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Criminal: Special Edition #2
Criminal
It's been ten years since BRUBAKER and PHILLIPS' launched their hit series and to celebrate they're returning to the world of CRIMINAL for one of their darkest and strangest tales yet.
Teeg and Tracy Lawless co-star in this one-shot, a twisted 70s noir about a father and son on the run.
Also includes articles, illustrations, and behind-thescenes extras.
Teeg and Tracy Lawless co-star in this one-shot, a twisted 70s noir about a father and son on the run.
Also includes articles, illustrations, and behind-thescenes extras.
63 pages
First published February 25, 2015
7 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Ed Brubaker
1,816 books3,059 followersEd Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 5, 2025
10/31/25: I reread this last night as we read crime comics for my Fall 2025 Detective Fiction class, and it is as sweet and heart-breaking as I remember it. The story of a criminal on the road to get revenge on his partner, taking his twelve-year-old son along to drive, do odd jobs with him.
8/15/16, original review: Ten years after Criminal had apparently finished its run, Brubaker returned to the world of Tracy Lawless and Teeg, though the focus here is on a twisted and sad story of twelve- year-old Tracy accompanying his (criminal) Dad on one of his jobs. Hey, it's dark noir, so be prepared for bad stuff to happen. But also sweet and sad happens, too, in this back-story special issue.
Along the way, Tracy reads a chessy, pulpy comic, Fang: The Kung Fu Werewolf (drawn for us in fifties/sixties pulp fashion by Phillips), which connects with the main story as in the comic within a comic in Alan Moore's Watchmen. Reading the comic gives him an opportunity, too, to connect with a girl in the town where Dear Daddy Does his central Dastardly job.
The story is somewhat reminiscent of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's Lone Wolf and Cub series, where a Samurai wanders the earth with his infant son, killing for hire, and Road to Perdition, which (inspired by that series) also features a criminal Dad with his young son driving for him and also reading comics along the way.The importance of doing crime while reading comics to the formative youth is key here (which you may know was true of the once juvenile delinquent Brubaker, reading comics that rescued him from the gutter. As he says in another title, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies).
Brubaker and Phillips apparently can do no wrong. I loved it. Loved the Bad Dad. Loved the boy Tracy, whom we can see was brought up by his Dad to become what we already know he'll become in the Criminal series. So this is a flashback to a somewhat sweeter time? Cuz that girl? More Criminal, I say!
8/15/16, original review: Ten years after Criminal had apparently finished its run, Brubaker returned to the world of Tracy Lawless and Teeg, though the focus here is on a twisted and sad story of twelve- year-old Tracy accompanying his (criminal) Dad on one of his jobs. Hey, it's dark noir, so be prepared for bad stuff to happen. But also sweet and sad happens, too, in this back-story special issue.
Along the way, Tracy reads a chessy, pulpy comic, Fang: The Kung Fu Werewolf (drawn for us in fifties/sixties pulp fashion by Phillips), which connects with the main story as in the comic within a comic in Alan Moore's Watchmen. Reading the comic gives him an opportunity, too, to connect with a girl in the town where Dear Daddy Does his central Dastardly job.
The story is somewhat reminiscent of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's Lone Wolf and Cub series, where a Samurai wanders the earth with his infant son, killing for hire, and Road to Perdition, which (inspired by that series) also features a criminal Dad with his young son driving for him and also reading comics along the way.The importance of doing crime while reading comics to the formative youth is key here (which you may know was true of the once juvenile delinquent Brubaker, reading comics that rescued him from the gutter. As he says in another title, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies).
Brubaker and Phillips apparently can do no wrong. I loved it. Loved the Bad Dad. Loved the boy Tracy, whom we can see was brought up by his Dad to become what we already know he'll become in the Criminal series. So this is a flashback to a somewhat sweeter time? Cuz that girl? More Criminal, I say!
October 23, 2018
Ten years ago this October, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips launched what would become their signature series, Criminal. This week the team release the extra-long Criminal 10th Anniversary Special to celebrate this milestone featuring the recurring characters of the Lawless family. Oh, and a Kung Fu Werewolf too. Need I say that this is another home-run for Brubaker/Phillips?
When Criminal moved to Image last year they released a special issue, The Savage Sword of Criminal, which followed Teeg Lawless as he battled to survive behind bars interspersed with pages from an X-rated Conan the Barbarian-type comic he was reading. This issue picks up where that special ended with Teeg released from prison but still continuing his criminal lifestyle, this time with his son, Tracy, in tow. Now the story is told from Tracy’s perspective with pages from a pulpy ‘70s comic he’s reading – Deadly Hands featuring Fang the Kung Fu Werewolf! – mixed in.
It’s the summer of 1979 and the star of the second Criminal volume, Tracy Lawless, is a kid being dragged across the country by his violent and crazy father, Teeg. The issue opens with a gas station robbery/assault, instantly grabbing the reader’s attention, and we’re off! Though Teeg has a mission to accomplish (knock off a couple of chatty druggies), the issue is about Tracy’s sad childhood and the brief respite of happiness at being a kid that he gets when he meets Gabby, another lonely youngster, after the two become friends.
The Kung Fu Werewolf stuff is done in the melodramatic ‘70s comics style that the creative team are obviously enamoured with, probably because that’s the era the two grew up in. The story of Dane Draven, an awkward young man who transforms into the martial arts lycanthrope vigilante Fang eerily parallels Tracy’s life as he also hides a dark secret from Gabby: he and his father’s outlaw lifestyle. Brubaker effortlessly channels the cheesy narrative style, contrasting it with modern comics’ storytelling style and the grittier noir tone of Tracy’s story.
Brubaker’s characterisation of Tracy is superb showing us how fast the kid’s had to grow up because of his dad and the effects that’s had on him: having to think quickly to save innocents from Teeg’s brutality, tamping down his emotions to stop from being hurt, the loneliness of his existence, and having to find ways to look after himself because no-one else will do it for him. It’s a heart-breaking story beautifully told as only a writer as talented as Ed Brubaker could write it.
Sean Phillips’ artwork is as accomplished as ever, though, as most of the story takes place during the daytime, he scales back the noir look for this issue. His characters’ facial expressions are unnervingly realistic while he effortlessly recreates the corny ‘70s-era look of those comics. Like in all of the Brubaker/Phillips titles she colours, Elizabeth Breitweiser’s work is first class, bringing 1979 to life on the page.
One of the great aspects of the Criminal series is that it can be read in any sequence so even if you’ve not read this title before you can pick up and enjoy the utterly compelling 10th Anniversary Special (though I also highly recommend checking out every Criminal book you can find!). This one’s a fittingly grim yet whacky celebration of this excellent series that fans will enjoy the most. It’s also a love letter to comics as a medium and their powerful and lasting impact on kids and the adults they become - It’d be criminal to miss this issue!
Thanks to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips for 10 years of Criminal - here's to many more!
When Criminal moved to Image last year they released a special issue, The Savage Sword of Criminal, which followed Teeg Lawless as he battled to survive behind bars interspersed with pages from an X-rated Conan the Barbarian-type comic he was reading. This issue picks up where that special ended with Teeg released from prison but still continuing his criminal lifestyle, this time with his son, Tracy, in tow. Now the story is told from Tracy’s perspective with pages from a pulpy ‘70s comic he’s reading – Deadly Hands featuring Fang the Kung Fu Werewolf! – mixed in.
It’s the summer of 1979 and the star of the second Criminal volume, Tracy Lawless, is a kid being dragged across the country by his violent and crazy father, Teeg. The issue opens with a gas station robbery/assault, instantly grabbing the reader’s attention, and we’re off! Though Teeg has a mission to accomplish (knock off a couple of chatty druggies), the issue is about Tracy’s sad childhood and the brief respite of happiness at being a kid that he gets when he meets Gabby, another lonely youngster, after the two become friends.
The Kung Fu Werewolf stuff is done in the melodramatic ‘70s comics style that the creative team are obviously enamoured with, probably because that’s the era the two grew up in. The story of Dane Draven, an awkward young man who transforms into the martial arts lycanthrope vigilante Fang eerily parallels Tracy’s life as he also hides a dark secret from Gabby: he and his father’s outlaw lifestyle. Brubaker effortlessly channels the cheesy narrative style, contrasting it with modern comics’ storytelling style and the grittier noir tone of Tracy’s story.
Brubaker’s characterisation of Tracy is superb showing us how fast the kid’s had to grow up because of his dad and the effects that’s had on him: having to think quickly to save innocents from Teeg’s brutality, tamping down his emotions to stop from being hurt, the loneliness of his existence, and having to find ways to look after himself because no-one else will do it for him. It’s a heart-breaking story beautifully told as only a writer as talented as Ed Brubaker could write it.
Sean Phillips’ artwork is as accomplished as ever, though, as most of the story takes place during the daytime, he scales back the noir look for this issue. His characters’ facial expressions are unnervingly realistic while he effortlessly recreates the corny ‘70s-era look of those comics. Like in all of the Brubaker/Phillips titles she colours, Elizabeth Breitweiser’s work is first class, bringing 1979 to life on the page.
One of the great aspects of the Criminal series is that it can be read in any sequence so even if you’ve not read this title before you can pick up and enjoy the utterly compelling 10th Anniversary Special (though I also highly recommend checking out every Criminal book you can find!). This one’s a fittingly grim yet whacky celebration of this excellent series that fans will enjoy the most. It’s also a love letter to comics as a medium and their powerful and lasting impact on kids and the adults they become - It’d be criminal to miss this issue!
Thanks to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips for 10 years of Criminal - here's to many more!
December 8, 2015
Last year Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, among the comics world’s finest creative teams, signed a unique five year deal with Image: green light their own projects while retaining complete creative freedom and of course all rights to their work. It’s exciting not just because of the nature of the deal but because their first book for Image was The Fade Out which is my new favourite of their many collaborations. And if that’s the first who knows what we’re going to see in the coming years?
Read the full review over at Need to Consume here!
Read the full review over at Need to Consume here!
February 23, 2017
Ten years ago last October, Brubaker and Phillips returned to the crime comics and the heavy noir that really solidified the pairs long standing artistic relationship. This is Taeg and Tracy on the road, and it really focuses around Fang, The Kung Fu Werewolf and Tracy's search for Fang and friendship. The story is dark with the normal sex and violence, but he core of the story is built around a vintage comic from the 1950s and 1960s, mimicking the supernatural comics before the Silver and Bronze Age. Phillips is adapt at being an artistic chameleon for the styles of different eras.
Tracy and Teeg's body language is even correct from Brubaker-Philips, Tracy is compact and guarded, Teeg is just as guarded but bristling aggressively. The feel of 70s seems to be a particular strength for Brubaker and Philip's work.
Tracy and Teeg's body language is even correct from Brubaker-Philips, Tracy is compact and guarded, Teeg is just as guarded but bristling aggressively. The feel of 70s seems to be a particular strength for Brubaker and Philip's work.
April 29, 2016
I'd never read the series, Criminal, by Brubaker but was intrigued by the special edition cover and the fact that part of the story involved the search by a young kid for a comic book.
It's the 1970s and Teeg & Tracy Lawless on on the road. Teeg is a small-time enforcer, who takes his son Tracy on his next assignment. Along the way, Teeg buys his son a comic book for his birthday. Fascinated by the book, a spoof of some the 'martial arts' and supernatural books put out by Marvel comics at the time, Tracy goes against his father's orders and befriends a girl his own age who says the can help him find more issues. Things go wrong, as they always do in these sort of things.
I'm interested enough in the characters that I'm tempted now to pick up some of the earlier issues of the book to see where they go from here. Solid writing by Ed Brubaker and nice art by Sean Phillips.
It's the 1970s and Teeg & Tracy Lawless on on the road. Teeg is a small-time enforcer, who takes his son Tracy on his next assignment. Along the way, Teeg buys his son a comic book for his birthday. Fascinated by the book, a spoof of some the 'martial arts' and supernatural books put out by Marvel comics at the time, Tracy goes against his father's orders and befriends a girl his own age who says the can help him find more issues. Things go wrong, as they always do in these sort of things.
I'm interested enough in the characters that I'm tempted now to pick up some of the earlier issues of the book to see where they go from here. Solid writing by Ed Brubaker and nice art by Sean Phillips.
May 29, 2016
I wouldn't say it's nice to see Tracy and Teeg again, seeing as how sad their lives seem to be, but I like seeing a little more to their respective backstories.
This is mostly about twelve year old Tracy accompanying his Dad on one of his jobs, and it's a fairly grim story as you'd expect from Brubaker and Phillips.
The art as usual is fantastic, I love Fang, The Kung Fu Werewolf (it makes sense in context) and the old-timey art style used.
Tracy is drawn in a hunched over style for the most part, like he's constantly in a defensive mode, except in the few moments of happiness he's allowed.
This is a great addition to the Criminal series. As long as Brubaker and Phillips keep making 'em, I'll keep reading.
This is mostly about twelve year old Tracy accompanying his Dad on one of his jobs, and it's a fairly grim story as you'd expect from Brubaker and Phillips.
The art as usual is fantastic, I love Fang, The Kung Fu Werewolf (it makes sense in context) and the old-timey art style used.
Tracy is drawn in a hunched over style for the most part, like he's constantly in a defensive mode, except in the few moments of happiness he's allowed.
This is a great addition to the Criminal series. As long as Brubaker and Phillips keep making 'em, I'll keep reading.
May 1, 2016
A solid and gut wrenching story. This isn't your average father and son story, but rather a relationship between the two based on mistrust and manipulation. This is actually my introduction to Criminal and for a noob, this special anniversary edition was easy to get into. There's a sense of tension and mystery that runs throughout the story. In the end it's a story of loss and the realization that the son is far older and wiser than his age by realizing the cruelty and brutality of his life and how he'll never be allowed to have nice things. Stability and normalcy are completely out of the picture. Now time to dive into the rest of the series!
April 30, 2016
Brubaker blessed the day when Criminal got the green light and since it's publication readers have been blessing Brubaker & Phillips for making this gem of a noir comic. This publication is no exception, really impressive on all fronts, and makes a true celebration of the 10th anniversary although the content is pretty grim (as it should be ;-) ).
May 29, 2017
Had this in "To Read" stack for awhile, kept forgetting about it. I had the prior Special Edition Issue, kind of knew what to expect with the "comic-within-a-comic" gimmick. Glad to report this was quality. I was a pop-culture child in 70s, this nails all the common themes of the time. The 70s-feel detail in the art panels is appreciated too. Brubaker captures the Drive-In Movie Theatre mood of the time, people-on-the-run, post Manson Murders. you were suspicious of all transients, lol. oddly, this issue has no Hitch-hiking, which was a huge fad back then. This issue holds up with the rest of the Brubaker-Phillips Noir Cannon. You will like it even more if you lived in that era and read the over-sized adventure-fantasy- comic treasury books.
February 27, 2020
Somehow I got some free money on Amazon but only towards Kindle books, and I've always wanted to read this being such a fan of the original series.
Once again, this team is stellar, pulling the reader in quickly to the story. You follow through the eyes of a young boy who is forced to accompany and help his dad commit a crime. The art isn't quite as nuanced and clean as their two most recent series, nonetheless, still above most of what is out there.
It's a nice dip back in the pool, but you can't stay long because they are closing. Just makes you want to come back for even more.
Once again, this team is stellar, pulling the reader in quickly to the story. You follow through the eyes of a young boy who is forced to accompany and help his dad commit a crime. The art isn't quite as nuanced and clean as their two most recent series, nonetheless, still above most of what is out there.
It's a nice dip back in the pool, but you can't stay long because they are closing. Just makes you want to come back for even more.
February 25, 2018
This whole series is a five-star reading experience, and this outing has sat criminally (ahem) unread on my Kindle for nearly two years in hopes that by the time I got to it, there'd be more installments to read. No such luck, but this Teeg and Taylor road trip offering is a great little crime tale.
September 29, 2023
Piques interest
Criminal anniversary edition piques interest of a first time reader. The refreshing artwork captures the vibe of that era perfectly and the story leaves you wanting for more
Criminal anniversary edition piques interest of a first time reader. The refreshing artwork captures the vibe of that era perfectly and the story leaves you wanting for more
December 24, 2022
I love Criminal. This one was sitting in my pile for a couple years I think. It was fun.
April 29, 2016
10th Anniversary Special Edition of "Criminal" gets a bit more flesh around the characters. Again, we're in the past. Again, we have Teeg, again we can see him with his son. Again, we have comic within comic. All the same as earlier Special Edition. Also, this issue is an intro to the Volume 7 which will be released this year.
Because of all that, 10th anniversary edition is the least imaginative issue of Criminal of them all. It all seems a bit repetitive. The soul of the issue is the quest of Tracy Lawless for another issue of the comic he discovered on the road, together with the friendship with a young girl. But, he isn't allowed to have friends. His life should be the life of secluded criminal. His father will see to it. We can see why... He doesn't want his new friend to be caught in the crossfire. Everybody around Lawlesses die. He doesn't want that for her. There is only one possible way for their relationship to end.
Will Tracy become Teeg in the future? Will two of them ever meet?
Maybe we'll see that in the upcoming issue.
Because of all that, 10th anniversary edition is the least imaginative issue of Criminal of them all. It all seems a bit repetitive. The soul of the issue is the quest of Tracy Lawless for another issue of the comic he discovered on the road, together with the friendship with a young girl. But, he isn't allowed to have friends. His life should be the life of secluded criminal. His father will see to it. We can see why... He doesn't want his new friend to be caught in the crossfire. Everybody around Lawlesses die. He doesn't want that for her. There is only one possible way for their relationship to end.
Will Tracy become Teeg in the future? Will two of them ever meet?
Maybe we'll see that in the upcoming issue.
July 6, 2016
you should know a thing about me. it's that i love a good noir yarn. these guys have a special bond kind of like Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb. i really didn't see the ending coming. which makes me think they are masters of pacing. the book being so well paced that the ending occurred before i had a chance to see that it was coming. i love the meta narration of having the comic book within the comic book. this is only my second reading of Brubaker and Sean Phillips Criminal so i don't know if they do that in every one, but i'm going to find out. because i'm going to go get every one of their Criminal books. See also their work on The Fade Out.
May 21, 2015
This was a nice idea for a single issue of criminal. They combined the pulp world of fantasy comics with the pulp world of criminals. It was about Lawless in prison, reading comics, but it worked really well. It was a nice little vinegette.
March 22, 2015
Fun look at an interlude with Teef Lawless, a pivotal but minor character in the Criminal world. I liked the story within a story and the creative storyline. It is a good taste of what the team can put together.
January 18, 2017
I picked this up for 300 yen, based on the blurb comparing it to to Scorsese.
It was great. The drawings were engaging, there was tension and mystery in the story, and although it is quite sure, you could feel empathy for the characters.
Ill keep my eye out for more of their work.
It was great. The drawings were engaging, there was tension and mystery in the story, and although it is quite sure, you could feel empathy for the characters.
Ill keep my eye out for more of their work.
January 20, 2017
4.5/5.0
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews