the context of the creators’ professional history and the personal inspirations that shaped the development of these comics.
Harper notes that Brubaker and Phillips first worked together on the DC Comics series Batman: Gotham Noir, and subsequently on another DC property, Sleeper. The latter title’s protagonist is an undercover agent working among supervillains, his morally ambiguous adventures set in the narrative superhero continuity of DC’s “Wildstorm Universe”; Harper observes that Sleeper exemplifies the noir elements that readers would see in the duo’s later work. These DC titles garnered attention for the creators, and the duo learned that their styles were complimentary.
Celebrated for their separate work at Marvel Comics (Brubaker wrote Captain America, while Phillips illustrated Marvel Zombies), the two decided to work together on creator-owned projects. In 2006, Criminal debuted; this innovative crime genre comics franchise features a variety of characters navigating the consequences of their illicit actions. Criminal was a commercial and critical success, the first of the duo’s many acclaimed creator-owned works. Harper outlines their output:
Since then, their partnership has only grown, with their work collected in more than 25 paperbacks and hardbacks, 2 graphic novellas, and 5 full-length original graphic novels, so far. While their collaboration began in for-hire comics, it was defined during a remarkable stretch of creator-owned comics, with each new project expanding their library and loyal readership, and a shelf of awards and translated editions all over the world, from France to Japan to Brazil.
In addition to Criminal, these works include: Incognito (featuring an ex-supervillain in a witness protection program); Fatale, which presents a Lovecraftian exploration of the femme fatale trope; The Fade Out, a noir murder mystery set in 1940s Hollywood; Pulp, a graphic novella starring a Depression-era pulp fiction writer who was once a Western cowboy outlaw; Kill or Be Killed, about a young masked vigilante on a killing spree against criminals; and Reckless, a series of graphic novels set in 1980s Los Angeles that feature a detective protagonist who is willing to do bad things for a good cause.
Harper examines not only the narratives of these works, but also their artistry. Harper has a keen eye for Phillips’ artwork, pointing out that Phillips’ techniques and styles vary across the different series. Highlighting, for example, that Kill or Be Killed is rendered “full bleed” (that is, images run outside a panel on all sides, a style that is not usually utilized by Phillips) or that the artist uses style shifts and eye-catching layouts in Fatale, Neo Noir will likely provide new insights on the artwork to even veteran fans as they reread these comics.
The comics teasers — contemporary promotional strips produced in advance of a series’ release — are a unique feature of Brubaker and Phillips’ work. Brubaker explains the intent of their creation:
Back when we launched Criminal most comics announcements just showed a cover and the first pages of the first issue, and I thought that wasn’t a very good way to hook readers. So instead, we envisioned a sort of fake movie trailer of what the book was going to be, hoping to give a sense of excitement and a tease of the plot.
The teasers in Neo Noir demonstrate the creators’ success in achieving that vision. Varying in length from two to six pages and featuring snippets of action and dialogue interspersed with promotional blurbs, these trailers are enticing previews that give readers a good indication of the upcoming series’ premise and characters. Collected in Neo Noir, these trailers document the creative evolution of Brubaker and Phillips over the years.
Harper crafts a narrative that is arguably as engaging as the fictional works he examines; his factual story features two creators pushing themselves to explore new ideas and techniques, sometimes amid harrowing personal and societal events. Writing the Criminal series The Last of the Innocent helped Brubaker process his father’s death; the exploration of mortality in Pulp was influenced by Brubaker’s experience of almost drowning. The stressful lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic inspired the duo to transition from serialized comics to the original graphic novels of Reckless.
The Image Firsts editions are generally reprints of the first issue of an established Image series, priced at one dollar and intended to hook new readers. Neo Noir eschews this promotional strategy and breaks new ground, creating an informative primer for new and established readers. This new format is a great method of examining the oeuvre of particular creators, especially longstanding creative partners like Brubaker and Phillips, and hopefully will be utilized by Image and other publishers in the future to promote more comics works.
NOTES AND FURTHER READING:
DISCLOSURE: As works published by DC Comics are referenced in the above article, it should be disclosed that the article’s author is a former DC Comics contributor. There are no current financial arrangements between the author and DC Comics.
Image Firsts Neo Noir: The World of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (David Harper; Image Comics, October 2022)
Notes from the Basement/From the Desk of Ed Brubaker (The sign-up site for Ed Brubaker’s newsletter, which updates subscribers about various Brubaker projects.)
SKTCHD.com (David Harper’s subscription-funded website may be of interest to comics readers.)
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