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The Crow (Kitchen Sink Press)
The Crow: Midnight Legends Vol. 1 - Dead Time
After a ten-year hiatus, James O'Barr returned to The Crow with Dead Time, a story he envisioned as a new Crow film. A tale of grief, reincarnation, and long-sought vengeance, Dead Time is adapted by John Wagner and illustrated by Alexander Maleev.
106 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1996
16 people are currently reading
579 people want to read
About the author
James O'Barr
110 books398 followersJames O'Barr is an accomplished artist and writer, best known for creating The Crow.
In 1978, O'Barr's fiancée, Beverly, was killed by a drunk driver, and he joined the Marines in an effort to cope with the loss. He was stationed in Germany and illustrated combat manuals for the military. While living in Berlin in 1981, O'Barr began work on The Crow as a means of dealing with his personal tragedy. O'Barr was further inspired by a Detroit newspaper account of the murder of a young couple over a $20 engagement ring. After his discharge from the Marines, O'Barr continued his painting and illustration as well as doing lots of odd jobs, including working for a Detroit body shop. The Crow sat on a shelf for seven years, but at last someone wanted to publish it: Gary Reed of Caliber Press. In The Crow, the protagonist and his fiancée are murdered by a gang of criminals. He then returns from the dead to hunt their killers.
O'Barr's own hope that his project would result in a personal catharsis went unfulfilled, he told an interviewer in 1994, saying, "[A]s I drew each page, it made me more self-destructive, if anything....There is pure anger on each page". The Crow has sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide.
The book was adapted into a successful film of the same name in 1994, but it resulted in further tragedy. Brandon Lee, who played the main character, was accidentally shot and killed during filming.
O'Barr was the second American to be awarded the "Storyteller Award" by the International Comic Festival held annually in Angoulême, France.
In 1978, O'Barr's fiancée, Beverly, was killed by a drunk driver, and he joined the Marines in an effort to cope with the loss. He was stationed in Germany and illustrated combat manuals for the military. While living in Berlin in 1981, O'Barr began work on The Crow as a means of dealing with his personal tragedy. O'Barr was further inspired by a Detroit newspaper account of the murder of a young couple over a $20 engagement ring. After his discharge from the Marines, O'Barr continued his painting and illustration as well as doing lots of odd jobs, including working for a Detroit body shop. The Crow sat on a shelf for seven years, but at last someone wanted to publish it: Gary Reed of Caliber Press. In The Crow, the protagonist and his fiancée are murdered by a gang of criminals. He then returns from the dead to hunt their killers.
O'Barr's own hope that his project would result in a personal catharsis went unfulfilled, he told an interviewer in 1994, saying, "[A]s I drew each page, it made me more self-destructive, if anything....There is pure anger on each page". The Crow has sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide.
The book was adapted into a successful film of the same name in 1994, but it resulted in further tragedy. Brandon Lee, who played the main character, was accidentally shot and killed during filming.
O'Barr was the second American to be awarded the "Storyteller Award" by the International Comic Festival held annually in Angoulême, France.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
April 28, 2018
This was James O'Barr's return to the Crow with a story he had envisioned as a movie that was never produced. The premise is a Native American and his white wife are slaughtered by renegade rebel soldiers right after the Civil War. He is then reborn in modern times, while the soldiers have been reborn as a criminal gang. The story is very similar in theme to the original Crow series.
I enjoyed the story but at times things got confusing, especially due to the art being hard to follow. The art wasn't bad, just a little befuddling at time. Still dark and moody black and white art though, and very much fitting for the Crow.
If you enjoyed the original Crow you should check this one out.
I enjoyed the story but at times things got confusing, especially due to the art being hard to follow. The art wasn't bad, just a little befuddling at time. Still dark and moody black and white art though, and very much fitting for the Crow.
If you enjoyed the original Crow you should check this one out.
April 19, 2020
The paneling was confusing here, especially in issue one. Heavily steeped in shadow. The protagonist and the damsel in distress have the same hair style. Throw in flashbacks 100 years in the past and things get convoluted pretty quick.
It moves so fast it feels rushed. You don’t really get time to empathize with our protagonist because it al seems disjointed and dream like.
Sometimes the art style works nicely though, and it was a quick read. Each issue gets a bit better in terms of clarity. But in the end I found myself not all that invested.
It moves so fast it feels rushed. You don’t really get time to empathize with our protagonist because it al seems disjointed and dream like.
Sometimes the art style works nicely though, and it was a quick read. Each issue gets a bit better in terms of clarity. But in the end I found myself not all that invested.
March 13, 2020
I wasn't a huge fan of this one. I found the drawing a bit dark and confusing at times. I couldn't tell sometimes what i was looking at. I felt like I was trying to decipher an ink blot test. I also found the story line choppy and confusing in some parts. I enjoyed other Crow graphic novels, but this one was a bit too boring and painful for me to enjoy.
November 15, 2021
Although i liked the story, if you want to tell the same story again for the sequel at least add something to it! To be fair there were attempts at expanding the world which i liked but it wasn't enough to salvage the story.
October 5, 2020
Though my memories of James O'Barr's breakout hit The Crow are hazy, I would still say this is a disappointing sequel to it.
Dead Time is more dynamic with an interesting development on the original plot of a victim reborn to revenge (namely the reincarnation of his original persecutors) but it is also rather difficult to follow.
This is a failing of stylistic storytelling in black and white. Unique angles and perspective panels really struggle in shaded monochrome. Wagner does his best with the limited palate but I only recall Frank Miller's Sin City ever making this fully work.
Fortunately the core plot is easy enough to keep tabs on, though that is mostly because it is a retread of the same vengeance formula as its predecessor. The historical aspect does set Dead Time apart but not quite enough for me.
I'm afraid I finished this book with quiet disappointment. It occurs to me that it's probably best read in a marathon of the full Crow series, something I wouldn't necessarily enjoy myself. Nevertheless I do recommend The Crow: Dead Time to diehard fans of O'Barr's work, with an interest in graphic melancholia.
Dead Time is more dynamic with an interesting development on the original plot of a victim reborn to revenge (namely the reincarnation of his original persecutors) but it is also rather difficult to follow.
This is a failing of stylistic storytelling in black and white. Unique angles and perspective panels really struggle in shaded monochrome. Wagner does his best with the limited palate but I only recall Frank Miller's Sin City ever making this fully work.
Fortunately the core plot is easy enough to keep tabs on, though that is mostly because it is a retread of the same vengeance formula as its predecessor. The historical aspect does set Dead Time apart but not quite enough for me.
I'm afraid I finished this book with quiet disappointment. It occurs to me that it's probably best read in a marathon of the full Crow series, something I wouldn't necessarily enjoy myself. Nevertheless I do recommend The Crow: Dead Time to diehard fans of O'Barr's work, with an interest in graphic melancholia.
June 27, 2023
What even was this? I didn't understand what was happening at all. Why do all the books I win at competitions need to be so lame and bad? This is the THIRD time, I swear to god...
September 23, 2014
An enjoyable read, but lacks the phosphorescent raw emotion of the original. The art is moody and mostly worked well, but occasionally took more effort than it should have to distinguish characters. I didn't feel the connection with Joshua like I did with Eric Draven, but I enjoyed the time shifting twist.
September 13, 2018
I’ve made my feelings about The Crow clear many times before. In a nutshell, the original graphic novel and the original movie were seminal influences on me, they’re both perfect, and any attempt at sequels dishonors the purity of James O’Barr’s masterpiece. That said, “The Crow: Dead Time” is decent, which is about the highest praise I’ll allow myself to use when describing a Crow spin-off. Scripted by John Wagner from an original story that O’Barr himself had envisioned as the film follow-up to Brandon Lee’s portrayal, and moodily drawn by Alexander Maleev, “Dead Time” is a competent revenge tale that still can’t match the first book’s raw, live wire energy.
“Dead Time” follows Joshua, a Native American from the Crow clan (okay, that’s a clever touch), who has assimilated himself into the white man’s world, becoming a farmer and marrying a white woman. One tragic day, Joshua’s family is visited by a band of renegade Confederate soldiers who rape and murder his family. The book then jumps to roughly modern day, where Joshua has been brought back by the crow to exact his revenge on the soldiers, now reincarnated as a gang of drug-dealing motorcycle hoods. “Dead Time” has enough of The Crow’s mythology to connect it to the original book but it’s curiously flat. O’Barr’s personal pain was so integral to his breakout book that there’s just no way “Dead Time” could ever match it. It’s gloomy and violent and poetic but it lacks the insistence and vitality of the original. That’s the fundamental problem with any Crow sequel: the first was borne out of a passion so intense that any attempt to recapture it comes off as a limp facsimile. By any other name, “The Crow: Dead Time” would be a triumph - Wagner’s writing is crisp and relentless while Maleev’s art is chaotically gloomy - but nothing will ever come close to “The Crow” proper.
This graphic novel has the benefit of James O’Barr’s involvement but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: leave The Crow alone. The fact that the best parts of this comic are the bonus pin-ups that O’Barr painted of his original avenger says all you need to know.
“Dead Time” follows Joshua, a Native American from the Crow clan (okay, that’s a clever touch), who has assimilated himself into the white man’s world, becoming a farmer and marrying a white woman. One tragic day, Joshua’s family is visited by a band of renegade Confederate soldiers who rape and murder his family. The book then jumps to roughly modern day, where Joshua has been brought back by the crow to exact his revenge on the soldiers, now reincarnated as a gang of drug-dealing motorcycle hoods. “Dead Time” has enough of The Crow’s mythology to connect it to the original book but it’s curiously flat. O’Barr’s personal pain was so integral to his breakout book that there’s just no way “Dead Time” could ever match it. It’s gloomy and violent and poetic but it lacks the insistence and vitality of the original. That’s the fundamental problem with any Crow sequel: the first was borne out of a passion so intense that any attempt to recapture it comes off as a limp facsimile. By any other name, “The Crow: Dead Time” would be a triumph - Wagner’s writing is crisp and relentless while Maleev’s art is chaotically gloomy - but nothing will ever come close to “The Crow” proper.
This graphic novel has the benefit of James O’Barr’s involvement but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: leave The Crow alone. The fact that the best parts of this comic are the bonus pin-ups that O’Barr painted of his original avenger says all you need to know.
October 29, 2020
El cuervo: tiempo de muerte; Escrito por James O'Barr y John Wagner, con el arte de Alex Maleev(Publicada en 1996), tiene por protagonista a Joshua, quien está confundido y cree haberse levantado en el mismo infierno después de morir; pero poco a poco, con un cuervo como guía, va recordando su vida pasada, cuando era un agricultor indio nativo americano. En ese entonces él y su familia son asesinados por unos inescrupulosos hombres blancos pertenecientes al ejército confederado.
Al identificar que al igual que él, sus asesinos se han reencarnado , pero esta vez en una banda de motociclistas renegados; iniciará su camino hacia la venganza, dentro de una ciudad sumergida en la podredumbre. El arte está muy acorde a la trama oscura con un blanco y negro presentando entre sombras a los personajes y los lugares( me gusta este aspecto pero podría resultar algo confuso para algunos).
Creo que la idea de la trama es original, pero para disfrutarlo mejor habría que ver la película de 1994 o la serie original de cómics del mismo O’Barr de 1989, y así empaparse más con la mística del espíritu de venganza y el efecto colateral de redención que causa en los coprotagonistas, en un inicio sin rumbo alguno, que son tocados por el anti héroe resucitado.
Al identificar que al igual que él, sus asesinos se han reencarnado , pero esta vez en una banda de motociclistas renegados; iniciará su camino hacia la venganza, dentro de una ciudad sumergida en la podredumbre. El arte está muy acorde a la trama oscura con un blanco y negro presentando entre sombras a los personajes y los lugares( me gusta este aspecto pero podría resultar algo confuso para algunos).
Creo que la idea de la trama es original, pero para disfrutarlo mejor habría que ver la película de 1994 o la serie original de cómics del mismo O’Barr de 1989, y así empaparse más con la mística del espíritu de venganza y el efecto colateral de redención que causa en los coprotagonistas, en un inicio sin rumbo alguno, que son tocados por el anti héroe resucitado.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2018
Not a fan. I LOVE James O'Barr's original The Crow, but the sequels (movies past 1994, and books outside of the first graphic novel) just don't hold up for me. To me, this story felt choppy and rushed- it doesn't read smoothly, didn't seem to flow well.
And the way Native American characters and culture were utilized felt awkward to me somehow.
I had to wonder about their using violence against Native American women as a plot device... 🤨 (e.g. "Squaw bitch") On the one hand, yes that is a very real issue that is overlooked by society as a whole, but somehow it just felt questionable to me the way it was done here.
Though, the concept of past lives and reparations around colonization was interesting.
And the way Native American characters and culture were utilized felt awkward to me somehow.
I had to wonder about their using violence against Native American women as a plot device... 🤨 (e.g. "Squaw bitch") On the one hand, yes that is a very real issue that is overlooked by society as a whole, but somehow it just felt questionable to me the way it was done here.
Though, the concept of past lives and reparations around colonization was interesting.
September 27, 2018
The art is gorgeous, but the story is a little hard to follow. Light on the romance side and more heavy on the revenge side, which was a little harder to get behind because 1) the killers are reincarnated and being punished for sins from a previous life and 2) you don't see enough of Joshua's past life to explain why his soul was so tortured it couldn't rest.
If I was going to adapt this, I'd ditch the reincarnation thing and make Joshua hunting his family's killers through purgatory, sending them to hell when he 'kills' them.
If I was going to adapt this, I'd ditch the reincarnation thing and make Joshua hunting his family's killers through purgatory, sending them to hell when he 'kills' them.
July 26, 2021
The story was all over the place and a bit hard to follow. It also seemed to end very abruptly. This would have done better if it was spread over more issues. The artwork had some brilliant moments, but also some very dark 'sketches' that could have been fleshed out more. All in all, it seemed disjointed, almost like it had been written by the Dark Half pairing (two different artists/storytellers). Still a nice Crow concept, but there are better stories out there, sadly (since this was an O'barr vision).
November 26, 2018
My limited enjoyment of this graphic novel is entirely my own fault. I've never seen The Crow film nor have I read the original graphic novel, so I was a little lost at the beginning of this story. Once I got further into it, though, the story became more interesting. This also isn't my favorite art style as it's a lot of dark, heavy strokes that don't make for a very clear picture.
April 11, 2019
Beautiful artwork, and definitely in line with the Crow mythos. The story felt a little dry/bland though. Might have been better as a 6-Issue run to better flesh out the story. Decent all around, but lacks the original style, darkness, and impact of the original.
July 27, 2023
Hard to follow but standard Crow story as an innocent Native American is murdered in cold blood in 1800s, the cowboys are reincarnated into a biker gang that our Crow is resurrected to bring to Justice but we all know how vengeance works. Quick read but not one I’d recommend.
September 30, 2017
Anything by James O'Barr regarding The Crow is awesome!
November 6, 2017
Artistically great, but the story is becoming too repetitive.
June 27, 2018
Not really my thing.
June 30, 2018
Boring, rehashed and poorly written
October 29, 2018
Difficult to follow, narratively.
December 28, 2020
Nautin kovasti. Ja nostalgoin.
Sitten palautin kirjastoon.
Sitten palautin kirjastoon.
June 16, 2021
Good stuff
I came across The Cure’s Burn song and as soon as I learned Robert Smith was a fan of the comics and wrote that song for the film I decided to try and read it. Love it!
I came across The Cure’s Burn song and as soon as I learned Robert Smith was a fan of the comics and wrote that song for the film I decided to try and read it. Love it!
August 31, 2022
Not as amazing as the original, still beautifuly done and with an interesting story
June 13, 2023
Too fast. Still a good story
July 21, 2024
It was decent, the art was the best part. Didn't go into any depth but it was only 3 issues so that's understandable to a certain extent. Just feel like it could have been better.
December 26, 2024
Incredible artwork from Maleev, but the scattered story with dual timelines brings the overall series down a notch
March 23, 2026
O Corvo - Tempo Morto - Edição Encadernada (Mythos)
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...
May 19, 2024
The first time I read this was years ago and I do not recall my thoughts. The second time was when I came back into collecting these graphic novels of The Crow, but I hadn't yet found out about this site. Honestly, with a bit of concentration and proper moment to invest in the story, I still had some issues getting into the story. It's a fairly decent story but it lack some, and lacks more in subsequent readings. Given that O'Barr took folklorish aspects for his character, I think that the native American aspect was inevitable, this coming from a fan fiction writer such as myself. What I kept in mind was that this story reminded me of my assumptions about The Crow Quoth The Crow and The Crow Temple Of night where possibilities of satire or just the atmosphere of the locales influenced the story. In my opinion, I'm pretty sure the idea/storyline for this one was a pretty reasonable one but the artwork betrays it. Don't get me wrong, the artwork in itself is pretty good but it seemed too abstract to help the storyline flow. It's not a bad addition, just not a great one. 5/19/24- Not a bad review but I would put extremely strong emphasis on the artwork being great but too abstract to follow for the story to be cohesive. Thr really sad part is that the story itself comes from O'Barr himself. Disappointing.
September 7, 2014
The basic storyline and themes haven't changed with the new incarnation of the Crow, but I do like the time-travel motif that was intriduced. Now the Crow is capable of handing down justice through the ages, as the men who raped and murdered his wife and child are given second lives to redeem themselves and fail miserably. I'm still not entirely comfortable with the whole vigilante justice system proposed here, but the added touches of Native American story/lore give it a mythical quality that makes it easier to reconcile with the harsh morals. Considering that the character of Crow is a main theme/proponent in this lore system - and who is almost always associated with violence - makingthe protagonist Native American makes a lot of sense and adds some much needed depth to the story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews