List of Sin City yarns
Encyclopedia
These are the individual stories, usually referred to as "yarns", set in Frank Miller's Sin City
universe. They are listed here in order of publication.
First published as Sin City in Dark Horse Presents
issues #51-62 and 5th Anniversary Special (June 1991–June 1992), and reprinted as Sin City (The Hard Goodbye) (January 1993), The Hard Goodbye is the first comic book
story that Frank Miller
drew and wrote about the desperate denizens of Basin City/"Sin City". It was originally titled simply Sin City when it was released in the Dark Horse Presents
Fifth Anniversary Special and issues Dark Horse Presents #51-62 , but it was given its own title in trade paperback form. The protagonist
is Marv, a chivalrous yet dangerous and possibly psychotic ex-convict with a penchant for fine coats. Marv meets a mysterious and very beautiful woman at Kadies' bar. The woman seduces Marv much to his surprise and delight, since he doesn't usually attract women due to scars from his many years as a street fighter. Marv wakes up after a one-night stand to discover Goldie, the woman he had just met and had sex with, has been killed in the night. When he hears sirens of the police drawing near (long before anyone but him and the killer could know what had happened) he realizes that he is being framed by someone with a lot of money and influence in Basin City. The thirteen-part serial follows Marv on his single-minded quest to understand why Goldie was killed and bring revenge
upon her murderers.
This story is one of three Sin City stories retold in the movie Sin City
. In the film version, Mickey Rourke
plays Marv, Jaime King
plays Goldie and Wendy, Carla Gugino
plays Lucille, Elijah Wood
plays Kevin
, and Rutger Hauer plays Cardinal Roark
.
series. It chronicles Dwight's attempts to rescue Ava Lord, his former fiancée, from her husband and servant, who she says are sadistically
torturing her. Dwight begins to suspect that things aren't what they seem with Ava.
The story begins as Dwight McCarthy
, working as a photographer for a grossly overweight man named Agamemnon, saves one of the Old Town prostitutes from one of her customers, whom Dwight was investigating on behalf of his wife; he then drives her back to Old Town. That night, he receives a call from a woman named Ava, asking him to meet her at a seedy bar called Kadie's Club Pecos. Dwight is suspicious of her, as Ava broke his heart four years ago by running off with another richer man, but he agrees to meet her anyway. Marv is also there and greets Dwight. Ava arrives late (as she often used to) and tries to persuade Dwight to take her back, claiming that her life is "a living Hell"; Dwight refuses to listen. Just then, Manute, Ava's husband's valet, arrives and takes Ava away. Dwight goes home, but cannot sleep. He decides to check up on Ava and her new husband, Damien Lord.
He hops a fence and, using his photography equipment, scopes out the estate and, in particular, Ava, who is swimming in the nude. He is discovered and claims that he is simply a Peeping Tom
. Manute, who seemingly doesn't recognize him from the bar, beats him brutally before throwing him from a car into the street. Dwight calls Agamemnon for a ride home and they stop several times for fast food.
As Dwight arrives home, he finds his Ford Mustang
returned and his door unlocked. In his bedroom is a nude Ava. Following a heated argument, they eventually reconcile and make love. Manute arrives and violently beats naked Dwight. Dwight is knocked out of his upper story apartment window to the street below, where he blacks out momentarily. He awakens to see Manute driving off with Ava.
Determined to rescue her, Dwight arrives at Kadie’s, where Marv is in the middle of a squabble with some out-of-town punks. One of them pulls a gun on Marv, who knocks him flat; the rest quickly scatter. Dwight convinces Marv, over several drinks and whilst watching Nancy
dance, to help him storm Damien's estate. As they approach the mansion, Dwight insists Marv leave the punk's gun, which Marv has procured, in the car. Marv tackles the guards as a distraction and eventually takes on Manute, ripping his right eye out and beating him savagely.
With Manute and the guards occupied, Dwight makes his way to Damien. When he finds him in his office, he beats him to death. As Dwight begins to realize what he has done, Ava appears, and explains how Dwight was all a part of her plan to get Damien murdered so she could inherit his estate. She shoots Dwight six times, including once in the head. Dwight once again falls out of a window and is picked up by Marv. Upon Dwight's insistence, Marv drives him to Old Town, where Dwight has his old flame, Gail, help him. The girls of Old Town perform surgery on Dwight's multiple bullet wounds, then ask him to leave. He convinces Gail and Miho, a deadly assassin he saved three years prior, to let him stay, and they operate further on him.
Two detectives following up on Damien Lord's death, Mort and Bob, talk to Ava. She claims that Dwight was a stalker
psychopath who killed Damien out of jealousy. They believe her story, and Mort starts sleeping with her. They interrogate Agamemnon, who tells how Dwight is an upright man who went clean after being a wild alcoholic with a short temper in his younger days. When they speak with Dwight's landlady
, she tells about letting Ava in and the resulting loud noises of the fight the night of Damien's murder. Bob doubts Ava considerably now, while Mort, who is still sleeping with her, becomes more on-edge towards his partner. This culminates with Mort killing Bob, then committing suicide. (On an unrelated note, during the scene in which Mort kills Bob, while they are driving in the car you can clearly see Wendy and Marv drive past them, presumably on their way to butcher Kevin
.)
Meanwhile, Dwight is recovering from his near-fatal wounds and calls Ava to inform her he's coming for her soon. Ava, with her late husband's financial assets, is joining her corporation with the mob boss Wallenquist. Unaffected by Ava's flirting, he warns her not to underestimate him again and tells her to tie up her loose ends with Dwight; he has someone arriving from Phoenix soon to meet her about that.
Dwight (with his new face), accompanied by Gail and Miho, poses as Wallenquist's man from Phoenix. Inside Ava's estate, however, Manute sees past the new face and captures Dwight. Gail and Miho strike from Dwight's car, and Dwight shoots Manute with a hidden .25 he had up his left sleeve. Six bullets fail to kill him, and Manute aims shakily at Dwight as Ava grabs one of Manute's guns, shooting Manute in his shoulder. Manute falls through a window and, upon landing, is stabbed in the arms by Miho, pinning him to the ground. Ava then tries to get Dwight to kill him, telling him that Manute had her under mind control to manipulate her and Damien and that it would be a cruel irony if he killed her now. Dwight finally sees through all the lies and kills Ava.
And Behind Door Number Three? is a short story about Gail and Wendy (who's now wearing Marv's necklace) setting a trap for a man they suspect is 'carving up' girls in Old Town.
The enigmatic "Cowboy" is captured by the allure of Wendy and subsequently shot and tied up by Gail. Although the Cowboy is willing to confess to the cops, the girls have other plans and invite Miho to finish the job.
The Customer is Always Right short served as the opening sequence for the movie Sin City
, which featured Josh Hartnett
and Marley Shelton
. The sequence served as the original proof of concept
footage that director Robert Rodriguez
filmed to convince Frank Miller to allow him to adapt Sin City to the silver screen.
The story involves an enigmatic tryst between two nameless characters; "The Customer" and "The Salesman." They meet on the terrace of a high rise building, hinting that although they seem to be acting like strangers, they do indeed have some sort of past. It is unclear what their past involves even as they embrace in a passionate kiss.
A silenced gunshot stabs the night air to reveal that The Salesman has shot The Customer. The reader is led to believe that The Customer had fallen into a serious and difficult situation and, with no other feasible alternative, hired The Salesman to kill her. Later information given by Frank Miller on the commentary of the Recut & Extended DVD Edition states that The Customer had an affair with a member of the mafia, and when she found out tried to break it off with him. The mafia member then swore to her that she would die in the most terrible way possible, and when it is least expected. The Customer, having connections, hires The Salesman (who is referred to as "The Lady-Killer") to kill her. In the comic The Salesman is the Colonel, as Miller has verified in the BLAM! section page 29 of the one-shot issue "Sex & Violence."
The Babe Wore Red centers around the character of Dwight and the murder of his friend Fargo. Dwight stumbles upon the hanging corpse of Fargo in his apartment and encounters Mr Shlubb, half of the recurring supporting duo, Douglas Klump and Burt Shlubb (aka Fat Man and Little Boy).
He knocks out Shlubb and finds the titular character hiding in the shower. Under a barrage of sniper shots from Douglas Klump, Dwight and the Babe reach their car and speed off. Although they successfully elude the pair, Dwight refuses to let them off easy, choosing rather to head to The Farm to deal with them. In the meantime, the Babe introduces herself as a hooker named Mary, but Dwight can tell she's lying. He duels with both of them again and due to insistence from Mary decides to shoot them in the leg instead of killing them. He eventually receives a package from Fargo who had shipped it off before his untimely demise. Dwight reads up on the whole situation and realizes that Fargo was simply the scapegoat for illegal drug-related activities and had paid the ultimate price. He also receives a package from Mary. She was not a hooker, rather a nun that had flirted with temptation before ultimately deciding to dedicate her life to God.
The time frame for the story is given as during the time Marv spent on death row in "The Hard Goodbye", as noted when Dwight mentions that he had a friend on death row because of what happened at the Roark family farm.
First published in five issues November 1994–March 1995, The Big Fat Kill opens in Shellie's apartment, where a drunken former fling is furiously rapping on her door, demanding to be let in. Shellie is obviously scared, but is comforted by Dwight who has gotten a new face (see A Dame To Kill For). Dwight tells the barmaid to let the man and his ensuing entourage in, expressing confidence in his ability to 'handle them'. When the man outside threatens to break down her door, Shellie reluctantly opens it while Dwight hides in the bathroom. Dwight deals with the man, who then leaves, heading into Old Town
. The story deals with the repercussions of Dwight's and the Old Town Girls' actions towards him.
The story is one of three from Sin City related in the film Sin City
. In the film, Clive Owen
plays Dwight, Brittany Murphy
plays Shellie, Benicio del Toro
plays Jack, Rosario Dawson
plays Gail, Devon Aoki
plays Miho, Alexis Bledel
plays Becky, and Michael Clarke Duncan
plays Manute.
Against a backdrop of heavy snow, Marv, a hulking, trenchcoat-clad figure, approaches a door in a dark alley. He intimidates the bouncer, Fatman, with his sheer size and is led inside and down a flight of stairs. He is met by two armed men and a leather-clad woman, who is apparently their boss. Marv hands her a wad of bills and is shown to a steel door in the far wall. Through a small viewing slit, he can see a terrified little girl crouching in darkness in the room beyond. Marv draws two pistols and kills the pair of henchmen, then executes the woman, making the only time Marv kills a woman. It only then becomes apparent that the child was being sold for sex. He retrieves the little girl, saying, "Your momma's been asking after you, Kimberly. Let's get you home." With the girl in his arms, he walks off into the distance, as the snow obscures his receding form.
First published in February 1996–July 1996, That Yellow Bastard is a six-issue comic book
miniseries, and the sixth in the Sin City
series. It follows the usual black and white noir style artistry of previous Sin City novels. That Yellow Bastard is currently under publication by Dark Horse Comics
; the first edition became available in July 1997 (ISBN 1-56971-225-5).
The story begins more than eight years before any other Sin City book takes place, with possibly the most noble, and heroic protagonist
in the Sin City universe, policeman John Hartigan
(suffering from severe angina problems) on his final mission before his forced retirement. Roark Junior, son of one of the most powerful and corrupt
officials in Basin City, is indulging his penchant for raping
and murdering pre-pubescent
girls. It is Hartigan's mission to rescue Junior's latest quarry, a thin eleven-year-old named Nancy Callahan
. Hartigan rescues her, but only after severely wounding Junior and sending him into a coma. Hartigan is then framed for kidnapping and raping Nancy, and sent to prison for eight years, until he manages to achieve parole and attempts to locate and protect Nancy from Roark's men.
In Rodriguez's adaptation, Bruce Willis
stars as Hartigan, Jessica Alba
as Nancy, Nick Stahl
as the Yellow Bastard/Junior, Powers Boothe
as Senator Roark and Michael Madsen
as Hartigan's partner, Bob. There are only a few notable differences in the film version: Mort is replaced by Bob when Hartigan is released from prison, an appearance by Carla Gugino
as Lucille is omitted (but reinstated in the extended version released to DVD), and Senator Roark(Powers Booth) has a mustache.
In the DVD commentary, Frank Miller indicated that he was initially motivated to write That Yellow Bastard after his disappointment with The Dead Pool
, the fifth and final film in the Dirty Harry
series. Nancy -- who prior to this story had no last name -- was named "Callahan", a name shared with Clint Eastwood's character.
Johnny is a middle-aged man who seems to be in love with a much younger girl by the name of Amy. Amy insists that they cannot be together and alludes to the solution that he kills her father. Torn by his emotions and manipulated by Amy, he attempts to confront her father first, asking for her hand in marriage. Daddy refuses and Johnny shoots him with a revolver that Amy gave him. Daddy then reveals that the gun was in fact loaded with blank
s and was a plot orchestrated by him and Amy. The two are either lovers with a daddy/daughter fetish
based relationship or a father and daughter in an incest
uous relationship. Daddy strangles Johnny for sexual satisfaction, and it implied this was the only way he was able to become aroused.
Fat Man and Little Boy is a short three-page story about Douglas Klump and Burt Shlubb, who also appear in "That Yellow Bastard" and "Family Values." These characters use a large vocabulary to make it appear that they are more intelligent than they truthfully are. However their wordy speeches are sprinkled with malapropism
s. In this yarn, Shlubb's boots are in horrible shape, and he wishes to steal the shoes off a corpse, wrapped in a rug, that they're supposed to dump in the river.
Klump tells him that they're supposed to leave the body as it is. Shlubb disagrees and pulls the boots off, to discover that there are no feet in them, and a ticking sound rings through their ears. This was apparently a test, and the two buffoons get thrown several yards away as the explosion hits. It seems they failed the test miserably.
Blue Eyes, the second story, begins as a man named Jim notices someone he assumes is a hitman following him. He runs into Kadie’s, where he is confronted by an ex-flame named Delia. Marv is sitting next to them at the bar, and provides some comic relief. The hitman enters the bar, and Jim convinces Delia to leave with him. Marv then steals his drink, reasoning that it would have gone to waste otherwise.
Jim and Delia go back to his place and make love. She then attacks him, and explains that this is her test. She wants to become a hitwoman
, and she must first kill the only man she ever loved. After killing Jim, the Colonel appears - he was the 'hitman' who had been following Jim. He gives her an assignment, and she takes on the name 'Blue Eyes', which is what Jim used to call her.
Blue Eyes is shown to take place at the same time as A Dame To Kill For, as part of the story shows Gail telling Shelley what to tell the police about Dwight. The story also has brief appearances by many characters, including Miho, Agammemnon and Manute.
Rats is the final story, it is about a disturbed war criminal who eats dog food. It was adapted to a 2004 fan film
of the same name. http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2655362
A sadistic war criminal (and presumed Nazi) stuffs rats in his oven to eat as he mentally rambles about the London Blitz, his arthritis, and how he killed all the 'rats', which were all people. A vigilante known amongst readers as 'The Janitor' kicks down the door and incapacitates him, before shoving his head into the oven, gassing him to death.
The two stories take place on the same night, with the second taking place minutes after the first.
Wrong Turn is the first story, in which a man named Phil drives aimlessly in the rain, eventually finding Delia unconscious on a dirt road. He picks her up, and she tells him that she must have got struck by lightning. He offers to take her to the hospital, but she refuses. She asks if he is married, and he says that he is not. She takes him to the pits, and they make love. In the middle of it, he confesses that he is, in fact, married.
She starts choking him and calls him by the name of Eddie. She claims he has a trunk-load of stolen jewels he plans to sell in Sacred Oaks, violating an exclusivity agreement with the Wallenquist Organization. He explains that he is a used car salesman named Phil, and she understands. Eddie was supposed to be driving a similar Studebaker, and looked very similar. She sticks the heel of her shoe in his eye socket, killing him. She meets up with the Colonel and Gordo at the entrance to the pits. They check the trunk of Phil's car and find his wife with six bullets in her chest. They throw him in as well and Gordo pushes the car into the pits. Delia explains that she has a train to catch.
Wrong Track is the second story, which picks up soon after. Eddie is riding the train. His internal monologue explains that he had a flat tire. Delia hits on him, and they make love near the back of the train.
When they're done, she snaps his neck and throws him off the train. Leaving the rear of the train, the Colonel waits for her. "Delia-- do you plan to make love to each and every one of them?" he asks. Her response is "Only the ones I like."
#73. It was later reprinted in a mass-market edition as Just Another Saturday Night (October 1998).
It is the story of what Marv was up to on the night John Hartigan
met back up with Nancy
(from That Yellow Bastard
). Marv regains consciousness on a highway overlooking the Projects, surrounded by dead young guys, unable to remember how he got there. He lights one of the dead guys' cigarettes and thinks back; since it is Saturday, he deduces he must have been at Kadie's watching Nancy dance...
Marv was rather depressed after seeing Nancy leave with Hartigan, as he'd always had an unrequited crush on her, so the barkeep gives him a bottle to drown his sorrow with. He gets drunk and steps outside, only to find some preppy college kids trying to burn drunks and winos to death. He immediately kills one of them and chases the rest to The Projects, where along the way he destroys a police patrol car and hijacks another vehicle. At the Projects, it is clear that they are being watched, but Marv uses hand signals to identify himself and instruct his former neighbors to attack the kids, and they do so by firing arrows at them and providing Marv with a knife. After questioning the last surviving kid about him being called 'Bernini boy', (it was the name of the brand of coat he was wearing,) he slits his throat. This done, he muses, "And one fine coat it is. Somebody must've spent a fortune on it. I wonder who?" But he cannot seem to remember where he got the coat or gloves.
's Sin City
series. Unlike the previous four stories, Family Values was released as a 128-page graphic novel
rather than in serialized issues that would later be collected in a trade paperback volume. The plot concerns Dwight and Miho going on a mission from Gail to dig up information about a recent mob hit at a small diner.
Hell and Back is the longest of the Sin City stories, spanning 9 issues. It tells the story of Wallace, an artist/war hero/short order cook who saves a suicidal woman named Esther. She likes his art and they go out for a drink. They are ambushed by two men, who drug Wallace and kidnap Esther. When Wallace recovers, he vows to find Esther and deal with those who kidnapped her.
. It reprints all the short stories, in the following order:
Sin City
Sin City is the title for a series of neo-noir comics by Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" , and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several...
universe. They are listed here in order of publication.
The Hard Goodbye
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...
issues #51-62 and 5th Anniversary Special (June 1991–June 1992), and reprinted as Sin City (The Hard Goodbye) (January 1993), The Hard Goodbye is the first comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
story that Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
drew and wrote about the desperate denizens of Basin City/"Sin City". It was originally titled simply Sin City when it was released in the Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...
Fifth Anniversary Special and issues Dark Horse Presents #51-62 , but it was given its own title in trade paperback form. The protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
is Marv, a chivalrous yet dangerous and possibly psychotic ex-convict with a penchant for fine coats. Marv meets a mysterious and very beautiful woman at Kadies' bar. The woman seduces Marv much to his surprise and delight, since he doesn't usually attract women due to scars from his many years as a street fighter. Marv wakes up after a one-night stand to discover Goldie, the woman he had just met and had sex with, has been killed in the night. When he hears sirens of the police drawing near (long before anyone but him and the killer could know what had happened) he realizes that he is being framed by someone with a lot of money and influence in Basin City. The thirteen-part serial follows Marv on his single-minded quest to understand why Goldie was killed and bring revenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
upon her murderers.
This story is one of three Sin City stories retold in the movie Sin City
Sin City (film)
Sin City, also known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez...
. In the film version, Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
plays Marv, Jaime King
Jaime King
Jaime King is an American actress and model. In her modeling career and early film roles, she used the names Jamie King and James King, which was a childhood nickname given to King by her parents, because her agency already represented another Jaime — the older, then more famous model Jaime...
plays Goldie and Wendy, Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino is an American actress known for her roles of Sally Jupiter in Watchmen, Dr. Vera Gorski in Sucker Punch, Lucille in Sin City, Amanda Daniels in seasons 3, 5 and 7 of Entourage, Ingrid Cortez in the Spy Kids film trilogy, and as the lead characters of the television series Karen Sisco...
plays Lucille, Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
plays Kevin
Kevin (Sin City)
Kevin=Kevin is a character from Frank Miller's Sin City. He is a cannibalistic serial killer under the wing of Patrick Henry Roark.-Background:Kevin came to Roark for religious counsel, having already given into his cannibalism and being wracked with guilt...
, and Rutger Hauer plays Cardinal Roark
Roark family
The Roark family is a fictional dynasty from Frank Miller's graphic novel series Sin City.The family is made up of corrupt officials and landowners of Irish descent, who hold absolute power in Basin City. They are the main antagonists in the series, and are frequent catalysts to various plots and...
.
A Dame to Kill For
First published November 1993–May 1994, A Dame To Kill For is the second compilation of the Sin CitySin City
Sin City is the title for a series of neo-noir comics by Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" , and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several...
series. It chronicles Dwight's attempts to rescue Ava Lord, his former fiancée, from her husband and servant, who she says are sadistically
Sadism and masochism
Sadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
torturing her. Dwight begins to suspect that things aren't what they seem with Ava.
Dwight McCarthy
Dwight McCarthy is a main protagonist in Frank Miller's Sin City universe. He appears in A Dame to Kill For, The Big Fat Kill, Family Values, The Babe Wore Red and That Yellow Bastard. In the 2005 film adaptation, he was portrayed by Clive Owen.-Appearance:In Dwight's first appearance in A Dame To...
, working as a photographer for a grossly overweight man named Agamemnon, saves one of the Old Town prostitutes from one of her customers, whom Dwight was investigating on behalf of his wife; he then drives her back to Old Town. That night, he receives a call from a woman named Ava, asking him to meet her at a seedy bar called Kadie's Club Pecos. Dwight is suspicious of her, as Ava broke his heart four years ago by running off with another richer man, but he agrees to meet her anyway. Marv is also there and greets Dwight. Ava arrives late (as she often used to) and tries to persuade Dwight to take her back, claiming that her life is "a living Hell"; Dwight refuses to listen. Just then, Manute, Ava's husband's valet, arrives and takes Ava away. Dwight goes home, but cannot sleep. He decides to check up on Ava and her new husband, Damien Lord.
He hops a fence and, using his photography equipment, scopes out the estate and, in particular, Ava, who is swimming in the nude. He is discovered and claims that he is simply a Peeping Tom
Voyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....
. Manute, who seemingly doesn't recognize him from the bar, beats him brutally before throwing him from a car into the street. Dwight calls Agamemnon for a ride home and they stop several times for fast food.
As Dwight arrives home, he finds his Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
returned and his door unlocked. In his bedroom is a nude Ava. Following a heated argument, they eventually reconcile and make love. Manute arrives and violently beats naked Dwight. Dwight is knocked out of his upper story apartment window to the street below, where he blacks out momentarily. He awakens to see Manute driving off with Ava.
Determined to rescue her, Dwight arrives at Kadie’s, where Marv is in the middle of a squabble with some out-of-town punks. One of them pulls a gun on Marv, who knocks him flat; the rest quickly scatter. Dwight convinces Marv, over several drinks and whilst watching Nancy
Nancy Callahan
Nancy Callahan is a fictional character from the graphic novel series Sin City, created by Frank Miller. She first appeared in The Hard Goodbye before becoming a more prominent character in later stories, most notably That Yellow Bastard....
dance, to help him storm Damien's estate. As they approach the mansion, Dwight insists Marv leave the punk's gun, which Marv has procured, in the car. Marv tackles the guards as a distraction and eventually takes on Manute, ripping his right eye out and beating him savagely.
With Manute and the guards occupied, Dwight makes his way to Damien. When he finds him in his office, he beats him to death. As Dwight begins to realize what he has done, Ava appears, and explains how Dwight was all a part of her plan to get Damien murdered so she could inherit his estate. She shoots Dwight six times, including once in the head. Dwight once again falls out of a window and is picked up by Marv. Upon Dwight's insistence, Marv drives him to Old Town, where Dwight has his old flame, Gail, help him. The girls of Old Town perform surgery on Dwight's multiple bullet wounds, then ask him to leave. He convinces Gail and Miho, a deadly assassin he saved three years prior, to let him stay, and they operate further on him.
Two detectives following up on Damien Lord's death, Mort and Bob, talk to Ava. She claims that Dwight was a stalker
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
psychopath who killed Damien out of jealousy. They believe her story, and Mort starts sleeping with her. They interrogate Agamemnon, who tells how Dwight is an upright man who went clean after being a wild alcoholic with a short temper in his younger days. When they speak with Dwight's landlady
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
, she tells about letting Ava in and the resulting loud noises of the fight the night of Damien's murder. Bob doubts Ava considerably now, while Mort, who is still sleeping with her, becomes more on-edge towards his partner. This culminates with Mort killing Bob, then committing suicide. (On an unrelated note, during the scene in which Mort kills Bob, while they are driving in the car you can clearly see Wendy and Marv drive past them, presumably on their way to butcher Kevin
Roark family
The Roark family is a fictional dynasty from Frank Miller's graphic novel series Sin City.The family is made up of corrupt officials and landowners of Irish descent, who hold absolute power in Basin City. They are the main antagonists in the series, and are frequent catalysts to various plots and...
.)
Meanwhile, Dwight is recovering from his near-fatal wounds and calls Ava to inform her he's coming for her soon. Ava, with her late husband's financial assets, is joining her corporation with the mob boss Wallenquist. Unaffected by Ava's flirting, he warns her not to underestimate him again and tells her to tie up her loose ends with Dwight; he has someone arriving from Phoenix soon to meet her about that.
Dwight (with his new face), accompanied by Gail and Miho, poses as Wallenquist's man from Phoenix. Inside Ava's estate, however, Manute sees past the new face and captures Dwight. Gail and Miho strike from Dwight's car, and Dwight shoots Manute with a hidden .25 he had up his left sleeve. Six bullets fail to kill him, and Manute aims shakily at Dwight as Ava grabs one of Manute's guns, shooting Manute in his shoulder. Manute falls through a window and, upon landing, is stabbed in the arms by Miho, pinning him to the ground. Ava then tries to get Dwight to kill him, telling him that Manute had her under mind control to manipulate her and Damien and that it would be a cruel irony if he killed her now. Dwight finally sees through all the lies and kills Ava.
The Babe Wore Red and Other Stories
First published November 1994, The Babe Wore Red and Other Stories is a publication of short stories:- And Behind Door Number Three? (4 pages long)
- The Customer is Always Right (3 pages long)
- The Babe Wore Red (23 pages long) It reprints a serial run in Previews.
And Behind Door Number Three? is a short story about Gail and Wendy (who's now wearing Marv's necklace) setting a trap for a man they suspect is 'carving up' girls in Old Town.
The enigmatic "Cowboy" is captured by the allure of Wendy and subsequently shot and tied up by Gail. Although the Cowboy is willing to confess to the cops, the girls have other plans and invite Miho to finish the job.
The Customer is Always Right short served as the opening sequence for the movie Sin City
Sin City (film)
Sin City, also known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez...
, which featured Josh Hartnett
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...
and Marley Shelton
Marley Shelton
Marley Eve Shelton is an American film and television actress.Shelton began her acting career in her late teens, and appeared in several 1990s' television movies and shows. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed drama Grand Canyon , and was cast in the films The Sandlot , Nixon , and...
. The sequence served as the original proof of concept
Proof of concept
A proof of concept or a proof of principle is a realization of a certain method or idea to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle, whose purpose is to verify that some concept or theory that has the potential of being used...
footage that director Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet...
filmed to convince Frank Miller to allow him to adapt Sin City to the silver screen.
The story involves an enigmatic tryst between two nameless characters; "The Customer" and "The Salesman." They meet on the terrace of a high rise building, hinting that although they seem to be acting like strangers, they do indeed have some sort of past. It is unclear what their past involves even as they embrace in a passionate kiss.
A silenced gunshot stabs the night air to reveal that The Salesman has shot The Customer. The reader is led to believe that The Customer had fallen into a serious and difficult situation and, with no other feasible alternative, hired The Salesman to kill her. Later information given by Frank Miller on the commentary of the Recut & Extended DVD Edition states that The Customer had an affair with a member of the mafia, and when she found out tried to break it off with him. The mafia member then swore to her that she would die in the most terrible way possible, and when it is least expected. The Customer, having connections, hires The Salesman (who is referred to as "The Lady-Killer") to kill her. In the comic The Salesman is the Colonel, as Miller has verified in the BLAM! section page 29 of the one-shot issue "Sex & Violence."
The Babe Wore Red centers around the character of Dwight and the murder of his friend Fargo. Dwight stumbles upon the hanging corpse of Fargo in his apartment and encounters Mr Shlubb, half of the recurring supporting duo, Douglas Klump and Burt Shlubb (aka Fat Man and Little Boy).
He knocks out Shlubb and finds the titular character hiding in the shower. Under a barrage of sniper shots from Douglas Klump, Dwight and the Babe reach their car and speed off. Although they successfully elude the pair, Dwight refuses to let them off easy, choosing rather to head to The Farm to deal with them. In the meantime, the Babe introduces herself as a hooker named Mary, but Dwight can tell she's lying. He duels with both of them again and due to insistence from Mary decides to shoot them in the leg instead of killing them. He eventually receives a package from Fargo who had shipped it off before his untimely demise. Dwight reads up on the whole situation and realizes that Fargo was simply the scapegoat for illegal drug-related activities and had paid the ultimate price. He also receives a package from Mary. She was not a hooker, rather a nun that had flirted with temptation before ultimately deciding to dedicate her life to God.
The time frame for the story is given as during the time Marv spent on death row in "The Hard Goodbye", as noted when Dwight mentions that he had a friend on death row because of what happened at the Roark family farm.
The Big Fat Kill
The Girls of Old Town
The Girls of Old Town are a group of self-governing prostitutes in the fictional universe of Frank Miller's Sin City.During the days of the Gold Rush, when the town of Basin City had just been settled, the Roark family "imported" a large number of women from across the globe into the open and...
. The story deals with the repercussions of Dwight's and the Old Town Girls' actions towards him.
The story is one of three from Sin City related in the film Sin City
Sin City (film)
Sin City, also known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez...
. In the film, Clive Owen
Clive Owen
Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...
plays Dwight, Brittany Murphy
Brittany Murphy
Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack , known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys...
plays Shellie, Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
plays Jack, Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
plays Gail, Devon Aoki
Devon Aoki
Devon Edwenna Aoki is an American model and actress.-Early life:Aoki was born in New York City, New York, and grew up in California and London, attending high school at The American School in London...
plays Miho, Alexis Bledel
Alexis Bledel
Alexis Bledel is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Rory Gilmore in the television series Gilmore Girls and Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.-Early life:Bledel was born Kimberly Alexis Bledel in Houston, Texas...
plays Becky, and Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Clarke Duncan is an American actor, best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.- Early life :...
plays Manute.
Silent Night
Silent Night is a one-shot short story that Frank Miller released in November 1995. It is a 15-page story about Marv's rescue of a little girl, in which there is almost no dialogue; only one speech bubble appears in the entire story.Against a backdrop of heavy snow, Marv, a hulking, trenchcoat-clad figure, approaches a door in a dark alley. He intimidates the bouncer, Fatman, with his sheer size and is led inside and down a flight of stairs. He is met by two armed men and a leather-clad woman, who is apparently their boss. Marv hands her a wad of bills and is shown to a steel door in the far wall. Through a small viewing slit, he can see a terrified little girl crouching in darkness in the room beyond. Marv draws two pistols and kills the pair of henchmen, then executes the woman, making the only time Marv kills a woman. It only then becomes apparent that the child was being sold for sex. He retrieves the little girl, saying, "Your momma's been asking after you, Kimberly. Let's get you home." With the girl in his arms, he walks off into the distance, as the snow obscures his receding form.
That Yellow Bastard
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
miniseries, and the sixth in the Sin City
Sin City
Sin City is the title for a series of neo-noir comics by Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" , and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several...
series. It follows the usual black and white noir style artistry of previous Sin City novels. That Yellow Bastard is currently under publication by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
; the first edition became available in July 1997 (ISBN 1-56971-225-5).
The story begins more than eight years before any other Sin City book takes place, with possibly the most noble, and heroic protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
in the Sin City universe, policeman John Hartigan
John Hartigan
Detective John Hartigan is a major protagonist in the Sin City series of graphic novels, written by Frank Miller. He is the central character in That Yellow Bastard, and has a small cameo in Just Another Saturday Night...
(suffering from severe angina problems) on his final mission before his forced retirement. Roark Junior, son of one of the most powerful and corrupt
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
officials in Basin City, is indulging his penchant for raping
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
and murdering pre-pubescent
Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
girls. It is Hartigan's mission to rescue Junior's latest quarry, a thin eleven-year-old named Nancy Callahan
Nancy Callahan
Nancy Callahan is a fictional character from the graphic novel series Sin City, created by Frank Miller. She first appeared in The Hard Goodbye before becoming a more prominent character in later stories, most notably That Yellow Bastard....
. Hartigan rescues her, but only after severely wounding Junior and sending him into a coma. Hartigan is then framed for kidnapping and raping Nancy, and sent to prison for eight years, until he manages to achieve parole and attempts to locate and protect Nancy from Roark's men.
In Rodriguez's adaptation, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
stars as Hartigan, Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...
as Nancy, Nick Stahl
Nick Stahl
Nicolas Kent "Nick" Stahl is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face and then embarked on a successful career as a child actor...
as the Yellow Bastard/Junior, Powers Boothe
Powers Boothe
Powers Allen Boothe is an American television and film actor. Some of his most notable roles include his Emmy-winning 1980 portrayal of Jim Jones and his turn as Cy Tolliver on Deadwood, as well as Vice-President Noah Daniels on 24....
as Senator Roark and Michael Madsen
Michael Madsen
Michael Søren Madsen is an American actor, poet, and photographer. He has appeared in more than 150 films, most of them small independent films, though he has starred in central roles in such films as Reservoir Dogs, Free Willy, Donnie Brasco, and Kill Bill, in addition to a supporting role in Sin...
as Hartigan's partner, Bob. There are only a few notable differences in the film version: Mort is replaced by Bob when Hartigan is released from prison, an appearance by Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino is an American actress known for her roles of Sally Jupiter in Watchmen, Dr. Vera Gorski in Sucker Punch, Lucille in Sin City, Amanda Daniels in seasons 3, 5 and 7 of Entourage, Ingrid Cortez in the Spy Kids film trilogy, and as the lead characters of the television series Karen Sisco...
as Lucille is omitted (but reinstated in the extended version released to DVD), and Senator Roark(Powers Booth) has a mustache.
In the DVD commentary, Frank Miller indicated that he was initially motivated to write That Yellow Bastard after his disappointment with The Dead Pool
The Dead Pool
The Dead Pool is a 1988 American action thriller film about the manipulation of a "dead pool" game by a serial killer, whose efforts are foiled by a hardened detective. It is the fifth and final film in the Dirty Harry series, set in San Francisco, California and starring Clint Eastwood as...
, the fifth and final film in the Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry (film series)
Dirty Harry is the name of a series of films and novels starring fictional San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan, portrayed by Clint Eastwood...
series. Nancy -- who prior to this story had no last name -- was named "Callahan", a name shared with Clint Eastwood's character.
Daddy's Little Girl
Daddy's Little Girl was first published in A Decade of Dark Horse #1 (July 1996) and reprinted in Tales to Offend #1 (July 1997), and Booze, Broads, and Bullets.Johnny is a middle-aged man who seems to be in love with a much younger girl by the name of Amy. Amy insists that they cannot be together and alludes to the solution that he kills her father. Torn by his emotions and manipulated by Amy, he attempts to confront her father first, asking for her hand in marriage. Daddy refuses and Johnny shoots him with a revolver that Amy gave him. Daddy then reveals that the gun was in fact loaded with blank
Blank (cartridge)
A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound . Blanks are often used for simulation , training, and for signaling...
s and was a plot orchestrated by him and Amy. The two are either lovers with a daddy/daughter fetish
Sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
based relationship or a father and daughter in an incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
uous relationship. Daddy strangles Johnny for sexual satisfaction, and it implied this was the only way he was able to become aroused.
Lost, Lonely & Lethal
First published December 1996, Lost, Lonely & Lethal contains three stories:- Fat Man and Little Boy (3 pages)
- Blue Eyes (14 pages)
- Rats (7 pages)
Fat Man and Little Boy is a short three-page story about Douglas Klump and Burt Shlubb, who also appear in "That Yellow Bastard" and "Family Values." These characters use a large vocabulary to make it appear that they are more intelligent than they truthfully are. However their wordy speeches are sprinkled with malapropism
Malapropism
A malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...
s. In this yarn, Shlubb's boots are in horrible shape, and he wishes to steal the shoes off a corpse, wrapped in a rug, that they're supposed to dump in the river.
Klump tells him that they're supposed to leave the body as it is. Shlubb disagrees and pulls the boots off, to discover that there are no feet in them, and a ticking sound rings through their ears. This was apparently a test, and the two buffoons get thrown several yards away as the explosion hits. It seems they failed the test miserably.
Blue Eyes, the second story, begins as a man named Jim notices someone he assumes is a hitman following him. He runs into Kadie’s, where he is confronted by an ex-flame named Delia. Marv is sitting next to them at the bar, and provides some comic relief. The hitman enters the bar, and Jim convinces Delia to leave with him. Marv then steals his drink, reasoning that it would have gone to waste otherwise.
Jim and Delia go back to his place and make love. She then attacks him, and explains that this is her test. She wants to become a hitwoman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
, and she must first kill the only man she ever loved. After killing Jim, the Colonel appears - he was the 'hitman' who had been following Jim. He gives her an assignment, and she takes on the name 'Blue Eyes', which is what Jim used to call her.
Blue Eyes is shown to take place at the same time as A Dame To Kill For, as part of the story shows Gail telling Shelley what to tell the police about Dwight. The story also has brief appearances by many characters, including Miho, Agammemnon and Manute.
Rats is the final story, it is about a disturbed war criminal who eats dog food. It was adapted to a 2004 fan film
Fan film
A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book or a similar source, created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been amateurs, but some of the more notable films have actually been produced by...
of the same name. http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2655362
A sadistic war criminal (and presumed Nazi) stuffs rats in his oven to eat as he mentally rambles about the London Blitz, his arthritis, and how he killed all the 'rats', which were all people. A vigilante known amongst readers as 'The Janitor' kicks down the door and incapacitates him, before shoving his head into the oven, gassing him to death.
Sex & Violence
Sex & Violence was first published in March 1997 and only contains two stories, both of which feature Delia:- Wrong Turn (23 pages)
- Wrong Track (3 pages)
The two stories take place on the same night, with the second taking place minutes after the first.
Wrong Turn is the first story, in which a man named Phil drives aimlessly in the rain, eventually finding Delia unconscious on a dirt road. He picks her up, and she tells him that she must have got struck by lightning. He offers to take her to the hospital, but she refuses. She asks if he is married, and he says that he is not. She takes him to the pits, and they make love. In the middle of it, he confesses that he is, in fact, married.
She starts choking him and calls him by the name of Eddie. She claims he has a trunk-load of stolen jewels he plans to sell in Sacred Oaks, violating an exclusivity agreement with the Wallenquist Organization. He explains that he is a used car salesman named Phil, and she understands. Eddie was supposed to be driving a similar Studebaker, and looked very similar. She sticks the heel of her shoe in his eye socket, killing him. She meets up with the Colonel and Gordo at the entrance to the pits. They check the trunk of Phil's car and find his wife with six bullets in her chest. They throw him in as well and Gordo pushes the car into the pits. Delia explains that she has a train to catch.
Wrong Track is the second story, which picks up soon after. Eddie is riding the train. His internal monologue explains that he had a flat tire. Delia hits on him, and they make love near the back of the train.
When they're done, she snaps his neck and throws him off the train. Leaving the rear of the train, the Colonel waits for her. "Delia-- do you plan to make love to each and every one of them?" he asks. Her response is "Only the ones I like."
Just Another Saturday Night
Just Another Saturday Night was first published in Sin City #1/2 (August 1997), a limited mail-in comic available only through a special offer in WizardWizard (magazine)
Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011...
#73. It was later reprinted in a mass-market edition as Just Another Saturday Night (October 1998).
It is the story of what Marv was up to on the night John Hartigan
John Hartigan
Detective John Hartigan is a major protagonist in the Sin City series of graphic novels, written by Frank Miller. He is the central character in That Yellow Bastard, and has a small cameo in Just Another Saturday Night...
met back up with Nancy
Nancy Callahan
Nancy Callahan is a fictional character from the graphic novel series Sin City, created by Frank Miller. She first appeared in The Hard Goodbye before becoming a more prominent character in later stories, most notably That Yellow Bastard....
(from That Yellow Bastard
That Yellow Bastard
That Yellow Bastard is a six-issue comic book limited series, and the sixth in the Sin City series. It was published by Dark Horse Comics in February–July 1996, It follows the usual black and white noir style artistry of previous Sin City novels, with the exception of yellow on Roark Junior...
). Marv regains consciousness on a highway overlooking the Projects, surrounded by dead young guys, unable to remember how he got there. He lights one of the dead guys' cigarettes and thinks back; since it is Saturday, he deduces he must have been at Kadie's watching Nancy dance...
Marv was rather depressed after seeing Nancy leave with Hartigan, as he'd always had an unrequited crush on her, so the barkeep gives him a bottle to drown his sorrow with. He gets drunk and steps outside, only to find some preppy college kids trying to burn drunks and winos to death. He immediately kills one of them and chases the rest to The Projects, where along the way he destroys a police patrol car and hijacks another vehicle. At the Projects, it is clear that they are being watched, but Marv uses hand signals to identify himself and instruct his former neighbors to attack the kids, and they do so by firing arrows at them and providing Marv with a knife. After questioning the last surviving kid about him being called 'Bernini boy', (it was the name of the brand of coat he was wearing,) he slits his throat. This done, he muses, "And one fine coat it is. Somebody must've spent a fortune on it. I wonder who?" But he cannot seem to remember where he got the coat or gloves.
Family Values
Family Values was first published in (October 1997) and was the fifth "yarn" in Frank MillerFrank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's Sin City
Sin City
Sin City is the title for a series of neo-noir comics by Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" , and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several...
series. Unlike the previous four stories, Family Values was released as a 128-page graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
rather than in serialized issues that would later be collected in a trade paperback volume. The plot concerns Dwight and Miho going on a mission from Gail to dig up information about a recent mob hit at a small diner.
Hell and Back (A Sin City Love Story)
Hell and Back (A Sin City Love Story) was first published in (July 1999–April 2000)Hell and Back is the longest of the Sin City stories, spanning 9 issues. It tells the story of Wallace, an artist/war hero/short order cook who saves a suicidal woman named Esther. She likes his art and they go out for a drink. They are ambushed by two men, who drug Wallace and kidnap Esther. When Wallace recovers, he vows to find Esther and deal with those who kidnapped her.
Booze, Broads & Bullets
Booze, Broads & Bullets is a compilation of stories from the Sin City series of comic books by Frank MillerFrank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
. It reprints all the short stories, in the following order:
- Just Another Saturday Night (from Sin City #1/2 and also reprinted in Just Another Saturday Night)
- Fat Man and Little Boy (from Lost, Lonely, & Lethal)
- The Customer is Always Right (from The Babe Wore Red and Other Stories)
- Silent Night (from Silent Night)
- And Behind Door Number Three? (from The Babe Wore Red and Other Stories)
- Blue Eyes (from Lost, Lonely, & Lethal)
- Rats (from Lost, Lonely, & Lethal)
- Daddy's Little Girl (from A Decade of Dark Horse #1 and also reprinted in Tales to Offend #1)
- Wrong Turn (from Sex & Violence)
- Wrong Track (from Sex & Violence)
- The Babe Wore Red (from The Babe Wore Red and Other Stories)