The Crow: Special Edition [Paperback]

J. O'Barr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2011

When James O’Barr poured the pain and anguish of a personal tragedy into the drawings that comprise The Crow, his intensely cathartic story of Eric—who returns from the dead to avenge his and his fiancÉe’s murder at the hands of a street gang—resonated with readers around the world. Now, the illustrated tale that became the “thrilling” (Los Angeles Daily News) and “spectacular” (Chicago Tribune) screen triumph is re-released in an expanded version the author originally intended, complete at last with:

Thirty pages of never-before-seen artwork, including a new closing segment, “Sparklehorse,” and the touching new scene, “An August Noel”

A new Introduction by James O’Barr

Lost sequences restored using the artist’s original technique

This is The Crow like you’ve never seen it before—the powerful journey of an avenging angel and a celebration of true love . . . as fierce, intelligent, and unforgettable as when it was first conceived.

Suggested for mature readers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Original edition (July 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451627254
• ISBN-13: 978-1451627251
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Horror
  • #93 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Fantasy

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed-bag, July 26, 2011

By 

GuruAskew - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Crow: Special Edition (Paperback)

I'm rarely motivated to write these things but I kinda feel like a jerk writing an average review for this thing as its first release but I have to be honest.

"The Crow" is one of the best selling comic trade paperbacks ever and this particular edition has been rumored for literally half my life. I'm 29 now and talk of the "Author's Edition" has been circulating since I was in junior high school. I still have my original copy but its in tatters from being carried around in my backpack constantly through high school. It no longer has the front cover.

I almost broke down and replaced it a few times over the years but I always held off in hopes that this edition would materialize. If I would have known how long it would take I probably would have repurchased it long ago. Now I have this Special Edition and its flaws aren't worth buying the original version again but I feel anyone who has a perfectly good copy of the TPB may want to make an informed decision re: the "upgrade".

For starters, one of the selling points on the jacket is "LOST SEQUENCES RESTORED USING THE ARTIST'S ORIGINAL TECHNIQUE". Per his introduction James O'Barr claims that the original art for these deleted scenes was lost and/or given away over the years and has been faithfully recreated using low-quality photocopies as a guide. I guess we'll have to take his word for it because these poor-quality versions are presented nowhere in the book. I hate to sound paranoid but the reason I'm not quite convinced is because they show an advanced technique not present in the surrounding material. I say kudos to James O'Barr for improving as an artist over 30 years but I don't know how I feel about the dishonesty in regards to the historical nature of the art.

Secondly, the two major sequences are good but not great. The "An August Noel" scene is like most deleted scenes in movies where you can see why it didn't make the cut in the first place and the case could definitely be made that the second one "Sparklehorse" is redundant in regards to the first dream sequence with the horse. At least O'Barr had the decency to be honest in his introduction about the fact that this is a new sequence as opposed to something that has supposedly been sitting on a shelf for 30 years. Neither one is actually detrimental to the story but again, they're hardly essential either.

My third objection is my biggest one: there are at least two instances where O'Barr's charmingly-amateurish art in the early issues is replaced by the aforementioned modern art. Going back to that blurb about "THE ARTIST'S ORIGINAL TECHNIQUE" this revisionism really rubbed me the wrong way. I may upload two examples into the Amazon.com customer images here tonight. I've always felt that O'Barr's poorer art in the early issues had an endearing quality and I also enjoyed seeing him improve over the relatively-short period of time it took for "The Crow" to see completion but the two examples I saw are incredibly incongruous. To see the modern art between panels of vintage/period art is very distracting. The first example (the Crow with Gabriel on his shoulder carrying a wine bottle and flowers) was always admittedly been one of the more-memorable examples of being less-than-great but I'm at a loss as to why O'Barr singled the second instance (a scene with Albrecht in Gideon's Pawn) out. The original art is no worse than the other panels left as-is on the very same page and some dialogue is even dropped as a result of the new composition which actually creates a small continuity error on the next page as Albrecht refers to a now-deleted line while recapping his encounter over the phone to Hook.

My final objection comes right down to cheapness. If you liked some of the lyrics and poetry included in previous editions you're going to be sorely disappointed. Basically anything that would have involved royalties being paid to bands like The Cure and Joy Division has been axed. Its hard to even give the publishers the benefit of the doubt in regards to this being an artistic decision when its so blatant. "The Hanging Garden" by The Cure has been replaced, for example, by an original piece of poetry written by O'Barr. Its the literary equivalent of when you watch a TV show on DVD and the pop music used in the broadcast has been replaced by cheesy soundalike music for the home video release.

Ultimately having this edition of "The Crow" is kinda like when a movie you enjoy is only available in its directors cut or unrated cut on DVD. When you're done you can't really say that it didn't satisfy your interest in watching/reading/listening etc. but for every little change that you enjoy there's probably something in there you wish they wouldn't have messed with in the first place.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Special Edition Well Worth Obtaining..........., July 27, 2011

By 

Bob James "DOCTOR8" (Chicago, Il., USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Crow: Special Edition (Paperback)

This is a great update on James O'Barr's classic "The Crow". It's not just the addition of never before seen panels of art (The additional panels featuring Eric's exchange with Albrecht in Gideon's Pawnshop are wonderful; we see what may have inspired their conversation in Albrecht's apartment in the film). Or a whole never before seen concluding chapter ("Sparklehorse"), which is also quite nice, but O'Barr's own new forward to the edition is quite compelling in itself. We learn more about his inspiration for the book, in a much more open and telling fashion here; how he came to grips over time with the emotional fallout of the tragedy that drove him to write and draw it; as well as his struggle with guilt over the death of actor Brandon Lee. There's a poignant parallel between the character of Eric's struggle to come to terms with the guilt he felt, and James own struggle to come to terms and begin to resolve his own struggle with feelings of guilt in the wake of his own tragedy. This revelatory insight doesn't make the book any less personal for the reader, but provides some compelling insight into the artist who created it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crow's Feet, September 6, 2011

By 

Regent T. St Claire "Sacrosanction" (Culver City, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Crow: Special Edition (Paperback)

Look, by now all us Crow fans have pretty much seen (and bought) it all. That said, this is a very pretty edition, and its "additional" material is pretty cool too. Not amazing, but still quite cool. "New" Crow stuff is pretty rare these days, so many years after the original books rocked our collective world, hence I'd say go ahead and buy this if you can find it for a great price.