In 2006, comics creators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips launched Criminal via Icon Comics (Marvel’s creator-owned Vertigo-esque publication imprint that ran for about a decade). The duo had previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed 24 issues of Sleeper set in DC’s Wildstorm Universe, and each had a strong reputation just shy of comics superstardom. Phillips was likely most well-known for Marvel Zombies (no disrespect to his decade of Vertigo work!), while Brubaker was fresh off “The Winter Soldier” saga in the pages of Captain America.
The following year, Criminal would win the Eisner Award for best new comics series (one of three the title has earned all time), and Brubaker and Phillips were on their way to the most respected, consistent creative collaboration of the entire 2000s. Though Criminal went more or less on hiatus following 2011, the series returned in 2018 (or 2019 depending on your math) and is kicking out great graphic novels 20 years after starting. Plus, as I write this, the Amazon Prime TV adaptation of the work is well underway. [Read more…] about Criminal Comics Reading Order