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The Crow (Kitchen Sink Press)
The Crow: Waking Nightmares
Can a crow pursue only vengeance, or can he act to save the living? NYC Cop Mark Leung contemplates this question from the other side after he and his wife are murdered by the Triad, who then take their twin daughters captive.
105 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
2 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Golden
760 books3,044 followersCHRISTOPHER GOLDEN has been called “the king of the horror-thriller.” The New York Times bestselling, multi-award-winning storyteller has made his mark in many mediums, as a writer of novels, screenplays, animation, audio dramas, and comics, and as an editor of landmark horror anthologies. His work has been published in dozens of languages around the world. Winner of the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Audie Award, he has been nominated for others, including the British Fantasy Award. His best-known novels include Road of Bones, The House of Last Resort, All Hallows, and his latest, Carry Me to My Grave. He lives in Massachusetts, where he watches too many movies and eats too much chocolate.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 28, 2018
Yet another new take on the Crow mythos. This time we have a detective on the trail of child abductors who is blinded and killed along with his wife, and his daughters are abducted. He's brought back for vengeance, but is more concerned with rescuing his children. However, the Crow power is strictly for vengeance, so the force that brought him back to life doesn't care whether his daughters are rescued or not, only if vengeance is served.
Things lead up to a type of ending we haven't seen in a Crow comic yet, but it's a very haunting and sad ending that I didn't care for.
Overall a good volume that does try to break new ground, but the ending was a bit of a downer for me.
Things lead up to a type of ending we haven't seen in a Crow comic yet, but it's a very haunting and sad ending that I didn't care for.
Overall a good volume that does try to break new ground, but the ending was a bit of a downer for me.
December 16, 2017
Although definitely a huge improvement above the previous penultimate installment, The Crow: Wild Justice, and especially an improvement above the God-awful (colorized! UGH!) The Crow: City of Angels; The Crow: Waking Nightmares or more meh than anything.
A good story sure but definitely lacking the soul crushing existential anguish of the original that made us love the series.
Instead of Eric Draven we've got a cop back from the dead to save his children from evil gangsters. Predictablely enough, bodies drop and blood is shed. Expletives raised and fearsome weaponry dropped.
Sadly, another case of style over substance drives this 4th edition of the Crow series.
Definitely worth a read for die-hard fans but for the rest of us, this one can be skipped just like the last two.
A good story sure but definitely lacking the soul crushing existential anguish of the original that made us love the series.
Instead of Eric Draven we've got a cop back from the dead to save his children from evil gangsters. Predictablely enough, bodies drop and blood is shed. Expletives raised and fearsome weaponry dropped.
Sadly, another case of style over substance drives this 4th edition of the Crow series.
Definitely worth a read for die-hard fans but for the rest of us, this one can be skipped just like the last two.
July 21, 2024
honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor honor
the ending was good tho
the ending was good tho
May 6, 2024
Flesh and Blood had Iris wanting to take her time with those that took her life. Michael Korby actually believed that he had spilled enough blood but in order to see his love again, took that life he so desperately did not want to take. In fact, which I should have added in the Wild Justice review, all three characters and angles showed that the ones whom the story's perspective came from, in their way, faced down their own living hell and may still have been living in them.
What I find interesting is that all three of them, not the characters here but Shaw, Korby and Leung all had constant conflicts with their crow, their guides. Leung's path was not too dissimilar from Ash's from CoA although Leung's for his still living daughters. Much like Ashe, Leung chose to sacrifice his soul for his children except that one could question Ashe's choice of Sarah. Det. Leung actually had a lot more anger and came out more in the course of the story.
Another aspect that I liked is that they choose a more organic look for Leung, trench coat and the decorated shades. Interesting and original.
Having now re-read this in 2024, I had no problem following this story. A very coherent narrative and the child trafficking angle connected with me on a very personal angle. Very much a five-star read for me. I hope that the remaining stories I read again have the creativity and drive of this story and not the lackluster Crow Image series and Death & Rebirth.
What I find interesting is that all three of them, not the characters here but Shaw, Korby and Leung all had constant conflicts with their crow, their guides. Leung's path was not too dissimilar from Ash's from CoA although Leung's for his still living daughters. Much like Ashe, Leung chose to sacrifice his soul for his children except that one could question Ashe's choice of Sarah. Det. Leung actually had a lot more anger and came out more in the course of the story.
Another aspect that I liked is that they choose a more organic look for Leung, trench coat and the decorated shades. Interesting and original.
Having now re-read this in 2024, I had no problem following this story. A very coherent narrative and the child trafficking angle connected with me on a very personal angle. Very much a five-star read for me. I hope that the remaining stories I read again have the creativity and drive of this story and not the lackluster Crow Image series and Death & Rebirth.
January 12, 2025
This was criminally underrated, to start the best part of this comic was the art which is amazing because I hardly ever see comic with this kind of art style ever and I want more like it. As for the story this is the best way to take the formula with having the main character's quest be rescuing his daughters instead of getting revenge and having the crow itself being angry about that, I also appreciate making Mark Leung (the crow in this story)'s partner detective Murphy a deuteragonist. As for the themes the them of the power of a parents love is strong and there is other things I'm not well-versed in because I'm not a Chinese American or knowledgeable about the Chinese people, so I don't have grounds to go over how things are handled in this comic, but I will say the story is fantastic.
my only criticism is that it's uncomfortable how the some Chinese characters speak broken English (this was comic made by two white guys BTW).
Rating: 7.5 or 8/10
my only criticism is that it's uncomfortable how the some Chinese characters speak broken English (this was comic made by two white guys BTW).
Rating: 7.5 or 8/10
January 6, 2018
This was a huge improvement from the last one. Mark reminded me of Eric. It was easy to picture this story happening on the big screen. The cover art for each issue was also pretty incredible.
September 29, 2022
Great artwork by Phil Hester can't overcome a lacklustre, generic story, characters, and dialogue.
January 29, 2023
Meh. Broke me of any interest in reading more of these books.
October 20, 2020
The story takes place in an alternate reality that looks something like an even more extreme, grim and merciless version of Batman’s Arkham Asylum. Despite the cruel and unforgiving society they live in, Eric Draven and his fiancé Shelly fall madly in love and find comfort in each other’s arms. Eric and Shelly go for a peaceful, romantic drive down the open road one fine day, enjoying each other’s company when their car is suddenly pulled over by a violent gang of thugs. They drag the two out of the car and they force Eric to watch them torture his girlfriend to death before shooting him in the back of the head. Just like that, the two lovers are dead. On the anniversary of their deaths, Eric resurrects from the grave as a vengeful spirit and takes on the mantle of a supernatural avenger, tracking down the thugs that killed him and his bride-to-be one by one and slaughtering them without mercy.
The story begins with Eric violently interrogating a man named Mr. Jones, a thug with connections to the criminals that murdered him and Shelly. Here we get a taste of the protagonist’s cruelty and lust for vengeance. He’s not the sweet and compassionate man he used to be. He’s cruel, sadistic and enjoys the suffering of the people that wronged him. He’s no hero of justice and he doesn’t quite fit the definition of vigilante hero either, he’s just a heartbroken man fixated on personal revenge and he’s willing to throw away his humanity to get what he wants. The Crow does a great job of showing just how tragic and depressing revenge truly is. It’s not glorified or beautiful, but it can be dangerously satisfying, and that addiction to the pain can destroy a person from the inside.
That’s the gist of the plot. A man resurrects from the dead and hunts down the men that killed him and his girlfriend. It’s a very simplistic revenge story with a unique gothic-horror aesthetic. Eric often goes into insane ramblings where he randomly babbles out dark poetry and edgy quotes like Edgar Allan Poe hopped up on drugs, vengeance and a rockstar charisma. Speaking of Poe, this story is pretty much what you would get if John Wick was written by Edgar Allan Poe. The villains are fairly one-dimensional, but it suits the mood of the story. This is about a broken man lashing out at the world because he's unable to contain his grief. It captures how one truly feels toward people that steal everything that was once precious away from you. There's no mercy or sympathy, there’s no attempt to see eye to eye or try to understand why they did what they did, there’s only a spiral of despair, rage and a self-consuming lust to give them the punishment they deserve
The story feels more personal and intimate when you read it knowing that it’s loosely based on the author’s own experience and feelings of losing his significant other. You can feel his rage and despair pouring out from the writing and the bleak black and white pages smothered with rain, blood and grime. It also has an extremely good movie adaption featuring the late Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee. It’s rich with a gothic atmosphere and has that nostalgic 1980’s action hero that throws out cool one liners vibe. I heard it was recently released on Netflix and I would definitely recommend giving it a watch.
The original comic is a short and sweet self contained story, but there are quite a few spinoff stories where James collaborated with other authors to show off the dark avenger in action once more. In most of these stories, Eric resurrects other unfortunate souls that died tragic deaths and gives them the opportunity to avenge themselves like he once did. None of these stories are quite as good as the original in my opinion, but I thought they were worth mentioning for people that really want to see more from this cool character.
***
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The story begins with Eric violently interrogating a man named Mr. Jones, a thug with connections to the criminals that murdered him and Shelly. Here we get a taste of the protagonist’s cruelty and lust for vengeance. He’s not the sweet and compassionate man he used to be. He’s cruel, sadistic and enjoys the suffering of the people that wronged him. He’s no hero of justice and he doesn’t quite fit the definition of vigilante hero either, he’s just a heartbroken man fixated on personal revenge and he’s willing to throw away his humanity to get what he wants. The Crow does a great job of showing just how tragic and depressing revenge truly is. It’s not glorified or beautiful, but it can be dangerously satisfying, and that addiction to the pain can destroy a person from the inside.
That’s the gist of the plot. A man resurrects from the dead and hunts down the men that killed him and his girlfriend. It’s a very simplistic revenge story with a unique gothic-horror aesthetic. Eric often goes into insane ramblings where he randomly babbles out dark poetry and edgy quotes like Edgar Allan Poe hopped up on drugs, vengeance and a rockstar charisma. Speaking of Poe, this story is pretty much what you would get if John Wick was written by Edgar Allan Poe. The villains are fairly one-dimensional, but it suits the mood of the story. This is about a broken man lashing out at the world because he's unable to contain his grief. It captures how one truly feels toward people that steal everything that was once precious away from you. There's no mercy or sympathy, there’s no attempt to see eye to eye or try to understand why they did what they did, there’s only a spiral of despair, rage and a self-consuming lust to give them the punishment they deserve
The story feels more personal and intimate when you read it knowing that it’s loosely based on the author’s own experience and feelings of losing his significant other. You can feel his rage and despair pouring out from the writing and the bleak black and white pages smothered with rain, blood and grime. It also has an extremely good movie adaption featuring the late Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee. It’s rich with a gothic atmosphere and has that nostalgic 1980’s action hero that throws out cool one liners vibe. I heard it was recently released on Netflix and I would definitely recommend giving it a watch.
The original comic is a short and sweet self contained story, but there are quite a few spinoff stories where James collaborated with other authors to show off the dark avenger in action once more. In most of these stories, Eric resurrects other unfortunate souls that died tragic deaths and gives them the opportunity to avenge themselves like he once did. None of these stories are quite as good as the original in my opinion, but I thought they were worth mentioning for people that really want to see more from this cool character.
***
My Social Media
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
My Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/michael_sor...
My Wattpad Account: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Michael-...
My Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/SorbelloHorror
My Facebook Account: https://www.facebook.com/michael.sorb...
July 27, 2015
Very dark, very sad.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews