Hell and Back, a Sin City Love Story

Sin City #7

by Frank Miller, Lynn Varley

In the Town Without Pity, good men are hard to find. Enter Wallace, a man of mystery. He's a nice guy who's very good at killing people. Out for an evening drive along the beach, he meets the woman of his dreams -- and she's trying to kill herself. Why? And who are the shadowy cabal of power brokers who wrench her from his arms? When will all hell break loose? Comics legend Frank Miller, creator of the groundbreaking The Dark Knight Returns, pounds out his longest Sin City graphic novel to date, a bare-knuckle barrage of brutal action, dark secrets, and heroic sacrifice. What the hell -- it's a love story! Includes color sections and pinups by a who's who of comics luminaries, including Lynn Varley's first actual comics illustration.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Crime, Noir, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

117 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Frank Miller is an American writer, artist and film director best known for his film noir-style comic book stories. He is one of the most widely-recognized and popular creators in comics, and is one of the most influential comics creators of his generation. His most notable works include Sin City, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One and 300.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Federico DN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farewell.

Wallace is a retired ex-military, barely scraping by as an artist; extremely talented, but rarely receiving good money or even recognition for his art. One day, aimlessly driving at night, he crosses paths with Esther, a beautiful but clearly distressed model, bordering suicide. The pair momentarily finding peace in 0ne other for a while, until she is suddenly kidnapped by the mob. Apparently, Esther's life has way more secrets than anyone can see.

Yet another weird and wildly different installment. A love story in Sin City? Preposterous! But possible. Frank Miller wrapping the thing with a dark pink bow and giving a closure I doubt anyone could've ever seen coming. Personally, I admire Frank Miller's boldness to decide to end the series this way. It's a good story no doubt, and one any Sin City fan would probably enjoy. Sadly I, however, didn't love it; I'm not a fan, and as much as I enjoyed it, this was not a favorite, and like many previous volumes before, I found something was missing. But anyway, it's too extensive and complicated to explain, or maybe it's easy and I'm just too lazy to write it. Regardless, this was — all in all — good. This final issue does provide solid entertainment and, overall, a nice closure to the entire series. The final panel in the comic pretty much saying it all, which I wish I could share... but spoilers.

Goodbye forever Sin City! It was a pleasure. Um, more or less.



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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1999] [320p] [Comic] [3.5] [Recommendable] [Delia <3<\3 ]
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★★★★☆ Sin City #1 - The Hard Goodbye.
★★★★☆ Sin City #2 - A Dame to Kill For. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ Sin City #3 - The Big Fat Kill. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ Sin City #4 - That Yellow Bastard.
★★★☆☆ Sin City #5 - Family Values. [2.5]
★★★☆☆ Sin City #6 - Booze, Broads, and Bullets.
★★★☆☆ Sin City #7 - Hell and Back. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ Sin City #1-7 Complete Set.

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Adioses.

Wallace es un exmilitar retirado, a duras penas sobreviviendo como artista; extremadamente talentoso, pero rara vez recibiendo buen dinero o incluso reconocimiento por su arte. Un día, mientras conducía sin rumbo por la noche, se cruza con Esther, una modelo hermosa pero claramente angustiada, al borde del suicidio. La pareja encontrando momentáneamente la paz el uno en el otro por un tiempo, hasta que de repente ella es secuestrada por la mafia. Aparentemente, la vida de Esther contiene muchos más secretos de los que nadie puede llegar a ver.

Otra entrega extraña y tremendamente diferente. ¿Una historia de amor en Sin City? ¡Absurdo! Pero posible. Frank Miller envolviendo la cosa con un lazo rosa oscuro y dándole un cierre que dudo que alguien jamás hubiera visto venir. Personalmente, admiro la audacia de Frank Miller al decidir terminar la serie de esta manera. Sin duda es una buena historia, que cualquier fan de Sin City probablemente disfrutaría. Lamentablemente a mí, sin embargo, no me encantó; no soy fanático y, por mucho que lo disfruté, este no fue uno de mis favoritos y, como muchos volúmenes anteriores, me pareció que faltó algo. Pero de cualquier modo, es demasiado extenso y complicado de explicar, o tal vez es fácil y simplemente me da vagancia redactarlo. Pero en fin, esto fue, en general, bueno. Este último volumen proporciona sólido entretenimiento y es, dentro de todo, un buen cierre para toda la serie. El panel final del cómic lo dice todo, y me gustaría poder compartirlo... pero spoilea.

¡Adiós para siempre Sin City! Fue un placer. Mmm, más o menos.



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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1999] [320p] [Comic] [3.5] [Recomendable] [Delia <3<\3 ]
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[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Medalled war hero and formerly of the Navy SEALs Wallace, sees Esther jumping off a cliff, so he jumps after her to save her. After being looked after, they spend some time together and really get on; a few hours later Wallace is tranquilised, as he watches two strange men take Esther away. The dark underbelly of Sin City is up to its old tricks again, except this time they're going to have to try and deal with a professional. It doesn't turn out well.

A nice end to this terrific series as a trained professional navigates around the peculiarities and conspiracies of Sin City to get Esther back. Ultimately despite some diverse characterisations this series could be criticised for its sexualised and possible perceived misogynist treatment of women, but in Miller's defence this city, this constructed world, is a world where sex is the main industry and the point of the city's being. In addition his distinctive artwork brought something special to this series, so special that the movies adhered to it. All-in-all one of the must-read books of the 20th century. Oh, and 9.5 out of 12 for this volume. Farwell Basin City.

2019 read

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this last album twice, once for the actual story and secondly trying to summon some of the enthusiasm I had for the start of the Sin City series. The best I could come up with is that Hell and Back is an improvement on albums five and six, but the storyline is a rehash of the standard Miller plot of one tough guy going on a rampage for a dame he just met and the artwork (the best selling point of sin city for me) is looking like a rough draft: unpolished, doodling lines, sketched characters instead of the clean, stark, daring poster quality of the beginning. Some panels are better than others, but unfortunately they are mostly the ones presenting nude women, which serves only to underline the lack of new ideas and the resort of the artist to cheap thrills.

This particular peeve with the artwork is the reason I decided not to include any screen caps in my review. (you can check my previous reviews for examples of the artwork) I feel I have given Miller one too many free passes for the dubious portrayal of all his feminine characters as wanton hookers with murderous instincts.

Briefly the plot has a badass former special forces soldier with artistic inclinations (he paints ‘classy’ nudes) rescuing a beautiful and scantily dressed lady from jumping off a cliff into the Pacific. Wallace is cut from the same broad cloth as Marv, Hartigan and Dwight. His bad luck is to come late on the scene and suffer a little in comparison with the tough guys that came before him. Esther is a bit passive, more damzel in distress than active participant in the plot, probably because she has to compete for attention with a couple of cold blooded killers that happen to have super hot bodies.

The album has a subtitle suggesting to the reader that this is a love story. Of course, a Sin City love story cannot be told without a brutal intrusion of the underworld into the niche the lovers try to carve for themselves in the corrupt town. Somebody kidnaps the voluptuous Esther and army boy Wallace must go through hell to get her back. All the usual suspects are present : corrupt cops, mafia bosses, assassins, the girls of Old Town, muscle cars, weapons of every design imaginable, drugs, conspiracy theories. Wallace speciality is unarmed combat, although towards the end, as the bad guys multiply, he goes full Rambo on them with knifes and machine guns and explosive devices. To make the story longer, there are two femmes fatales that try to seduce Wallace : one old acquaintance identified by the blue colour in her panels, named Delia, and a new one in orange wearing a skin tight leotard, named Maxine.

The highlight of this last album is a long sequence of Wallace hallucinating after he is pumped full of drugs by a third female foe. The importance of the section lies not only in the artwork and the occasional flash of humour, but in the homage paid by the artist to his sources of inspiration:
- Lone Wolf and Cub, the cult Japanese anime of a samurai and his child
- The album 300, also by Frank Miller and dealing with the Spartans at Thermopylae
- Hellboy
- Rambo
- Die Hard
- Robocop
- A couple of Marvel superheroes
- Dirty Harry
- A few more that sort of escaped my patchy pop culture education

The list above alone should be enough indication of the style embraced by Frank Miller in his seven album Sin City . The finale of the long journey is spectacular in its own ultraviolent and foul mouthed fashion, and I am not going to spoil it in my review. I will mention only that it leaves the door open for future albums, although for me the setting has just about worn out its welcome. It might be a good idea for the author to leave well enough alone and stop here, unless he can summon the energy and the creativity of the first couple of albums.

The four star rating here is mostly a general impression for the whole outfit, rather than the three I was considering for the last instalment.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miller pulls ANOTHER 4-star review from me in a surprising comeback. *slow clapping

Wallace is a veteran and an artist. He's polite and deadly.

I like him.

He meets a woman who's about to commit suicide by jumping off a building. Esther. He saves her and they go for drinks. They get to know each other. Just when they're about to have their first kiss, Wallace is shot with a tranquilizer dart and Esther is kidnapped.

Now Wallace must find Esther and bring down an evil human-trafficking ring...
....

This was great. I really liked the writing, the plot, and the illustrations. Miller has a lot of fun here by sending Wallace on a crazy drug trip in the middle of the book. He see's other cartoon characters, dinosaurs, everything. It goes on for pages and pages and it's very fun and creative.

The love story is also sweet. Wallace is just a great, stand-up guy and I had no problems with how he treated any females in the book. That's probably a first for me with Frank Miller.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The big finish seventh volume of Sin City, where Miller pulls out all the stops to create a long epic story. He slows down, so this is longer, but the pace serves a kind of operatic intention, a. . . big finish! So there's a long drug-induced sequence that brings in comics history and pop culture and different types of art, and color. . . as part of pulling out all the stops, part of the dramatic finish, putting in everything visually that he can think of. . . think of the orchestra of the opera building to a flourish, that crescendo.

And this story involves a highly likable character, Wallace, a veteran and an artist, who falls in love with and is dedicated to rescuing Esther, who has been kidnapped. He's a tremendous warrior at the same time sort of polite and subdued and understated in that macho way. We like the guy, so in the middle of all the razzmatazz we have an intimate story of chapters we come to care about. So this has all the broads and battles, the sex and violence of all the others, but it leads to an operatic romantic finish, complete with a big red heart for Valentine's Day! Turns out Miller is an old softie after all. Well, in this one and a few other volumes he proves he can make you care, move you.

True, it's not so directly connected to the other tales, as they so often are, so this in that sense stands kind of alone as a volume, but most of the motifs visually and narratively remain. It is common to say we mostly all hate Miller now, and I have been one of these haters, but this is one great series. It's not deep narrative, it's a swirl of brush and a curve of the hip as emblematic of this kind of work.

Sin City is a kind of parody of noir Las Vegas, but it is part of our popular conception of it, and is one that lives on, thanks to Miller, in our imagination.

[Mohamed Metwally · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final volume in the series, and it goes out with a story that is as good as the first volume, inbetween both volumes it felt repetitive doing the same story over and over again, all volumes were the same renditions of a guy going nuts over some gal after a quick encounter, and goes berzerk chasing after the bad guys, and this final volume was no exception, with Wallace and Esther as the final characters to be introduced to the story.

The series is not a linear timeline of events with a clear start and end, but rather several slice of life, somewhat intersecting stories that gives us a glimpse of how it to live in Basin City aka Sin City...

It was nice having some pages in color, the monochrome has been at some points throughout hard to decipher..

MiM

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

It appears that I have completed the Sin City saga with this volume. It may not be quite as mind blowing as the earlier volumes, but it is better than the past couple. Not that those were terrible, but this one returned closer to the roots of the series



If you are looking for the trippy-est volume of an already very trippy series, then you have found it. This one has some very odd twists and turns with one whole section from the point of view undergoing some serious drug hallucinations. You will have to pay close attention to be able to keep up with what is going on. But, if for some reason you can’t, just sit back and enjoy the ride!



The art has remained solid throughout the series. I appreciate any series where the artwork remains the same. I am not sure there is a one where I didn’t lose just a little interest when the primary artist changed. Also, the end of this volume has some alternative artwork from a variety of artists depicting scenes from throughout the series. Very cool!



If you like dark, edgy, and scandalous action and are a fan of graphic novels . . . and you haven’t read this series!?!?!? Well, why not!?

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Hell and Back” is the seventh and final volume in Frank Miller’s superb Sin City series and while it’s his longest Sin City book it’s also his most underwhelming. The plot centres around an ex-Navy SEAL turned artist called Wallace who saves a beautiful woman called Esther from drowning only to see her abducted. Incensed and in love, he sets out to save her from her captors.

In a poetic way, the last Sin City book mirrors the first: Marv and his search for Goldie’s killer, a woman he barely knew, and Wallace and Esther’s abductors, also a woman he barely knows. They’re both chivalrous knights in their own way and their single-minded quests are exciting and mesmerising for their singularity of purpose. But while “The Hard Goodbye” was a blistering and brutal read, “Hell and Back” is Sin City by-the-numbers which, rather than end the series with a bang, just kind of ends.

What is Sin City by-the-numbers? Cool car, protagonist who can fight like a god with a devil-may-care attitude, damsel in distress, lotsa violence (decapitations and the like) and shots of sexy women in revealing outfits (or none at all). Throw in corrupt cops with warped potato-like mugs, the familiar black and white artwork with singular colours like red or blue to offset the noir feel and emphasise a character or trait (usually on the women), and you’ve got your basic Sin City book.

But is this a bad thing? Generally no. I quite liked “Hell and Back”, it’s fun, it’s enjoyable, it holds up well after years of re-reading, and the full colour section where Wallace is on drugs and sees famous characters (Captain America, Rambo, Hagar the Horrible) or characters Miller created (the Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, and the shot of King Leonides of Sparta with a rifle – damn I want that on my wall!) are all highlights in the book. And even if it is a familiar story we’ve seen before, it’s a great story I’m happy to read again when it’s done this well – even if “Hell and Back” is the weakest in the Sin City books, it’s still head and shoulders above most comic books at their best.

My only complaint was the lack of meshing this book has with other Sin City books. One of the best qualities of this series was how each book’s story would mix with another book’s story so we would see a scene from “A Dame to Kill For” in “The Hard Goodbye”, or a scene from “Booze, Broads, and Bullets” in “The Big Fat Kill”. We see a few characters we’ve seen before in “Hell and Back” but they’re minor characters like the big nose bartender and Manute. There’s no Marv, no Dwight, no Old Town, no Kadie’s Bar – it’s doesn’t feel like this book is a conclusion of sorts. Maybe that’s not what it’s supposed to be but I always thought a final book in a series ought to acknowledge the journey it’s taken to get to the final book and either go all-out in terms of outdoing the stories it’s told before or try to include as many of the series’ characters for a kind of summation. Instead “Hell and Back” feels like another book in the series rather than the final one.

But those are minor gripes. The book is a great read and as action-packed and bombastic as every book in the series has been. While it doesn’t offer anything new to readers who’ve read the previous 6 books, it’s a solid story that’ll keep you hooked throughout. I wish I could say it’s the best way a series as brilliant as Sin City could bow out on but I can’t. Nevertheless, Sin City remains a masterpiece by one of the greatest comics writers/artists there ever was.

[فؤاد · Rating 4 out of 5]

آخرین جلد از مجموعه کمیک "شهر گناه" اثر نویسنده ی معروف "فرانک میلر".

این جلد نسبت به دو سه جلد قبلی خیلی بهتر بود. داستان خیلی خوبی داشت. چندتا از شخصیت هایی که تکلیفشون معلوم نشده بود توی کمیک های قبل، کمابیش تکلیفشون معلوم شد.
شخصیت اول این کمیک، خیلی بهتر از شخصیت اول بیشتر کمیک های قبلی (دوایت) بود. اگه به من بود، ترجیح میدادم این رو شخصیت اصلی بیشتر کمیک ها بکنم. حالت آروم و مهربان و درونگرا و هنرمند و کمابیش عارف مسلکش، مخصوصاً با موی سیاه بلند و ته ریش، خیلی دوست داشتنی بود.

[leynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sin City is a series of neo-noir comics. Writer-artist Frank Miller rose to fame within the American comics industry with his 1981–1983 work on Marvel Comics' Daredevil, and the 1986 DC Comics miniseries The Dark Knight Returns, both of which exhibited subtle elements of film noir. Miller's venture into the film noir genre would deepen with his creator-owned series Sin City, which began publishing in serialized form in 1991. In a 2016 interview with the Kubert School, Miller explained his inspiration for Sin City thus:

I've been a fanatic for a long time for old crime movies and old crime novels. But it started with the movies. And the old Cagney movies. Bogart and all that. I loved just how the morals of the stories are. They're all about right and wrong. But in Sin City in particular I wanted them all to happen to in a world where virtuous behavior was rare, which greatly resembled the world I lived in.

The film noir influence on the series' artwork is seen in its use of shadow and stark backgrounds. Black and white are the sole colors most of the time, with exception of red, yellow, blue, and pink, of which limited use is made in some stories to draw attention to particular characters. The writing style also draws heavily on detective and crime pulp fiction.

Miller's Sin City work challenges some conventions of comic book form. The letters of onomatopoeic words like "blam" are often incorporated into scenes via lighting effects, or are suggested by the negative space between panels, or are created by the outline of the panels themselves.

Basin City, almost universally referred to by the nickname "Sin City", is a fictional town in the American west. Because a large majority of the residents of Basin City are criminals, there are several organizations and cartels central to the stories who are vying for monopoly over the various criminal enterprises in the city.

Hell and Back is the longest of the Sin City stories, spanning 9 issues. It tells the story of Wallace, an artist/war hero/short order cook who saves a suicidal woman named Esther. She likes his art and they go out for a drink. They are ambushed by two men, who drug Wallace and kidnap Esther. When Wallace recovers, he vows to find Esther and deal with those who kidnapped her.

Just like the other stories in the series, Hell and Back is just as stereotypical in its portrayal of men as “big, strong and overly protective creatures” and women as “damsels in distress who need saving”. As usual, the female characters are drawn in an overly sexualized manner and there are nearly no panels in which their breasts aren’t their predominant feature.

So, there are a lot of things to dislike in these comic books but I honestly don’t care. I absolutely love the Sin City stories. Frank Miller’s art style is not from this world and I could lose myself looking at his drawings for days on end. Sure, his stories aren’t the most original but from time to time I simply enjoy reading a fun and action-packed tale for which I don’t need all of my brain cells. That’s just how it is.

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sin City, Vol. 7: Hell and Back: Treads very familiar territory
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Hell and Back is the seventh and final volume in Frank Miller’s SIN CITY series . The artwork is still dramatic, and the story and characters are hard-boiled, dark, and intense. The bad guys are nasty, and the femme fatales have curves that kill (literally, almost). Of course we have the loner anti-hero tough guy, a lethal weapon who isn’t looking for trouble, but trouble seeks him out. We’ve got all the familiar elements of a Frank Miller Sin City story. And that’s either great if you like this formula, or a bit tiresome if you were looking for something new.

Having read all seven volumes now, it’s clear what kind of story Miller likes to tell, and with the exception of the dreadful Vol 5: Family Values , he does it pretty well. His black-and-white artwork and noir style really was fresh and exciting when it first came out, but it hasn’t really evolved all that much. Much of Hell and Back retreads familiar ground, with the exception of a very vivid hallucinatory dream sequence that provides Miller an excuse to pay tribute to many of his favorite characters such as the Spartans from 300, Lone Wolf & Cub, Captain America, Rambo, Astro Boy, Dirty Harry, Moses, Robocop, even Dr. Seuss.



I enjoyed Hell and Back , but I think Miller has said all he needed to say in the first four volumes, The Hard Goodbye, A Dame to Kill For, The Big Fat Kill, and That Yellow Bastard. Booze, Broads, & Bullets was good because it was short vignettes, but again resembled earlier story elements. So I think you’d be fine just enjoying the first four volumes, as they also benefit from having been incorporated into the two Sin City films, because it’s a lot of fun to compare the artwork of the comics and the movies.

Hell and Back concerns a former Navy Seal named Wallace who is now a starving artist. One day he saves a woman named Esther who tries to throw herself off a cliff into the sea. When he rescues her, he discovers she is embroiled in a whole lot of weird underground criminal business, and he then encounters femme fatale number one, Delia the blue-clad sexy assassin. In case that isn’t enough, there is another skin-tight leopard-patterned lady named Maxine to make things more interesting. Then there are the usual thugs, crooked cops, and assassins to crank up the action, and Wallace goes from quiet slacker-guy with Converse shoes and long hair to invincible one-man killing machine. We’ve been here before, right? It’s all done fairly well, and this is the longest Sin City story, but it really doesn’t blaze any new trails, so I recommend it for die-hard fans and completists only.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this last volume was a decent closure to the series. This recurring theme of "damsel in distress is saved by hard-boiled man" started getting old after the third (or forth?) time it's used in Sin-City and I guess Miller understood that too. Art is nice (no way compared to the first volumes).

The whole series lacks a strong female character who isn't bad though. I wouldn't go that far as to say it's misogynist, but we all know Miller's aversion on creating strong women who are strong from within and not because sometime in their life were raped, or are whores, or assassins, or serial killers, or...

In conclusion, it's one of the top shelf noir series out there, no doubt about that.

[Jesse A · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great final volume. A top notch slow burner. Fantastic!

[Vinicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sin City de Volta ao Inferno, conclui de maneira satisfatória toda a séria criada por Miller ao longo dos 7 encadernados. Essa edição também funciona como um espaço em que Miller se deleita ao fazer seus desenhos e utilizar de cores estupendas que dão vida aos traços, diferenciando bem das edições anteriores. Além disso, nessa ultima edição, Miller pode trazer referencias de outras obras que ele fez e misturar com o clima de Sin City, deixando boas referências aos fãs.

Se tratando da história, temos um protagonista novo. Seu nome é Wallace, um ex-veterano de guerra, que inclusive fora condecorado com medalhas por seu serviço prestado ao país. Wallace nos é apresentado logo nas primeiras paginas mostrando seu lado heroico e digno (algo peculiar em Sin City), pois ele salva uma moça – que ele nem conhece - que se jogou de um penhasco.

Entretanto, após salvar a moça, ele se apaixona por ela, e vive o amor a primeira vista por alguns momentos, até a moça ser sequestrada por 2 capangas. É nesse momento que a trama engata o seu lado mais sombrio e investigativo, com Wallace entrando de cabeça para descobrir quem são os sequestradores e porque estão atras de Esther. O que Wallace não esperava, é que um sequestro aleatório fazia parte de toda uma rede do crime do submundo de Sin City.

Conforme a trama avança, nós vemos Wallace em ação, sendo uma espécie de Rambo e justificando sua medalha, pois ele realmente é o significado de “exercito de um homem só”. No avanço de suas investigações, ele vai descobrindo toda uma conspiração por trás do sequestro, tornando a trama ainda mais apreensiva.

A HQ está recheada de ação e conta com participações incríveis de Femme fatales que vimos anteriormente, sendo exploradas de maneira bem bacana durante a trama. O roteiro não é o melhor da série, mas prende o leitor até o fim, só esperando o resultado da jornada de Wallace até Esther.

Acredito que, além de uma história noir, esse ultimo volume também é um romance, trabalhando uma paixão à primeira vista, mostrando Wallace enfrentando tudo de ruim para encontrar sua amada.

Ademais, o nome De Volta ao Inferno, me faz refletir se esse inferno que Wallace retorna ao embarcar na sua jornada de resgate, seria uma analogia ao inferno que ele viveu na guerra.

[André · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sin city series ends with Hell and Back, a larger volume compared to the previous tales. First published by Dark Horse Comics in July 1999–April 2000, this final volume presents another new story and brings a new and interesting Protagonist.

Wallace, the Protagonist, is a war veteran whose talents range martial arts, meditation and arts.


The Protagonist saves a suicidal woman named Esther. Both share an interest in art and go out for a drink. Like in past stories, Basin city is unpredictable, and something vile has to happen when least expected. Everything looks fine until Wallace and Esther are ambushed by two unknown men, who drug Wallace and kidnap Esther.
Wallace's quest to find Esther is an epic final story with the usual violence and bizarre displays.

Delia, the blue dame also has her part in Wallace's quest. Deadly and manipulative, Delia is the opposite of Esther.


Miller, this time, conveys a slow-paced story about Wallace's tale. The story has its ups and downs when it comes to tempo. Wallace's hallucinations, for instance, was a slow tempo feature that made the story more remarkable compared to the previous works. One of the Protagonist's hallucinations morphs into various pop culture icons, including King Leonidas from Frank Miller's 300, Lone Wolf and Cub, an ED-209 droid from the RoboCop movies, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Captain America, Dirty Harry, John Rambo, Martha Washington from Give Me Liberty, Hägar the Horrible and even Hellboy. The originality of this detail is something that I really enjoyed in the middle of the novel.
The author finally wrote an ending with positive outcomes, probably a deep reference to the positive side of Basin city.
Overall, Miller ended his series with an exciting and entertaining story. In my opinion, the series could have ended in the sixth volume, but, it's the seventh volume that delivers a positive conclusion to the tainted town stories.

Rating: 4/5 stars

[Ben Winch]

Say now, for what it was this little piece of retro cinematic noir-pulp wasn’t bad. I love the use of frame (every page a different pattern, with bodies arched splayed spreadeagled across it) and the art, though primitive (not to say hamfisted) in many ways, packs more of a punch than comics I’ve seen by artists, at first glance, far more proficient. The power of story conjoined with pictures. The use of visuals to power story. And there’s a hallucination sequence in the middle that’s just gold, referencing Dirty Harry, the Cat in the Hat, Lone Wolf and Cub, and literally lighting the book with sudden colour – it’s stomach-churning and hilarious.

Only one thing: why oh why have comics gotten so dark, damn it? Granted, Miller’s book isn’t half so gratuitous as some of ’em (I bought a random selection from the discount bin recently and every title was soaked in gore, plus I’m reading The Invisibles and some of that just leaves me dirty) but cynical gothic apocalypse-conjuring seems to have the industry by the throat.

Still I like the mood here, the style, the timeless non-places (Basin City and environs, the Last Hope Hotel) where it’s set. Inspiring, but not something to take too seriously, dark as it may be at its core.

POSTSCRIPT

Having just read Sin City #1, which didn’t grab me like this one, and looked up Frank Miller online I have some reservations. First up (and this shows what a comics newb I am) Miller, far from being the young untrained indie talent I took him for, is an old pro from the seventies with famous Marvel and DC titles under his belt. Which doesn’t change the quality of the book of course, but does change my estimation of his talent. Not that I won’t be checking out more Miller, but I think I’ll give Sin City a rest for now, since that first issue was plenty bloodthirsty. A hooker-eating cannibal in league with a crooked priest? Please. I’m gonna go take a shower.

[Guido · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genial broche para el universo Sin City que a la vez no cierra nada porque cuenta el yarn más desconectado de todos los demás en la serie entera. Además de la belleza que es visualmente el tomo, muy pero muy buena la galería de personajes invitados que hay en las páginas-delirio. Robo la lista de una reseña que vi acá mismo y después la actualizo si en la próxima leída encuentro más:
· Un tiranosaurio rex
· La Legión de Superhéroes
· Lobo solitario y su cachorro
· Capitán América
· Rambo
· The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot
· Martha Washington
· Wonder Woman
· Dirty Harry
· Dios
· Robocop 2
· Dr. Seuss
· Lance Blastoff
· Gollum
· Olaf el Vikingo
· Hellboy
· El Zorro
· Elektra
· Una monja que quizás sea la mamá de Daredevil
· Una robot que quizás sea de las de Sorayama
Como extras incluye también una galería a color con las portadas originales y una PinUp Gallery con dibujos de:
Eduardo Barreto, Brian Bolland, Geof Darrow, Gary Gianni, Paul Grist, R.C. Harvey, Russ Heath, Gil Kane, Jason Pearson, Lynn Varley y Matt Wagner.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend trying to get this book in the individual comics because the covers and other miscellaneous art are the most enjoyable thing about this book. The story was typical for Sin City, so if you've read the other volumes you know what to expect. The sixth chapter was a nice detour from the norm, however, as our protagonist engages in a battle while drugged and the real-world actions are reflected in strange dreams.

I can't say I recommend this anymore than the other volumes of Sin City. Its my conclusion that a person should pick up a random volume of these series and read it, and that should be enough Sin City for one life time (unless, of course, you really enjoy the read.)

It's a shame that Miller's career ended with such a whimper, as I really enjoy his 80's work (Daredevil. especially Born Again; Ronin; and Batman.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Final Sin City arc and it goes out with a bang. Easier to empathize with characters, less gore fore gore’s sake and funnier at times (Wallace’s coloured hallucinations are a riot)- but still utterly dark and violent with a lesson in storytelling.
It might be the second best volume after the first one.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get into this and honestly I liked all the other volumes, but I didn't feel anything for the characters. Mostly new characters and the use of color just made this not seem enjoyable as the other previous volumes.

[catherine ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The wackiest one out of all of them — I really liked suddenly seeing all those panels in full color; against Miller's typically harsh black-and-white style, the trippiness of the new style really came through. Compared to the other books though, this plot certainly isn't my favorite.

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is amazing. The story is sleazy and straightforward, but has enough quirks not to be boring. Not as bleak as the other Sin City stories.

[Pavel Pravda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rozloučení ve velkém stylu! Poslední díl Sin City je pěkný špalík a ukazuje nám tohle prohnilé město opět z jiného úhlu pohledu. Ta kniha má úplně jinou atmosféru, než předešlé knihy. Ne horší, ale jinou. Není to jenom tím, kam se posunula Millerova kresba od "Drsnýho sbohem". Ani to není jenom tím, že se zde děj často odehrává ve dne. Je to zejména tím, že hlavní postavou je slušňák, nesměle působící mladík s vizáží Ježíše, který nechodí do stejných pajzlů jako Marv, neplatí si štětky, dobře vychází se svou dobrotivou domácí a řádně platí nájem. To skoro ani nezní jako Sin City, že? Ale nikdy nic není tak, jak se může na první pohled zdát, a ještě než všichni hráči odhalí své karty, tak se čtenář nestačí divit. Když se to potom zvrhne, a buďte si jistí, že se to ošklivě zvrhne, tak zažijete jízdu, kterou jste se Sin City dosud nezažili. Tohle je mnohem vyšší hra, než nějaká pomsta holek ze starého města. Tam se ostatně v této knize vůbec nepodíváte. Přesto je tato kniha svůdnější a erotičtější než všechny předchozí díly. Ženské se tady Frankovi opravdu povedly, radost pohledět. Po předchozí knize jsem se bál, jestli si Frank na poslední knihu ještě něco nechal. Jestli mu nedošla inspirace. Jsem hrozně rád, že moje obavy byly liché. Takhle se má, sakra, zakončovat série! Dokonalost!

"Nic vám tak nenaruší soustředění jako oslnivě krásná nymfomanka."

K hodnocení poslední knihy série přidám i ohodnocení zpracování této edice s bílými obálkami. Pár let mě žralo, že jsem zaváhal s “Kurva velkým Sin City”. Zvláště pak vždy, když jsem sledoval dokumentární film o Lemmy Kilmisterovi z Motörhead, ve kterém tam on listuje americkou verzí “Big Damn Sin City”. Mimochodem, dovede si představit scénu, ve které by Lemmy klábosil s Marvem na baru nad lahvemi Jacka? Když to Comics Centrum vydávalo, tak jsem byl tenkrát přesvědčený, že tak drahé komiksy si nikdy kupovat nebudu. Kdybych tenkrát tušil… Takže nyní mám kompletní sérii Sin City v malém formátu a jsem za to rád. Millerově kresbě plně dostačuje malý formát a je to pohodlnější na čtení. Navíc ty bílé obálky jsou úžasné. Chybí jim už jenom podpis Franka Millera. Přebaly jsou z velmi tvrdého papíru, který je lakovaný na rubu, ale na venek je matný a působí to na omak velmi dobře. Navíc s povděkem kvituji, že Comics Centrum konečně začalo dávat na desky stejný obrázek, jaký je na přebalu.

[Luis Reséndiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

en contra tiene que es un volumen cuyo argumento es casi idéntico al de, por ejemplo, a dame to kill for. pero en serio idéntico, con la salvedad de que el protagonista aquí es wallace --una especie de trasunto de dwight. otra cosa en contra: como todos los volúmenes de sin city (y como mucho del noir, también), es profundamente machista --a veces borda la autoparodia, incluso, quién sabe si voluntaria. otro posible defecto --o quizá solo soy yo-- es que la resolución de todo el caso, que se antojaba ominoso, intrincado, infernal es sencilla, deusexmachinosa y un tanto insatisfactoria.

a favor, por otro lado, está el hecho de que el arte de miller alcanza aquí de nuevo buenos momentos, puntos altos que si bien no llegan a lo mejor de su trabajo sí se encuentran en un lugar digno. hay un momento especialmente bueno, en el que la paleta de colores cambia de blanco y negro contrastadísimo (la norma en sin city) a full color híper saturado. la razón es que es un "viaje sicodélico" (miller tiene la imaginación de un tío católico de ochenta y siete años a la hora de recrear los efectos de las drogas) experimentado por el protagonista pero que le sirve a miller de elogio autoreferencial a buena parte de su carrera --sale elektra, por ejemplo, y ronin, y algunas otras cosas más-- y que, todo sea dicho, resulta bastante simpático.

otra cosa padre es que la trama visita --nomás por encimita, no esperemos ninguna referencia culta de miller-- la divina comedia. eso está allí en el viaje sicodélico que describo pero, también y más afortunadamente, en el título: hell and back. un volumen más que digno para acabar sin city, la neta.

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell and Back is probably the best of the Sin City volumes. Instead of telling a story of hideous corruption (which it certainly includes) and dark resignation, Hell and Back tells the story of moving past Sin City, effectively offering a more hopeful ending for those who have read from the start.

Wallace is an ex-soldider with a heart of gold. He saves a woman, Esther, from suicide only to get far more than he bargained for when he ends up drugged, and her kidnapped the following day. What follows is a hunt down the dark rabbit hole of conspiracy. Human trafficking, sex slavery, the black market of organ selling... any number of things. Wallace is cutting to the heart of it to save the woman he loves. For once, Sin City might just get left behind at the end of it all.

This volume told the most cohesive story, and also offered up some of the most bizarre asides. Here we get the full-color drug trip, the twisting road of conspiracies and the knowledge such things might just always exist. Here we have a hero with a heart of gold, and more, the brains to not fall for so stupid a trap but rather to set his own. It's a satisfying volume, and a fine send off to the series. Well worth the read - it also would make a killer film.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review in English • en Français • en Español

A fantastic end to the Sin City saga. We meet a new hero, not crazy and erratic like Marv, he’s more of a zen killer. It’s subject matter is much less frivolous than other volumes and the tone is darker. The graphic novel makes great use of multiple graphic devices to depict its story. Absolutely gorgeous drawings and great story.
—
Une très bonne fin à la série de Sin City. On rencontre un nouvel héros, pas fou ou erratique comme Marv, il est plutôt un tueur zen. La thématique est moins frivole que dans d’autres volumes de la série, le ton est plus sombre. Le roman graphique fait une bonne utilisation de plusieurs outils de dessin pour représenter son histoire. Très beaux dessins et excellente histoire.
—
Un excelente fin para la serie de Sin City. Nos introducen un nuevo héroe, no loco o errático como Marv, es sobretodo un asesino zen. La temática es menos ligera que en otros volúmenes, el tono es mas lúgubre. La novela gráfica hace buen usage de varias técnicas para representar su historia. Asombrosos dibujos y una historia bien armada.

[Benji's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Miller's Sin City comes to an end with what I believe to be the best story since the Hard Goodbye (volume 1). It's dark, slick and full of everything that made the series great to begin with. Sad that it's come to an end, but happy it didn't overstay its welcome like some series do.

𝘉𝘰𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨...

[J K · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last one, sniff. Great fun as here they let loose with a trippy sequence with loads of cameos, and colour that reminds me of the Ghost in the Shell's manga colourising. So, as usual, beautiful, savage, pure pulp wonderfulness from 1990s era Frank Miller.

[Tropo Alegro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Viaje multicameístico oníricogenital que cierra el universo de Sin City dejando la puerta abierta dejando un reguero de homenajes y trampas en el camino.

[Mohammad Aboomar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series sure closed with a bang!