The Web Haunt of Ryan K Lindsay

The comic Criminal from the genius teaming of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips has always been a fave. I picked up their four trade run on Sleeper and it instantly became one of my favourite collections, and also showed me what other new stuff could be achieved with comics. The mix of superheroes and noir was perfect, and the art and words mixed to paint a story that I fell in love with. I read those trades a few times and never got sick of them. Then Criminal hit, double the noir, no capes. And it was good. Great, punchy pulp crime stories from a guy who was obviously a fan, but who also was becoming a master.

Criminal is one of the blessed few comics that I buy each month. One of the main reasons, and I’ve said it before, is that each issue has back matter that will not appear in the collection. There are ramblings from the author, and interviews, and always an essay. The essays usually centre around some crime character, or story, be it book or film. Some of the essays have been stellar, in fact most are, and I love the chance to be exposed to some new business through it. There’s always some new movie or author mentioned and I can store it away for later perusal. It’s a wonderful resource to have and just adds to the community that Criminal has built for itself.

Recently, I decided to write an essay just like these guys did. I was the little kid in his dad’s tie and suit jacket. I had just finished my novel and was still in the habit of sitting down, and a short essay about crime in Australian film came out. I tinkered with it and I kind of liked it. So I sent it off to the email that is in the back of Criminal each month. I thought maybe Ed Brubaker or Sean Phillips might eventually see it and they’d enjoy the few minutes it took to read, and maybe even check out one of my film selections and enjoy them.

Then I received an email reply from Ed Brubaker himself. He told me he had already watched all of the films listed, even gave me the hot tip on some new Aussie stuff I hadn’t seen, and then told me he’d read the essay. I thought that was pretty cool of him to do and I thought nothing more of it. We had emailed one or twice back, he’d said he’d read it. This is the guy who just got off a major stint on Daredevil and he emailed me back. I was set.

About a fortnight passed and then another email came through. Brubaker told me he liked the essay and that he’d use it. He’s a guy who’s short with his words, and I guess I’d rather he was off writing Cap than emailing me, so that’s fine. I read the few sentences again and again. He said he’s use it. That meant my words would appear in Criminal, a Marvel comic, by Brubaker and Phillips. This took a little while to soak in and then I hit the roof. This was the coolest thing ever. I made some serious noise and waited for the missus to get home so I could gush to her.

This would put me up in the ranks of Duane Swierczynski, Jason Aaron, Steven Grant, Michael Stradford, Jay Faerber, and Jess Nevins, to name just a few who have added essays to Criminals long and illustrious history. I had been thinking about Stradford’s stellar piece about The Yakuza when I wrote mine.

I didn’t know which issue my essay would appear in, but hell, it could take a year and it would be worth it. Then I realised what having my essay in would mean; Sean Phillips would have to draw a title page for it. I wondered which flick he would choose to base his pic on, I hoped it would be The Proposition. It’s a killer bloody flick, easily one of Australia’s best, and has a fantastic aesthetic to it.

I didn’t hear anything and then I heard news on Twitter. There was a pic up at Sean Phillips’ blog, and my name was in the pic. I rushed straight to it and I could not have been happier. This is why.

I guess I’ll be published soon enough. I cannot wait to buy the issue, a few for me, then a few for friends. I’m not going to go around signing them, but I am going to keep around. My first official publication, and it’s Marvel. How fitting.

Posted on October 29th, 2009 by ryan
Filed under: Writing, comics