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"Chris Mills
and Rick Burchett have created an instant crime comic classic. Briskly
told with all best aspects of a pulp story presented with panache and
the proper measure of meaness. I love this comic!" "With any
luck, we'll see more stories in this vein from these two in the future,
but even if we don't, Gravedigger: The Scavengers stands out as
an achievement to be proud of. 8/10" "First-rate
hard-boiled caper comic much in the spirit of His Name is...Savage,
Sleeper and Catwoman: Selina's Big Score. Mills delivers
a note-perfect script full of treachery and double-dealing, and Burchett's
gritty Pop Noir stylings puts him in the same class with Darwyn Cooke
and Sean Phillips. The only complaint I have about this issue is that
it's a one-shot -- I'd love to see more of this, now, please..." "This is what
new readers of comics are going to turn out for, the kind of entertainment
they enjoy in movies and TV. Mills drives us through his paperback underworld
at breakneck speed, and gives Burchett the raw-knuckled story he was born
to do. I hope this team stays committed to a life of CRIME!!" "...a deliciously
noir crime story...8/10!" "'Gravedigger'
McCrae claims this is his last job, but for the sake of crime fans
I hope it's not. Mills & Burchett have put together a fantastic noir
comic, and it would be a crime if they stopped here." "Gravedigger:
The Scavengers is the great lost film Lee Marvin coulda (and shoulda)
done straight up hard stuff, no chaser. It may go down easy, but
it packs a punch like a set of bloody brass knuckles. Let's hope Mills
and Burchett serve up another round of murder and mayhem real soon." "The one-shot
Gravedigger: The Scavengers from Christopher Mills with pencils
and inks by Rick Burchett is a beaut. Crisply rendered with deft thick-and-thin
lines, dramatically composed panels and page layouts (bound sideways),
toned various grays (by Mills), and with a Lee Marvin look-alike in the
lead. A brutal, amoral tale but expertly done." "Gravedigger
is pure homage to Richard Stark and Lee Marvin. It's the unofficial sequel
to Point Blank that we never got to see. The story by Mills is
loaded with rip-offs, double and triple crosses, brutal violence and steamy
sex. The artwork by Rick Burchett is crisp and clean and presented the
way noir should be presented: in black and white and shades of gray. (The
look of the book reminded me a bit of Kubrick's The Killing.) The
"hero" of the story looks just like Lee Marvin in an aggravated
mood (did he have many others?)." "Mills is
an underappreciated writer. He has solid skills and uses them to good
effect here. Digger and the other characters are well-realized, even those
destined to play but minor roles in the caper. The pacing is solid, the
writing appropriately hard-boiled. He threw some good curves, too; I saw
one of them coming only to be fooled by the second. Solid. Artist Burchett
is a consummate storyteller as well. All the visual elements - character
designs, panel and page construction, backgrounds are in service
of the story. That he draws so well adds to the quality of the presentation.
"...well-developed
story--dark gritty, filled with crime and other nastiness--well done!
Written well and portrayed superbly by the characters...cut and dry, boy
meets girl, boy wins girl, girl shoots boy, etc.--you know how it goes.
Descriptive and explicit. A good job all around." "McCrae is
a heartless bastard who only barely qualifies as even an anti-hero. There
are a couple of things that redeem him, though. First is the fact that
(at least in this story) everyone hes fighting against is just as
crooked and dirty as he is. That prevents him from being completely despicable.
The second thing is his resiliency. The plot is full of violent double-
and triple-crosses, but McCrae somehow manages to foil every attempt to
put him away. Hes got his eye on the prize and nothing will stop
him from reaching it. As morally bankrupt as McCrae is, theres a
kind of nobility to him that causes us to root for him anyway." "A gripping,
gritty, tight little film noir-inspired tale featuring a Lee Marvin look-alike
who delivers hardboiled narration that rivals the best Bogart films. A
classic "one last heist" yarn where everyone is secretly scheming
against everyone else and, of course, everything goes wrong." "... this
tale by writer Christopher Mills is no mere crime comic! This is a summer
Hollywood blockbuster put to paper!" "...a
good tale about a bad man... All in all, Gravedigger is a swell
little crime fiction vignette a tight package. Highly recommended."
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