Customer Reviews

Sin City: The Frank Miller Library, Set I (Volumes 1-4) (v. 1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The fact that you're checking out this big-ticket item means you are no doubt familiar with Frank Miller's crime noir masterpiece, so I won't bother explaining what the basic stories are all about. You're probably here trying to decide whether this bookshelf item is worth the hefty price tag, or whether it is time to upgrade your Sin City collection. The answer is an overwhelming YES.

In this massive collection you get the first four Sin City graphic novels housed in a black slipcase with the Sin City logo in red foil. The volumes presented here are in hardcover format in a larger than normal size. Think of the DC Absolute hardcover series; these books are just slightly smaller than that format. As if the extra large presentation weren't enough, the page stock has been significantly upgraded. The pages are as thick as the typical Sin City cover stock, and ultra-glossy, which is ideally suited for Miller's dynamic black and white artwork. Each page becomes fine art. I was extremely pleased with my original Sin City hardcovers and paperbacks, but they just pale in comparison to the quality of this package. This really is the ultimate Sin City reading experience.

My only complaint, and it is minor, is that there isn't anything in the way of "bonus material." At the very least, I was hoping for some kind of introduction to each volume by Miller. But like I said, it's a minor gripe.

With its high price tag, the Sin City Library is not for everyone. It is however, a must-have for true Sin City aficionados, and makes an impressive addition to the comic fan's bookshelf.

Forget all the other imprints of this masterpiece. Finally Dark Horse does justice to this great series with this marvellous set. Marv, Goldie and all the others have never looked better. Just the quality of the paper and the blackness of the ink takes your breath away (matches the E.C. slipcased sets in quality printing). Just look at the other pictures above: aren't these covers awesome? Also included are beautiful color reproductions of most of the series' original covers. I would even go as far as to say that this set isn't just for fans. The panels are "ready to be framed" ... But then you'd need to buy at least two sets.... joking...
When you're interested in comic book inking, page set-ups, art in general or how to bring a plot to paper, buy this. You won't be disappointed. You'll want to read this over and over again. Each single dialogue, sharper than a razor blade, the movements frozen in mid-air. This will truely leave you breathless and in awe. When you liked the movie, buy this. It lets you appreciate the detail and leaves you the time to discover what maybe got lost through the pace of cinematic story-telling. I didn't like the movie as much as these books. Why? Here I have the time to appreciate every single frame, to let the characters grow inside my head. The movie didn't leave me that room. To me it almost became a series of scenes filled with too much senseless violence. Not that the books are any less violent or that because they leave you your own pace in reading them, they'd prepare you for anything that you have coming your way. No way. I just think they leave you more time and space to appreciate what great art it is that you are looking at - and for what a great price.

Call it "noir meets Kill Bill." Frank Miller stripped comic art to the bone in his "Sin City" series, which takes place in the fictional "Basin City," where corruption is the rule and life is cheap.

It's a gritty, dark, edgy series with several interwoven stories, and artwork that give no distraction from the rocky stories. And this collector's edition contains the first four volumes of the series, but with the bloody, gritty storytelling amped up with the greater quality of the publication.

It opens with "The Hard Goodbye," a bloody revenge tale about a scarred hulk named Marv. He meets a beautiful young blonde who sleeps with him, but she is dead the next morning. Revenge spurs Marv to hunt down and destroy the people who killed Goldie, including a silent cannibal and a corrupt cardinal, no matter what the price.

"A Dame To Kill For" is pure noir, set before the first book of the series. Dwight is a photographer with a shady past; his ex-girlfriend Ava reenters his life, announcing that she's scared of her ultrawealthy husband, Damien Lord, and seeking Dwight as a knight in tarnished armor. But Dwight doesn't know if he can trust her -- is Ava really in danger, or is she manipulating him as a pawn to get back at her husband? The truth just might destroy him...

Elsewhere in Sin City, the streets of Old Town are ruled by the ladies who walk them. And in "The Big Fat Kill," Dwight comes to their aid. A bunch of drunks invaded Old Town and get killed by the prostites... but then they find that one has a badge. Now Dwight must help the prostitutes -- to whom he owes a debt -- defend themselves against the rest of Sin City.

"That Yellow Bastard" introduces us to Hartigan, an ailing cop who receives a distress call from an 11-year-old, Nancy Callahan. He does rescue her, but at a price -- the rapist-murderer who attacked her is the son of a senator. Hartigan ends up in jail. And after eight years, he finds that teen stripper Nancy is now being stalked by the senator's son again...

Anyone who has seen the excellent "Sin City" movie will know what to expect -- a bloody, stark, lawless retro-noir story, with a lot of killing, sex and revenge. Wallace puts it well at the end of "Hell and Back": "That rotten town. Those it can't corrupt, it soils. Those it can't soil, it kills."

So what kind of boxed set is this? A collector's set, not the type you take off the shelf and flip through, but the kind you dust, admire, and occasionally brush your fingers over. But if you were to flip through it, you would find fine-quality paper, tight hardcover bindings, and Miller's artwork sitting in the middle of it, looking better than ever.

Normally I would think that a black-and-white comic, with only the odd splashes of colour, would be wasted on the paper here. But it actually adds definition to Miller's stark artwork, and makes it leap off the page. Whether black-and-white or with the odd bit of colour, it's very striking just to look at.

The first boxed set of Frank Miller's "Sin City" takes the noir comic and upgrades it to a collectible status. Dark, edgy and beautifully bound.

If there is a series that deserves an oversized format, it is SIN CITY. Point. No question about it. All that fantastic B&W art of Frank Miller blows away my mind every time I open up those books.But there is a problem: NO EXTRA STUFF!No sketch gallery,no unused pages or something like that.Anyway,the final design of the slipcase follows the art direction of the entire series!Take it!

This deluxe hardcover edition is worth every penny. The art is gorgeous. Owning this oversized volume makes looking at the pretty pictures even more enjoyable.

Beautiful books, and a great read... Just passing along some information... These will be reprinted as part of Dark Horse's 2010 line... Yes, in this format... They are currently redoing the smaller version as well...

I am very lucky that this set exists as I have never read Sin City before. To read it in this glossy oversized edition has been a treat. It is totally worth the money - I purchased it on Amazon in 2007 and notice the price has only gone up for the used sets - and looks really nice on the shelf. My only regret is that I bought too many paperback copies of other graphic novels - slowly they are coming out with archival editions and I have to begin the expensive process of replacing my old copies with these new cooler editions!

The only complaint I've heard about this collection is the lack of bonus materials. While I do agree with the argument, I believe you still get your money's worth and more in this product.

I've done some price comparisons online before purchasing these books, and amazon.com definately has the best price out there.

The packaging of the collection is eye catching; flat black with red foil lettering. The pages are quite thick and durable, a necessity for those of us who want to read them, as well as have something that looks good on a book-shelf.

The story and illustrations are now in larger print, giving you a better appreciation for the body of work.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Sin City books, this is still a good investment if you are fan of graphic novels. I was a fan of the film, and figured to give the books a try. Rather than spend a fortune tracking down the comics I thought I would try this. Not only does this series include a story-line not included in the film, but there is further elaboration on what you did not see in the film.

This is a great collection; the stories are wonderful, the packaging is great, and the price is right for what you are getting. I hope they continue to put these out. I know I'll be buying more.

Truly does justice to a masterpiece of the modern comic book world...

If you're looking at buying this, you know what Sin City is. This collection is an oversized printing with thicker paper and darker inks. It's a very high-quality product and at ~$25 an issue, not a bad deal. I could only give it 4 stars because I noticed that at least 2 pages of story are missing from the second book as compared to the trade paperback. I don't know if those pages were added to the paperback version and not in the original comics, thus not used here, or if they were removed for some other reason, but since they are my two favorite pages in the book, I'm a tad disappointed. I'm not sure if anything else is missing; those two pages were all I noticed.