This forth volume collects issues 4-7 of the second series. I must admit that this is probably my least favorite story so far. But that still means this story is very good.
Here the star is Jacob, a counterfeiter who also publishes a strip, Frank Kafka (we’ve seen the strip in previous stories). He’s not a great criminal, he looks like an ordinary man who finds himself in a terrible situation. He’s not innocent mind you, but he’s just having a really bad time.
As usual, his problems start with a woman, Iris and her man Danny. From then everything seems to be against him. And that’s for a reason.
Everything is eventually revealed, who is behind all this and why. But there’s another twist about Jacob that I didn’t see coming. I must admit that was the least favorite part of the story for me, because it made the story seem less grounded than previous ones. It actually does make sense, but it doesn’t change the fact that it felt surreal.
With the variety of stories in this series, it’s normal that some stories appeal more than others. We all have different tastes. So I’m not disappointed by this story at all. I just personally didn’t connect with it as much as previous ones. I still enjoyed it a lot though.
Criminal is on a small hiatus while Brubaker and Phillips concentrate on Incognito. I can’t wait to check that out, since I enjoyed their Sleeper comic so much.