The Crow: Flesh & Blood

The Crow (Kitchen Sink Press)

by James Vance, James O'Barr (Illustrator), Alex Maleev (Illustrator)

In the midst of a rural land-rights struggle, federal conservation officer Iris Shaw is murdered in a bombing by a rag-tag band of right-wing activists. Little do her killers know that Iris wasn't their only victim and now, with the help of the Crow, Iris must exact vengeance not only for her own death but also that of her unborn baby. Raised from her grave and armed with cold-blooded hatred and a few deadly weapons, Iris hunts down her killers one by one. But if exacting ultimate pain is the goal, when does vengeance cross the line to brutality? And what is the price to the soul?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Urban Fantasy, Comic Book

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Award-winning writer whose career has embraced forms ranging from graphic novels to live theater and journalism.
His 1988 graphic novel Kings in Disguise (with artist Dan Burr) was honored with the Eisner and Harvey awards -the Oscars of their field- and its reissue in 2006 was hailed as one of that year's ten top comics events by Time.com. His other comics work includes the whimsical Mr. Hero adventure series, and stories for the Batman, Aliens and Predator franchises.
A multiple winner of national awards for playwriting, he was commissioned to write the drama "Halls of Ivory" as an official event of the Bicentennial Celebration of the United States Constitution. His play "Stations" was chosen to represent the United States at the International Theater Festival in Monte Carlo.
He was commissioned to write a monograph in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution touring exhibit "Climbing Jacob's Ladder," and his script for the related television documentary "Hope is the Last Thing to Die" was honored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
In collaboration with his late wife Kate Worley, he has written a novel for the mystery market, and is presently at work on a new book in a similar vein. Working with artist Reed Waller, he is also shepherding Kate's all-new conclusion to the popular Omaha the Cat Dancer comics series into print.
Once again working with Dan Burr, Vance is currently completing a sequel to Kings in Disguise. Titled On the Ropes, that sequel will be issued by W.W. Norton in the near future.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alrighty. This was short, rambling, hard to follow, and seemingly pointless.
At one point early on, I couldn't tell the difference between what was happening in real time, and what was a flashback. The whole scene was confusing, and I had to reread it several times before I got the gist of what had happened, and (more importantly) when it had taken place.



Immediately following that there was a confusing explosion that killed the main character (and others?). The next thing you know, she's talking to this crow and plotting revenge.
WTF?
Can I get more than a page or two of explanation? She just pops up from the dead, ready to go? Whuuuut?
And, yes, I already knew the purpose of the crow, and how it all (basically) worked, but everything in this book felt rushed to me.



Also, zombie? She doesn't die, but she doesn't heal, so she has to kill all the bad guys before she rots.
Um...ewww! That's a pretty sucky power. Just sayin'.



To me, there wasn't any heart and soul to this story, so it felt like I was plodding through a paint-by-numbers revenge fantasy. Without a decent backstory, I could have cared less about WhateverHerNameWas or WhoeverTheFuckTheBadGuysWere.
They author shoehorned a pregnancy into the mix to try to give it some FEELS, but it fell waaay short of its goal. Did she even want the baby? No idea. She was just preggo by an asshole, and maybe would have kept it. Or not.
*rolls eyes*



The art was very pretty, but at the same time, didn't help AT ALL when it came to figuring out what the hell was going on in the story. Everything was just bland and looked...cramped onto the pages.
Does that even make sense?



I've never read any of these Crow comics before, but I hope/assume the original was better than this thing.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first female Crow. A group of men are found using poison on government land and when the feds try to come after them they set off a bomb in the headquarters, killing several people but most importantly the pregnant female agent they had a run-in with. She comes back for revenge both for herself and her child, and shes just as brutal if not moreso than the Crows that have come before her.

The story itself was a little hard to follow, the art sometimes adding to the confusion. Not terrible but like Dead Time, the story and art could be a little clearer. Still worth checking out if you're a Crow fan.

[Dev · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was decent enough but ultimately felt like it was trying too hard to replicate the feel of the original and just really missed the mark with the writing in particular. I did like the art a lot though and that's probably most of what saved this for me, that and the fact that I'm always here for a female Crow. Although I hate that it always seems to be related to the woman's dead child. Between this and the woman from the TV show [which I really did love] I've got to roll my eyes a bit that male writers don't seem to be able to see a role for women seeking revenge beyond dead children.

[Krim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same thoughts as Dead Time. Nice art (Iris 😳), story could have been better.

[Jaimie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't really surprised to find that this third incarnation of the Crow was a woman. Honestly it was bound to happen sooner or later, since it's too cliched to only have vengeful men going after the murderers of their girlfriends. Thankfully our protagonist's revenge-inspiration isn't her boyfriend, as that too would be grossly cliched. Instead she's going after her own murderers and the murderers of her unborn child. I'm not super fond of that motivation because it's treading a little bit too close to the "all women are mothers at heart" theme that I disagree with so much, but it was good to see a strong female character both before and after her death to give this series a bit more edge.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It drives me crazy that artists, writers, and filmmakers can’t leave The Crow alone. James O’Barr’s original graphic novel was perfect as a standalone comic, a flawless tribute to pain and sorrow and lost love. The movie, starring the late Brandon Lee, though not as elegant or poetic as the source material, is also better left alone; trying to reboot, remake, or revive his incredible performance dishonors his memory and the Crow’s. But, of course, there’s money to be made by exploiting the superhero that was born out of O’Barr’s personal tragedy, so we’ve been subjected to increasingly underwhelming sequels and comics starring a variety of undead avian avengers. “The Crow: Flesh & Blood,” written by James Vance and drawn by Alex Maleev, tries to put a unique (and overdue) spin on The Crow mythology by making the latest incarnation a woman but, sadly, it still doesn’t do the character justice.

The protagonist of “The Crow: Flesh & Blood,” Iris Shaw, is an agent for the Bureau Of Land Management who, after discovering a group of right-wing militia types are poisoning federally protected wildlife, is murdered in a bombing, along with her unborn child. Revived by the crow, she assumes the vengeful mantle to work her way methodically to the top of the criminal enterprise. Vance’s premise is fairly solid but it’s his execution that makes the story fall apart; his pacing is hectic, his character development is really flat, and his action scenes are uninspired. O’Barr’s Crow was so tortured and soulful and Vance’s Shaw doesn’t have any of that, which is shocking considering how you’d expect the death of an unborn child to make her even more morose and melancholy than Eric Draven. What saves “The Crow: Flesh & Blood” (somewhat) is Maleev’s gorgeous, impressionistic artwork. Echoing O’Barr’s bold, shadowy designs, Shaw and her world are appropriately dark, gritty, and beautiful. Despite some wonky proportions here and there, his art is a marvel of composition and tone. His work is the only reason to give this comic more than a passing glance.

This graphic novel was published in 1998 so I’m about twenty years too late but I still have to say it: leave The Crow alone. Leave The Crow alone! LEAVE THE CROW ALONE!!

[Luke Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

So ever since the first posters for that wretched remake of The Crow started appearing, my other half started expounding on how instead an adaptation of this would have been far superior... Having read this, I have to agree with her... I used to joke about the possibility of an Erica Draven, so finding out there was a heroine in the Crow was a joy: Iris Shaw, a murdered federal agent revived from the dead and out to revenge herself on the thugs who murdered her and her unborn child is a deeply compelling protagonist: you take great satisfaction following her bloody rampage and turning thuggish brutes into scared cowards begging for mercy she's not prepared to give... I love the visual of the crow emblem on her face as warpaint and because she doesn't have the healing factor of previous characters in this universe, the race against time to complete her mission of vengeance before she succumbs to the ravages of decay adds a suspenseful element to the tale...

(Got Haley Atwell cast in my head as Iris if they ever adapt this, which they should have done over the cinematic abomination that defiled one of mine and my wife's favourite films/graphic novel adaptations...)

[Mega · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that's gotta be the most abrupt way for the main character to die like that. They don't get killed by a bunch of thugs in the same manner as all the other Crows, no, the building she is in just fucking EXPLODES out of nowhere, and that's the end of that. I guess I can give points for not wasting time, but still, kinda weird how that all went down. Also, not gonna lie, I kinda wanted to also see the baby this girl was pregnant with also come back as some kind of Crow. It would be incredibly stupid and it would definitely be jumping the shark, yes, but it would also be entertaining. Comics are stupid enough as is, so you might as well embrace the stupidity and go all out.

Issue #1

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Crow, and always try to read something around Devil's night, Crow-related (in addition to watching the original movie, an annual tradition.)
This was a first read-through for me, despite getting the comics when they originally came out.
The story seemed a bit shallow, and even felt rushed. The artwork was good, but not great.
The story seemed to jump sometimes, making it a little hard to follow.
All in all, it was just a mediocre Crow book. I know the artist has gone on to do much bigger and better things.
A decent read, especially for those that are fans of the Crow-universe, for those outside of it, you can skip it.

[Evita Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely my favourite comic book of all time. The costume… the style of drawing in this is like no other. The black and white really captures what the story is about. This story is so badass yet so undeniably brutal and sad. It creates a perfect picture of the tention created in its small town. Love love love it. Thank you James O’Barr.

[Eden Silverfox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iris was a conservation officer, and during a land rights struggle, right-wing activists murdered her. The crow brings Iris back to exact justice for herself and her unborn child.

Great artwork, and Iris was a badass. However, developing her character and story more would have done wonders. It's a good story and worth reading, but having a more fleshed-out story would have made this great.

[Randi (The Artist Formerly known as Guitar Chick) · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot of good stuff to work here, but none of it really came through.
Also, maybe I just have face blindness but it became SUPER hard to tell anyone apart that was not Iris. It's a weirdly rushed thing with art crammed into every corner of the page.

[David Denoyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Crow adventure this time with a female conservation officer who gets murdered by right wing terrorists. Quick read, plenty of action, would’ve loved to seen this one become a feature but there’s not a lot to the story too.

[Eugene Cundiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best sequel-stories to Barr's masterpiece, and feels eerily relevant in today's political climate.

[Mathieu Robichaud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling story somewhat.

[Archos · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent Telling of The Crow in its simplicity to start to from start to finish

[Aaron Breece · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book

[Marissa Sabin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable content, but left wanting more from this series.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

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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[Edward Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Crow, the ancient spirit of vengeance that rights wrongs that were done to people who were either in the wrong place at the wrong time or in this case: just trying to do their job. Here we have the first female crow embodiment that is seeking to avenge her death (and the death of her unborn child, who she was thinking of aborting anyway) at the hands of "right-wing extremists" but to be honest, I could not make heads or tails of this one. The chaos of the storyline, the images that seem to be all over the place (and at times just don't fit the mood or the style of the story) and the constant bounce between the past and the present is just not worth the time or effort to read.

+1 star because I love the Crow, - 3 for the terrible format.

[Társis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sou muito fã da franquia dO Corvo. É um tipo de história que se voltasse na atual conjuntura, imagino que faria sucesso novamente. Essa HQ "Carne e Sangue" foi lançada no Brasil em 1999, mas só pude ler (ou reler, não tenho certeza, não.. eu vi mas não li na época) hoje.
O curioso é que o detalhe da história no Brasil tem um erro da Mythos Editora que credita essa história ao criador do Corvo, J. O´Barr, mas na verdade essa história é do James Vance (bem é o que o Goodreads diz). Além disso a capa não tem nenhuma referência ao título da série "Carne e Sangue", ficando apenas notado como uma espécie de subtítulo na primeira página.

[A.L. Bellettiere · Rating 1 out of 5]

Updated review following the original.
Dead Time was comparable to The Crow Temple of Night to me, The Crow Flesh and Blood was as great as Clash By Night. I could understand what was going on in the story, what caused various character's motivations and even felt Iris Shaw's anger and pain. The only thing that stops this from being five stars to me is the degree of violence. I'll admit, it's not always necessary and it's literally Iris' choice to be smarter about what she's doing but it's still a crow/revenge story. I definitely liked the ending.


5/23/24
I feel like I've completely flipped on my review. The story is very much coherent but I felt an absolute lack of connection to Iris and the story itself. People use this story as the one that should be used for adaptation and inasmuch as there is some relevancy, i also believe it had a greater impact when it came out in the 90’s. This one did not draw me in.

[Dann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Crow: Flesh & Blood is a dark and edgy graphic novel with a bold vision. When federal agent Iris Shaw is killed in a bombing by a group of anti-government extremists a crow resurrects her to avenge the murders of herself and her unborn child. Author James Vance does an impressive job at developing the characters and uses the crow remarkably well to show the inner turmoil that Shaw goes through as she comes to terms with her situation and chooses her course of action. Additionally, Alexander Maleev’s artwork is extraordinary and has a gothic, macabre sort of beauty; which is enhanced and given a deeper texture by the black and white coloring. Capturing the spirit of James O’Barr’s original book, The Crow: Flesh & Blood is an incredibly compelling and provocative revenge tale.

[Guillermo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iris Shaw, like all characters who are brought back by a crow, was killed tragically by radicals who are not willing to submit to their government. She is brought back in order to get vengeance on those who killed her and her unborn baby. And she does in three simple chapters.

The book's awesome, but I finished it in one sitting; you may want to buy this used and cheap rather than paying full price because in the end you may feel it's not worth it.

I suppose what made me like the book - as most people seemed turned off by it - is the fact that this marks the first appearance of a female Crow in the series. So if you're a fan of J. O'Barr's The Crow, Flesh & Blood is most definitely a part of the canon.

[Annette Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning artwork is the stand out feature of this book, our introduction to a female Crow for the first time. Brought back to avenge her death, and that of her unborn child, this is the tale of Lisa, a former federal land agent killed by a man with ties to a militia/cult.
While the story is fine, what really set the book apart was the gorgeous drawings of Alexander Maleev, darkly beautiful and supremely fitting for the tale being told.

[Carl Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

More thoughtful and less charged than the first two Crow stories. Iris is a more conflicted character than Eric or Joshua, though no less driven in her revenge, just more scalpel and less shotgun in focus. The external themes of the story--freedom, family, and government--play a bigger role in the story, making it a fuller and richer read.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

had the coolest crow avatar i ever seen so far but the story didnt really follow the rule of crow and resscuation(sp) which means one came back to be united with loved one again period it usually mean mission of vengeful wrath... not the case in this story, get this only at discounted price....

[Johnny Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, subtle tale of revenge within the crow universe this time the crow brings back a woman. Dark yet beautiful black and white illustrations and a simple yet passionate tale keep this flowing along nicely.

[Randall Sobien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad... but not great. The main problem with it is that it deviates to explore political issues a bit too much for my taste. It rides on the success of the first... I rather suspect that if it were the original, the idea simply would not have taken off.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first female Crow. Very cool twist on the usual theme.