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The Stand: Graphic Novels #4
The Stand: Hardcases
The Trashcan Man was spared for a reason. To join the Dark Man Randall Flagg's swelling army and to set the world on fire. It's a dream come true for the pyromaniac, but he has to reach Flagg's compound in Las Vegas first--and, somehow, survive crossing paths with "the Kid," a hardcase who's even crazier and more dangerous than Trashy is! The villains are front-and-center as we cross the mid-point of this epic adaptation of Stephen King's horror masterpiece!
Collecting:
The Stand: Hardcases #1-5
Collecting:
The Stand: Hardcases #1-5
186 pages, Hardcover
First published March 24, 2010
About the author
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
467 books477 followersRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an American playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the television series Glee, Big Love, Riverdale, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. He is Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics.
Aguirre-Sacasa grew up liking comic books, recalling in 2003, "My mom would take us out to the 7-Eleven on River Road during the summer, and we would get Slurpees and buy comics off the spinning rack. I would read them all over and over again, and draw my own pictures and stuff."
He began writing for Marvel Comics, he explained, when "Marvel hired an editor to find new writers, and they hired her from a theatrical agency. So she started calling theaters and asking if they knew any playwrights who might be good for comic books. A couple of different theaters said she should look at me. So she called me, I sent her a couple of my plays and she said 'Great, would you like to pitch on a couple of comic books in the works?'"
His first submissions were "not what [they were] interested in for the character[s]" but eventually he was assigned an 11-page Fantastic Four story, "The True Meaning of...," for the Marvel Holiday Special 2004. He went on to write Fantastic Four stories in Marvel Knights 4, a spinoff of that superhero team's long-running title; and stories for Nightcrawler vol. 3; The Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2; and Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing.
In May 2008 Aguirre-Sacasa returned to the Fantastic Four with a miniseries tie-in to the company-wide "Secret Invasion" storyline concerning a years-long infiltration of Earth by the shape-shifting alien race, the Skrulls,and an Angel Revelations miniseries with artists Barry Kitson and Adam Polina, respectively. He adapted for comics the Stephen King novel The Stand.
In 2013, he created Afterlife with Archie, depicting Archie Andrews in the midst of a zombie apocalypse; the book's success led to Aguirre-Sacasa being named Archie Comics' chief creative officer.
Aguirre-Sacasa grew up liking comic books, recalling in 2003, "My mom would take us out to the 7-Eleven on River Road during the summer, and we would get Slurpees and buy comics off the spinning rack. I would read them all over and over again, and draw my own pictures and stuff."
He began writing for Marvel Comics, he explained, when "Marvel hired an editor to find new writers, and they hired her from a theatrical agency. So she started calling theaters and asking if they knew any playwrights who might be good for comic books. A couple of different theaters said she should look at me. So she called me, I sent her a couple of my plays and she said 'Great, would you like to pitch on a couple of comic books in the works?'"
His first submissions were "not what [they were] interested in for the character[s]" but eventually he was assigned an 11-page Fantastic Four story, "The True Meaning of...," for the Marvel Holiday Special 2004. He went on to write Fantastic Four stories in Marvel Knights 4, a spinoff of that superhero team's long-running title; and stories for Nightcrawler vol. 3; The Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2; and Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing.
In May 2008 Aguirre-Sacasa returned to the Fantastic Four with a miniseries tie-in to the company-wide "Secret Invasion" storyline concerning a years-long infiltration of Earth by the shape-shifting alien race, the Skrulls,and an Angel Revelations miniseries with artists Barry Kitson and Adam Polina, respectively. He adapted for comics the Stephen King novel The Stand.
In 2013, he created Afterlife with Archie, depicting Archie Andrews in the midst of a zombie apocalypse; the book's success led to Aguirre-Sacasa being named Archie Comics' chief creative officer.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
December 24, 2018
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this graphic novel series continues to be excellent! The story follows right along with the novel (unabridged version) and the artwork is excellent. King fans who are also graphic novel fans should really check this one out.
This volume deals mainly with the bad guys – the Hardcases. This means both in the belly of the beast and where there is supposed to be sanctuary , but evil lurks. This is a great contrast to the last volume which dealt mainly with the good guys.
Also, this volume takes place during the parts of the novel that were my least favorite. That is all of the scenes with the Boulder Free Zone trying to get a committee together and reestablish a government. That part always dragged on for me. Luckily it goes fast in this format!
Fans of The Stand cannot go wrong here. And, if you don’t want to take on the huge book, this continues to be a pretty good summary version with decent art to accompany it.
This volume deals mainly with the bad guys – the Hardcases. This means both in the belly of the beast and where there is supposed to be sanctuary , but evil lurks. This is a great contrast to the last volume which dealt mainly with the good guys.
Also, this volume takes place during the parts of the novel that were my least favorite. That is all of the scenes with the Boulder Free Zone trying to get a committee together and reestablish a government. That part always dragged on for me. Luckily it goes fast in this format!
Fans of The Stand cannot go wrong here. And, if you don’t want to take on the huge book, this continues to be a pretty good summary version with decent art to accompany it.
April 24, 2021
Como siempre el dibujo genial.
La historia con los dos bandos claramente diferenciados y agrupados, se ve como se intenta crear una sociedad en el bando de los buenos, aunque hay alguna manzana podrida camuflada.
En el bando de los malos, también ya reunidos en las Vegas, ya se imponen algunas condenas como la crucifixión.
La historia con los dos bandos claramente diferenciados y agrupados, se ve como se intenta crear una sociedad en el bando de los buenos, aunque hay alguna manzana podrida camuflada.
En el bando de los malos, también ya reunidos en las Vegas, ya se imponen algunas condenas como la crucifixión.
June 3, 2024
This is the fourth volume of a very well-done and faithful adaptation of one the most popular novels of the last century. The story is quite well adapted to the graphic novel format, and the (not for the squeamish at times) art advances and enhances the script pretty well. Overall, it's a different approach than was used for the Dark Tower series but is more successful is some ways. I don't think it should be read -instead of- King's prose, and it doesn't add anything major to the story, but I found it to be a very enjoyable entertainment. As one can guess from the title, this volume focuses mostly on the bad guys, particularly Flagg's main minions Trashy and The Kid. It's got a little bit of the middle-volume lags, but the story moves right along pretty well.... M-O-O-N, that spells moving right along.
February 15, 2020
A look on the darker side, the smiley side of politics, and what one must do to get into the graces of the powerful.
*sigh*
Even after a plague, people will still be people.
Good art, as usual.
*sigh*
Even after a plague, people will still be people.
Good art, as usual.
October 28, 2012
I flip-flopped back and forth between what to rate this but ultimately decided on a 4. In fact, I think 2012 has been the year that I've awarded the most 4 star reviews. I guess that's what happens when you stay within the lines of what you're primarily expected to enjoy.
Finally, we've arrived in Boulder and a new United States of America beings to slowly take form. Many are beginning to be made aware of a growing army within Nevada, ruled by The Dark Man, so preparations must be made. In this volume, Aguirre-Sacasa concentrates mainly on the formation of the ad-hoc committee in Boulder as everything from corpse removal to restoring the power must be organized before winter sets in.
Harold Lauder starts to slowly turn to The Dark Man for acceptance and guidance as his hatred flows through him into the pages of his secret ledger. However, Harold isn't the only rotten apple in town as Nadine Cross shows signs that her faith may not be within Mother Abagail but rather that of Randall Flagg.
Hardcases concentrates in the development of the opposing civilizations with the promise of battle on the horizon. Flagg, while a known evil, seems to have happier followers whereas those in Boulder are not without conflict.
I really enjoyed this collection but annoyed that I've now caught up and have nothing else in the series to read. The remaining installments cannot come fast enough. Then again, it's not like I'm not aware of how this ends or anything.
Finally, we've arrived in Boulder and a new United States of America beings to slowly take form. Many are beginning to be made aware of a growing army within Nevada, ruled by The Dark Man, so preparations must be made. In this volume, Aguirre-Sacasa concentrates mainly on the formation of the ad-hoc committee in Boulder as everything from corpse removal to restoring the power must be organized before winter sets in.
Harold Lauder starts to slowly turn to The Dark Man for acceptance and guidance as his hatred flows through him into the pages of his secret ledger. However, Harold isn't the only rotten apple in town as Nadine Cross shows signs that her faith may not be within Mother Abagail but rather that of Randall Flagg.
Hardcases concentrates in the development of the opposing civilizations with the promise of battle on the horizon. Flagg, while a known evil, seems to have happier followers whereas those in Boulder are not without conflict.
I really enjoyed this collection but annoyed that I've now caught up and have nothing else in the series to read. The remaining installments cannot come fast enough. Then again, it's not like I'm not aware of how this ends or anything.
April 3, 2016
We finally see Cibola (Las Vegas) and The Boulder Free Zone. Vegas is portrayed every bit as terrifying as it is in the novel. Crazy that it can be done in less than 100 panels. I left that part of the story truly haunted by the "civilization" that was springing up there.
We are finally really feeling the menace. Captain Tripps was an accident, but what they are hurtling towards now is being carefully orchestrated and makes us, the reader, wonder who the conductor is or if there is more than one.
We are finally really feeling the menace. Captain Tripps was an accident, but what they are hurtling towards now is being carefully orchestrated and makes us, the reader, wonder who the conductor is or if there is more than one.
December 8, 2017
This is the middle of the story; aka it's slow. I think they are setting up the finale. I got goose bumps when all the people finally got together and sang the National Anthem. That is a wonderful moment.
I don't think much of the art for this one. I do appreciate that they took actually photos of Boulder and used that in the art. That is pretty cool.
I can't believe they took an 1100 page book and turned into 5-6 graphic novels of around 100 pages each. That is a talent. I am ready to finish this series. Such a fantastic story.
I don't think much of the art for this one. I do appreciate that they took actually photos of Boulder and used that in the art. That is pretty cool.
I can't believe they took an 1100 page book and turned into 5-6 graphic novels of around 100 pages each. That is a talent. I am ready to finish this series. Such a fantastic story.
March 17, 2013
Through no fault of the writer and the artist, I didn't like this book nearly as much as I did the first three volumes. It ran a little slower than usual, and I absolutely could not stand having to read so much about Trashcan Man. I know he was a very important part of The Stand, but I obviously just don't like him. Can't wait to read the 5th volume.
February 8, 2014
Book four. Town hall meetings. Probably my least favorite part of the book itself, so this one slowed down my pace somewhat.
December 18, 2021
En este 4º volumen del cómic, vemos que ya hay 2 asentamientos definidos, por una parte, en Boulder, el asentamiento del bien, liderados por la madre Abigail y por otra parte, en Las Vegas, el asentamiento del mal, liderados por Randall Flagg.
Ambos grupos, ya van organizándose y preparando sus estrategias, conforme van teniendo claro que el otro grupo es el enemigo y sólo puede quedar uno....pero será realmente así? y quién saldrá vencedor?
Este cómic me ha gustado algo más que los anteriores, ya que en él se va definiendo el tema central de la novela.
Ambos grupos, ya van organizándose y preparando sus estrategias, conforme van teniendo claro que el otro grupo es el enemigo y sólo puede quedar uno....pero será realmente así? y quién saldrá vencedor?
Este cómic me ha gustado algo más que los anteriores, ya que en él se va definiendo el tema central de la novela.
January 10, 2024
Just superb. Loving the way this is edging towards a fight between Good and Evil.
October 29, 2015
The fourth entry into this excellent series maintains the high level of writing and artwork that have been the norm. This volume moves away from the background stories that have been the bulk of the previous volumes and advances the story while developing the characters in the aftermath of the superflu. The good people try to form a democratic government based on the U.S. constitution while Randall Flagg form an evil empire in the fantasy world of Las Vegas. The true colors of the characters start to show in this volume and they all - good and bad - start to become ingrained in the story and drive the narrative. Their are memorable scenes in this book such as the meeting between Mother Abagail and Randall Flagg - in wolf form - that is as chilling and tense as anything Stephen King has written and as the plot thickens the reader can not help but chose sides and begin to route for one side or the other even is he knows the final outcome.
March 19, 2018
*3.5
Re seña del Tomo anterior: Apocalipsis Vol.3 Almas supervivientes
Por desgracia, no es tan bueno como los anteriores
Al inicio de este tomo nos encontramos con un numero fabuloso que nos permite ver por vez primera (y a ciencia cierta) un poco de lo que está ocurriendo en Las Vegas... Y nada mas.
Pensé que veríamos un tomo aún más oscuro que nos acercaría a nuestro temido villano y sus planes pero no fue así. El resto del libro es más sobre reorganización social que sobre guerra o villanos.
Tengo fe en que el próximo me sorprenda para bien como lo hicieron los primeros dos...
Lo Mejor: El primer número
Lo Peor: Sin tanta acción como los anteriores... y eso se extraña.
Aunque ahora tengo el temor de que la serie vaya en decadencia...
Re seña del Tomo anterior: Apocalipsis Vol.3 Almas supervivientes
Por desgracia, no es tan bueno como los anteriores
Al inicio de este tomo nos encontramos con un numero fabuloso que nos permite ver por vez primera (y a ciencia cierta) un poco de lo que está ocurriendo en Las Vegas... Y nada mas.
Pensé que veríamos un tomo aún más oscuro que nos acercaría a nuestro temido villano y sus planes pero no fue así. El resto del libro es más sobre reorganización social que sobre guerra o villanos.
Tengo fe en que el próximo me sorprenda para bien como lo hicieron los primeros dos...
Lo Mejor: El primer número
Lo Peor: Sin tanta acción como los anteriores... y eso se extraña.
Aunque ahora tengo el temor de que la serie vaya en decadencia...
May 16, 2015
Seems like the further I get into this series of graphics, the shorter my reviews get. I just don't see the point in repeating myself over and over when by now, I doubt the haters of the series are still reading and does anyone check reviews for the later books when questioning if they should start a new set or not?
Again, the artwork holds steady in this volume as it has done for the other 3. It's fitting to the story and remains bloody and disturbing.
The writing is still top-notch as I assume that Aquirre-Sacasa is cramming as much as he can via words into this condensed version of a whopper of a novel. (Nope, still haven't read the actual book-book...yet).
I'm just wondering... does creepy Harold remind anyone else of a cartoonish version of King himself?
Again, the artwork holds steady in this volume as it has done for the other 3. It's fitting to the story and remains bloody and disturbing.
The writing is still top-notch as I assume that Aquirre-Sacasa is cramming as much as he can via words into this condensed version of a whopper of a novel. (Nope, still haven't read the actual book-book...yet).
I'm just wondering... does creepy Harold remind anyone else of a cartoonish version of King himself?
August 31, 2017
Al avanzar en la historia de The Stand uno de los puntos cruciales es la formación de las nuevas sociedades. Aunado a los amplios antecedentes de la versión extendida, esta es una de las partes más interesantes e importantes de la historia. Creo que es imposible lograr retratarla en una novela gráfica (a menos que fuera su único objetivo), pero en este caso el enfoque a Trashcan así como los planes de Harold me pareció una curiosa manera de abordar la historia. Se dejó afuera, en gran medida, a Nick, y totalmente a Tom. Eso no me agradó del todo. Si bien el viaje de Trashcan es muy importante, no creo que mereciera la mitad del volumen.
May 28, 2023
Una vistazo a Trashcan y su viaje a Las Vegas, de lo mejor de la serie.
Luego cambia a Boulder donde llega Nadine y el grupo de gente que ha seguido las pistas de Harold, pero Fran le hace una mala introducción.
4 stars
Luego cambia a Boulder donde llega Nadine y el grupo de gente que ha seguido las pistas de Harold, pero Fran le hace una mala introducción.
4 stars
March 21, 2011
Larry and crew reach Boulder, Trashcan Man makes his way to Las Vegas. The formation of the council, Mother Abigail goes on walkabout.
August 12, 2012
25th book read in 2012.
Number 119 out of 257 on my all time book list.
Follow the link below to see my video review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou-ty7...
Number 119 out of 257 on my all time book list.
Follow the link below to see my video review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou-ty7...
December 6, 2014
The bad guy side of the story gets intense. I like Trash even tho he's a nutter. I know some messed up stuff is coming
April 3, 2017
Trashcan man! Not my style, I guess. I pushed on through just to get the whole story. I respect King as a writer, but "Stand By Me" is more my kind of thing.
October 13, 2018
A big improvement over the third volume. This volume could have had a hard time keeping up pace and not be boring. But they nailed it. There's a lot from the viewpoint of the badguys here and it's pretty good. And even though we are dealing with a big amount of characters, this volume keeps its focus on a few, making for better character-development.
April 14, 2021
Cannot fucking believe that the dog is having dreams about Mother Abigail.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2021
Loving this series; this one not quite as much as vols 2-3 but still great. Can't wait to get through them all. Exquisite mutli-character/multi-angle story-telling.
February 23, 2024
This continues to be an artful adaptation, but man, King does Nadine so dirty in this book, it's kind of hard to read.
Really not one of his best in terms of female characters.
Really not one of his best in terms of female characters.
December 20, 2020
And the story continues!!!!
February 18, 2020
Taking as a whole, this is not a poor edition. I don't believe it is up to par with the previous versions of Captain Tripps, American Nightmares, and Soul Survivors. Maybe it is because Hardcases mainly deals with the villains of the novel — specifically Trashcan Man. I never felt like Trashcan Man was a fully fleshed-out character in the original book, so I lack interest in reading about him in the graphic novel. I do think that graphically this book shines as much as previous installments. The images of Las Vegas with people being crucified on the strip are pretty stark. It shows just how evil the Las Vegas folk are and how low they will go. It is an excellent addition to the series, as it keeps the story flowing, but I didn't enjoy it a whole lot.
January 19, 2015
Actual rating would be 4.5 stars.
There is nothing more that I can say about the art for this volume that I haven't already said in my reviews for volumes 1-3. If you want to check out what I said go ahead. If not, just know that the art is fantastic. Art gets 5 stars.
Now the writing. This volume gives us our first glimpse of the villains since volume 2. The first 2 issues in this volume focuses solely on them before switching back to the group of heroes for issues 3-5. This volume moves a little slower than the previous 3 volumes have, but that's due to it being a slow part of the novel. In volume 1, you have the initial outbreak of the virus and are introduced to the main characters. In volume 2, the main characters are starting to meet each each other and are trying to cope with what has happened and figure out what to do next and where to go. In volume 3, the main characters have decided where to go and the volume is all about their journeys there. In this volume, they've all reached their destinations are meeting the other groups of survivors, settling down, and figuring out where to go from here. There is more dialogue in this volume and a lot less action. It is through no fault of Roberto Aguire-Sacasa that this is so. It's just a natural progression in the story setting up for climax in the final 2 volumes. Still, this volume isn't as exciting of a read as the first 3 volumes were. For that reason I'm giving the story and writing on this volume a 4. It's still a good read, but nowhere near the page turner that previous volumes were, but it does leave you in just the right spot to make you itch for volume 5.
There is nothing more that I can say about the art for this volume that I haven't already said in my reviews for volumes 1-3. If you want to check out what I said go ahead. If not, just know that the art is fantastic. Art gets 5 stars.
Now the writing. This volume gives us our first glimpse of the villains since volume 2. The first 2 issues in this volume focuses solely on them before switching back to the group of heroes for issues 3-5. This volume moves a little slower than the previous 3 volumes have, but that's due to it being a slow part of the novel. In volume 1, you have the initial outbreak of the virus and are introduced to the main characters. In volume 2, the main characters are starting to meet each each other and are trying to cope with what has happened and figure out what to do next and where to go. In volume 3, the main characters have decided where to go and the volume is all about their journeys there. In this volume, they've all reached their destinations are meeting the other groups of survivors, settling down, and figuring out where to go from here. There is more dialogue in this volume and a lot less action. It is through no fault of Roberto Aguire-Sacasa that this is so. It's just a natural progression in the story setting up for climax in the final 2 volumes. Still, this volume isn't as exciting of a read as the first 3 volumes were. For that reason I'm giving the story and writing on this volume a 4. It's still a good read, but nowhere near the page turner that previous volumes were, but it does leave you in just the right spot to make you itch for volume 5.
July 28, 2017
This is the fourth book in the graphic novel adaptation. It starts off focusing on the people following the Dark Man. I was thrilled to see Trashcan Man. He is pure chaos and entertaining to follow. I laughed seeing him as a weasel in Mother Abigail's corn.
I had forgotten about the Kid completely but really enjoyed how that story wrapped up.
While this volume does cover some non-exciting stuff like setting up a new government and society in Colorado, it also covers how Nadine and Harold are really starting to not fit in with the good folks. I thought it was more obvious here compared to the book that Nadine doesn't really want to be there. I felt like she was more conflicted in the book.
Fran finding out about Harold and her diary was terrifying for her and I never understood why she keeps it from Stu.
I had forgotten about the Kid completely but really enjoyed how that story wrapped up.
While this volume does cover some non-exciting stuff like setting up a new government and society in Colorado, it also covers how Nadine and Harold are really starting to not fit in with the good folks. I thought it was more obvious here compared to the book that Nadine doesn't really want to be there. I felt like she was more conflicted in the book.
Fran finding out about Harold and her diary was terrifying for her and I never understood why she keeps it from Stu.
April 20, 2014
Una excelente adaptación de una de las mas ambiciosas novelas de Stephen King (The Stand). Leí The Stand hace décadas, antes que hubiera ningún lugar como este para reseñarla y guardarla en la memoria. Igual mi recuerdo era que me había encantado. Así que cuando exploraba Issuee (un verdadero tesoro para BDs/Comics) y me topé con esta adaptación gráfica, era inevitable probarla. Y el resultado es excelente. El ambiente, la historia, los personajes, reflejan espectacularmente la novela original. De hecho, el esfuerzo de los creadores gráficos es realmente intepretar el sentido de la obra y de sus héroes y malvados, quien sabe, hasta hace esta adapatación mas sabrosa. Uno puede ver los rostros--incluso los malvados--, ambientes, paisajes de la novela y quiza sumergirse más fácilmente en ese sueño terrorífico.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews