- For the 2005 movie, see Sin City (film). For other uses, see Sin City (disambiguation)
Sin City is the title for a series of stories by Frank Miller, told in comic book form in a film noir-like style. The first story originally appeared in Dark Horse Presents from April of 1991 to June of 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several other stories of variable lengths have followed. All stories take place in Basin City, with frequent recurring characters and intertwining stories.
A movie adaptation of Sin City, co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller with "special guest director" Quentin Tarantino, was released on April 1, 2005. The Sin City graphic novels were reprinted with new covers and in a reduced size to coincide with the motion picture's theatrical release. Rodriguez has expressed a desire to begin filming two sequels back-to-back starting February 2006 for release sometime in 2007. A TV Series based on the comics is reported to follow the second sequel.
Setting
Basin City, almost universally referred to by the nickname Sin City, is a fictional town in the American Northwest, located somewhere 40 minutes outside of Seattle, WA. It hardly ever rains, and if it rains it's mostly warm droplets of moist "that dissolve before it hits the ground". Usually twice a year, a downpour comes. The Basin City Police are mostly lazy, cowardly, or corrupt. Only a handful of the cops are still honest.
During the Gold Rush, The Roark Family brought a large number of women to keep the miners happy. These women ended up forming the district of Old Town, the prostitutes' quarter. In addition, the people in charge of the city remained in charge, running it as they saw fit.
As the various yarns progress, the audience gradually becomes familiar with key locations in and around Basin City.
- Old Town is the red-light-district and is off limits to police. This is where the city's population of prostitutes reside; it recently came under the control of the twins Goldie and Wendy.
- Sacred Oaks, home to the rich and powerful of Basin City. This suburb lies outside the city proper, a half an hour drive uphill. A university of some sort is also located there.
- Kadie's, a stripper joint/bar where Nancy Callahan and Shellie work, and Dwight McCarthy and Marv hang out.
- Basin City Central Train Station, which has a direct connection to Phoenix.
- The Projects, the run-down and poor side of Sin City, is a tangle of high-rise apartments where crime runs rampant. Marv was born in the Projects.
- Roark Family Farm (a.k.a. "The Farm") is located at North Cross and Lennox, this farm shows up in several stories, including The Hard Goodbye, That Yellow Bastard, and Hell And Back. It was also home to Kevin, a serial killer with ties to the Roark family. Marv burns down one of the buildings, and the Farm is abandoned sometime after the initial Sin City storyline.
- The Pits, tar pits outside the city where dinosaur bones were excavated at some time. They are frequently used as a place to dump things you don't want found. This is where Dwight takes the corpses of Jackie Boy and his friends in The Big Fat Kill.
Characters
Protagonists
- Marv, a tough, violent, big bruiser of a man, who spends his time on the streets doing odd jobs for various people. He suffers from a mental condition that causes him to hallucinate. His personal code of honour dictates the repayment of debts and a sort of chivalry towards women. He is a classic example of a noir anti-hero. See Full Article
- Dwight McCarthy, a middle-aged photographer who, recently surgically bestowed with a new face, is deeply in debt to the women of Old Town and will go to great lengths to help them out. See Full Article
- Det. John Hartigan, good-hearted 60-year-old ex-con/ex-cop. He has a distinguishing scar on his forehead. See Full Article
- Goldie and Wendy, the twin prostitutes who are currently in control of the Old Town.
- Gail, a prostitute whose speciality is knot-tying. She is six feet tall and is one of the authority figures of Old Town. She has a love/hate relationship with Dwight McCarthy.
- Wallace, a fit, long haired artist turned vigilante hero who saves Esther, and seems to be the most good natured person in Sin City. He is, however, a former Navy Seal with the Medal Of Honor. Next to Miho & Kevin, he is among one of the deadlier people in Sin City, but prefers to not fight.
- Nancy Callahan, a 19-year-old stripper who works at Kadie's and was saved as a child by Det. John Hartigan. According to Hartigan her free time is spent studying, reading, and writing, so she would seem to be highly intelligent as well. A good friend to Marv, whom often doubles as her protector. See Full Article
- Miho, a highly skilled, mute, Japanese assassin who works out for the Ladies Old Town. She is a blade weapon and inline skate aficionado.
Antagonists
- Kevin, an intentionally mute sociopath who resides at "The Farm", kills women, and cannibalises their remains. The leftovers go to his pet wolf. He is sheltered by Cardinal Roark. Marv kills him after an exhausting exchange of blows by chopping off his limbs and letting the wolf eat him. Kevin is an agile, fast and skilled martial artist.
- Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark, a Catholic Cardinal, who is brother to Senator Roark. Roark occasionally uses Kevin as his personal assassin, and even joins him in his cannibalistic rituals. He's killed by Marv in an unspecified (but incredibly gruesome) way.
- Ava Lord, ex-lover of Dwight McCarthy who manipulates men through her good looks and her innocence. An expert liar, she is considered a goddess by Manute and a manipulative witch by Dwight, who eventually kills her.
- Det. Jack "Iron Jack" Rafferty/Jackie Boy is Shellie's former (abusive) boyfriend. Miho kills him and his four buddies after they threaten Becky with a gun. His image later haunts Dwight's imagination.
- Junior Roark aka That Yellow Bastard was the son of Senator Roark. He was handsome, young, and rich; as well also a sadistic child molester who raped and murdered pre-pubescent girls, a pastime that was covered up by his father and city police. In That Yellow Bastard, Hartigan shoots off his ear, hand and genitals while rescuing his Nancy, and Sen. Roark pays millions in physical rehabilitation treatments. Due to these treatments, however, his body cannot process waste properly, resulting in his skin turning bright yellow and making him smell like rotting meat. He finally meets his well-deserved death by Hartigan (who beats Roark to a pulp as well as rip his genitals off a second time).
- Senator Roark, a very corrupt politician with huge political and financial power, he has the influence to eliminate whomever he chooses. The Senator's brother is Cardinal Roark.
- Manute, a huge black man who is very gentlemanly and polite in all situations, even while committing homicide, who served Ava Lord and is later recruited by the Colonel. He is also well-nigh indestructible, having been crucified (by Miho), shot repeatedly (by Dwight), beat up numerous times (by Marv and Wallace), and relieved of an eye (again, by Marv). Manute is finally gunned down by Old Town hookers.
- The Colonel, enforcer for Wallenquist. Trains assassins, as well as being one himself. Runs an organ harvesting ring as well as other organized crimes. His operations is eventually shut down by the Police and he is captured and shot by Commissioner Liebowitz.
- Delia aka "Blue Eyes", a trained assassin hired by The Colonel. Uses the powers of seduction to lead unsuspecting men to their deaths. She usually has sex with her victims before killing them. She herself is killed by Wallace.
- Mariah, a trained assassin in league with Delia, although apparently less skilled. Also uses the powers of seduction, but can also fight with a bo (staff). Works for Wallenquist. Has her nose broken by Wallace and manages to escape from Liebowitz's assault on the factory.
- Wallenquist aka the Kraut, the mysterious and potent leader of the Sin City mob. His goal is merely to achieve power and profit, regardless of what underhanded methods can lead him to that goal.
Others
- Bob, Hartigan’s corrupt partner. Betrays him and later regrets it.
- Mort, Partners with Bob and an honest detective. Seduced and corrupted by Ava Lord, and eventually takes Bob's, and his own, life.
- Lucille, Marv's lesbian parole officer and Hartigan's lawyer.
- Becky, an young Old Town prostitute who works for the Colonel, mainly because she didn't want her mother to discover that she was a prostitute, partly because he offered her a considerable sum of money and a new life. Killed in an alleyway shootout.
- Shellie, a barmaid at Kadie's. She is Dwight McCarthy's occasional girlfriend. By The Big Fat Kill, they appear to have reconciled.
- Kadie: A middle-aged fat transexual that owns the eponymous bar where Nancy and Shellie work. She gives Marv drinks for free because he has killed a number of people for her.
- Fat Man and Little Boy, a pair of low-rent hit men who use extravagant words in daily conversation to mask the fact that they're both incredibly stupid. Real names are Burt Schlubb (Fat Man) and Douglas Klump (Little Boy).
- Damien Lord, Ava's rich husband whom she left Dwight for. The primary victim of Ava's schemes.
- The Salesman, a shadowy, poetic freelance assassin who performs a lot of jobs for the Ladies, the Cops and the Mafia. It is assumed he kills Becky at the end of the movie adaptation.
- The Customer, a beautifuk young woman and one of the many targets of the Salesman. Seemingly hired the Salesman to kill her.
- Liebowitz, Commissioner of the BCPD. Brutally beats Hartigan upon his arrival in prison, and later is a puppet for The Colonel in Hell and Back. After his family is threatened, Liebowitz finally kills The Colonel.
- Peggy, a single mother who hangs out in bars tempting men into buying her drinks, as she is an alcoholic. A valuable source of info to Dwight in Family Values.
- Otto, the bartender of the diner in which Peggy hangs out.
- Agamemnon, is a sort-of friend to Dwight, who gives Dwight photography jobs and lets him use his darkroom. Gets Dwight out of jams in exchange for food.
- Johnny, Falls in love with a sweet girl named Amy, and in order to finally be with her, he must kill her controlling father. Unfortunately, he falls victim to Amy and "Daddy's" sick sexual role-playing.
- Amy and Daddy, Amy seduces Johnny and convinces him to kill her "father", so that they can be happy together. Johnny is lured into Amy's sick trap, as "Daddy" is really her lover, and Amy's victims are used to get a rise out of "Daddy".
- Kimberly, the little girl Marv saves in 'Silent Night'. Held captive and was most likely going to be sold for sex, until Marv saved her.
- Gordo, The Colonel’s muscle. Works alongside Delia to try and set-up Wallace's death. Very dumb, and speaks in third-person.
- Maxine, Maxine works alongside Delia. She administers drugs into Wallace's system, and later gives him the antidote at gunpoint. Dies for her troubles.
- Captain, A loyal war buddy of Wallace's. Aids him in saving Esther, giving his life in the process. Helps Wallace snap out of his drugged up state to kill off Delia and Maxine.
- Jerry, Captain's lover and war vet. Good with missiles. Helps Wallace rescue Esther.
- Vitto, Mobster who kills Carmen in Family Values. Forced to shoot his brother Lucca. Drives Dwight and Miho to Don Giacco Magliozzi.
- Lucca, Vitto's brother and one of Magliozzi's hitmen.
- Don Giacco Magliozzi, Leader of Mafia in Sacred Oaks. Enemies with Wallenquist. Killed by Daisy in Family Values.
- Daisy, Carmen's lesbian lover. Avenges her death by killing the remaining Magliozzi family members.
- Carmen, Old Town prostitute, lesbian lover to Daisy. Unintentionally gunned down in the Magliozzi hit on Bruno.
- Brian, Irish mercenary and demolitions expert. Was going to deliver Jackie Boy's head, when Miho snuck behind him and stabbed him.
- Stuka, a henchman of Manute's who has a swastika tattooed on his forehead. Miho shoots him twice with arrows in The Big Fat Kill, killing him humorously.
- Schutz, another of Manute's henchmen. He dies in the alley massacre.
- Doctor Fredric, Kidnaps Esther under the Colonel's orders after incapacitating Wallace with narcotics in Hell and Back. Mariah kills him and his companion, Orrin, to make sure that Wallace doesn't substract any valuable information from him.
- Orrin, Doctor's Fredric assistant. Shoots and incapacitates Wallace to abduct Esther. Mariah kills him before killing Doctor Fredric.
- Davis, Works for Wallenquist and specializes at torturing people. Is particularly skillful at inflicting pain with the use of his hands, without the necessity of any tool. He appears in The Big Fat Kill, where he is killed in an alleyway shootout.
Sin City yarns
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. The chronology of Sin City is described below.
The Hard Goodbye
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 dangerous, possibly psychotic convict. 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. The thirteen-part serial follows Marv on his brutal, 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/Wendy, Carla Gugino plays Lucille, Elijah Wood plays Kevin, and Rutger Hauer plays Cardinal Roark.
Marv, a huge, heavily scarred hulk of a man, is approached in a seedy saloon by a beautiful woman named Goldie. Later they meet in an equally run-down hotel room for a night together. The two of them have sex, and when Marv wakes up she is lying in the bed next to him, murdered. Heavily armored police officers (on duty officers wear SWAT gear possibly due to the high crime rate) from Basin City's corrupt police force storm the building, and Marv fights his way through them and escapes into the streets.
As he roams the streets in pursuit of the truth, Marv has to deal with several issues. First, he feels indebted to Goldie for her kindness and wishes to repay her by avenging her death. Second, he suffers from a medical condition in which he experiences vivid hallucinations, and wonders if he actually murdered Goldie (especially since the two of them were alone and he feels sure he would have known if anyone had entered the room to kill Goldie). Finally, Marv knows from the police raid that whoever's behind Goldie's murder has deep underworld connections to set him up as Goldie's killer and have even go to his mother's home to see if Marv took refuge there.
At one point in his journey, Marv stops by the strip club Kadie's, where he watches the dancing act of Nancy Callahan and to send the message out through an informant named Weevil to anyone out looking for him that he's been at bars drinking heavily and lamenting Goldie's death.
Marv's investigation eventually leads him to The Farm (the same place Detective Hartigan and Yellow Bastard had their final confrontation), where he defeats a pet wolf and discovers human remains. Marv finally encounters Goldie's killer: a small, shadowy figure with glowing glasses and a Charlie Brown-looking sweater. The killer is supernaturally silent and quick, and manages to sneak up, blind and beat Marv (quite a feat, as Marv is over 7', 300lbs, and had earlier shown he has amazing endurance by how he escaped from the police raid on his hotel room and surviving being hit multiple times by a speeding car).
Marv wakes up in a holding cell, where he is greeted by the sight of several stuffed female heads, mounted on the wall like trophies. Also held in the cell is Lucille (his lesbian parole officer), who explains that the killer kills women so that he can dine on their flesh. Lucille is understandably quite shaken, as the killer had previously forced her to watch while he sucked the flesh off her severed left hand. From the cell, Marv watches the killer being picked up by a limousine, and learns that his name is Kevin.
Marv and Lucille escape, but are intercepted by a SWAT team. Unwilling to die in a shootout, Lucille knocks Marv down and runs towards the cops. Believing she has been rescued, Lucille attempts to convince them not to kill Marv. The cops quickly kill her to eliminate any witnesses. Marv kills the cops and learns from torturing the lead detective that the man who wants him dead is Cardinal Roark, brother to Senator Roark and a member of the powerful and corrupt Roark family that founded and runs Basin City.
In trying to dig up more leads to who Goldie was, Marv went to Old Town. Marv is soon captured by the Old Town prostitutes, led by Goldie's twin sister Wendy, who believe Marv is responsible for Goldie's death (and the other missing prostitutes Kevin killed and ate) and thus intend to torture and kill him. Marv convinces them that he is innocent (stating that no prostitute would let someone as ugly and fearsome-looking as him close enough to kill her), and they release him. Along with Wendy, Marv picks up the items he needs to confront Kevin.
Armed with gasoline, razor wire and his "mitts", Marv sets up a series of traps around the Farm, then flushes Kevin out by bombarding the Farm with a Molotov cocktail bomb. Kevin manages to avoid Marv's razor wires, and the two of them fight it out. Marv takes quite a beating, but keeps on fighting and eventually manages to outsmart Kevin by handcuffing him to himself, allowing him to knock out Kevin with a strong punch to the face. Wendy shows up with a gun, intending to kill Kevin; but Marv knocks her out, because he intends to torture Kevin first, and doesn't want Wendy to have nightmares from witnessing it.
Marv proceeds to dismember Kevin with a hacksaw, then feeds his still-living torso to Kevin's pet wolf. Even as his entrails are being devoured by his own pet, Kevin simply smiles calmly and doesn't utter a sound. Marv decapitates Kevin's body and proceeds to take the unconscious Wendy back to Nancy's (after putting a call in to Kadie's for her) where Nancy patches him up, gives him beer and agrees to put Wendy on a plane at Sacred Oaks.
Robbed of any satisfaction from Kevin's death, Marv goes on to sneak into Cardinal Roark's heavily guarded mission. Marv kills Roark's guards and confronts the naked Cardinal in his bed. Marv then presents Kevin's still smiling head to Roark, and demands an explanation. Roark, anguished over Kevin's death, confesses that he shielded the killer, because he had a "voice like an angel". Roark babbles on about how Kevin not only ate his victims' bodies, but also their souls, making him pure and clean. Roark confesses to envying Kevin's "gift", ultimately joining Kevin in his meals of murdered women in order to experience it for himself. Goldie found out about Kevin, so Kevin killed her, and Roark sent in the police to kill Marv, frame him, and cover up Kevin's crimes. Roark rationalizes that the killings were justified because the victims were merely hookers and nobodies.
Marv proceeds to torture Cardinal Roark to death, but just as he's really getting it going, armed guards storm the room and fill Marv with machine gun fire.
Marv survives, is hospitalized, and ultimately is charged not only with the murders of the people he killed, but also of the serial killings committed by Kevin also. A hotshot Assistant District Attorney threatens to have Marv's mother killed if Marv doesn't confess to the crimes, so Marv breaks the ADA's arm in three places, then confesses.
Marv is sentenced to death, much to the glee of Basin City's inhabitants. On his last night, he is visited by Wendy, who says that he can pretend that she's Goldie in one final moment of love.
Finally, Marv is electrocuted in the electric chair, but survives. With his last words, he defiantly mocks his executioners, asking if "That's the best you can do, you pansies?" They electrocute him again, which finally kills him.
A Dame To Kill For
First published November 1993–May 1994, A Dame To Kill For is the second compilation of the Sin City series. It chronicles Dwight's and attempts to rescue Ava Lord, Dwight's former fiancée from her husband and servant, who she says are sadistically torturing her. But 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. That night, he receives a call from a woman named Ava, asking him to meet her at a seedy bar called Club Pecos. She had once broken his heart, but he agrees to meet her. Marv is also there and greets Dwight. Ava arrives late and tries to persuade Dwight to take her back, claiming that her life is "a living Hell." Dwight refuses as a large black man named Manute arrives, taking 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. He is discovered and claims that he is a Peeping Tom. Manute seemingly doesn't recognise him, but beats him brutally anyway. Dwight calls Agamemnon for a ride home, and they stop to get pizza. As he arrives home, he finds his Ford Mustang returned and his door unlocked. In his bedroom is a nude Ava. They eventually reconcile and make love. Manute arrives and violently beats a naked Dwight. Dwight is knocked out of his upper story apartment window, where he blacks out momentarily. He awakens to find Manute driving off with Ava.
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. Dwight convinces Marv to help him storm Damien's estate. They drink together and watch Nancy dance. 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. Marv rips Manute's right eye out. With Manute occupied, Dwight makes his way to Damien. When he finds him, he beats him to death. 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 insistance, 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 such a wild alcoholic with a short temper in his younger days. When they speak with Dwight's landlord, 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, still sleeping with Ava, becomes more on-edge towards his partner. This culminates with Mort killing Bob, then committing suicide.
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. Wallenquist, unaffected by Ava's flirting, tells her to tie up her loose end with Dwight and 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. Once inside Ava's estate, 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 at Dwight as Ava grabs one of Manute's guns, shooting Manute in his shoulder. Manute falls through a window and upon landing, Miho stabs him in the arms, pinning him to the ground. Ava then tries telling Dwight 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. It reprints a serial run in Previews:
- And Behind Door Number Three? (4 pages long)
- The Customer is Always Right (3 pages long)
- The Babe Wore Red (24 pages long)
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 to kill her.
The Babe Wore Red centres 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 mean time, 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.
Silent Night
Silent Night is a one-shot short story that Frank Miller released in November 1994. 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. It only then becomes apparent that the child was being sold for sex. He retrieves the little girl, saying, "Your momma's been callin' 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.
The Big Fat Kill
First published 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. Dwight tells the barmaid to let the man, and his ensuing entourage, in. When the man outside threatens to break down her door, Shellie reluctantly opens it while Dwight hides in the back.
The drunken man, named Jack, talks about his plans to have fun at every bar in town that night and insists Shellie call in some of her fellow co-workers to come along. Shellie refuses and it culminates in Jack hitting her in the face. He then goes to the bathroom where Dwight is hiding in the shower stall. Getting the jump on Jack, Dwight holds a knife to his neck and tells him to stop bothering Shellie.
When Jack scoffs at the threat Dwight dunks his head into the toilet (where Jack had been urinating the minute before) until his body goes limp.
Jack awakens a few seconds later and storms out, demanding that his group not mention these events. Shellie investigates the apartment and finds Dwight on the railing outside the building. After ensuring her safety, Dwight becomes worried that Jack will cause more trouble and must be stopped somehow. He jumps off the building, ignoring Shellie's muffled yell that sounds like "Stop!".
As Dwight speeds toward Jack's car, his speeding has caught the attention of the police. A police car follows them both, but stops and turns around once the cars enter Old Town, the area of Sin City full of and run by the prostitutes of the area.
As Jack spots a young girl named Becky walking alone in a dark alley, he follows beside her, asking coyly for her services and constantly being rejected. Dwight follows close behind and is then caught off guard by Gail, one of Old Town's most experienced hookers and guardians. She advises Dwight to stay put and let the girls handle Jack themselves. As Dwight spots Miho on the roof, he uncomfortably agrees and watches as the alley is closed off.
Meanwhile, Jack continues to pester Becky, escalating to outright anger at the egging on of his friends. He finally pulls out a handgun and aims it at her. Instead of being scared or surprised, Becky is instead filled with pity, proclaiming that he has just done the dumbest thing in his life. Immediately afterward Miho throws a swastika-shaped projectile that cuts off Jack's hand, then descend on the car and quickly kills every man but Jack.
During the attack, Dwight has an impending sense that something is wrong but can't place his finger on it. Miho and Jack get in a standoff. As Dwight tries to make Jack quit his foolish game, Miho sabotages his gun by throwing a plug into the barrel. When Jack tries to shoot the intervening Dwight his gun backfires, sending the barrel into his forehead. Miho finishes him off by slicing his neck.
As the girls loot the corpses, Dwight searches Jack's person and finds a police badge revealing him to be "Iron" Jack Rafferty. Then he realizes that Shellie was screaming "COP!". This new fact is bad for all of Old Town, as the shaky truce between the police and the girls is all but shattered. Gail starts proclaiming they'll fight anyone who tries to take them out while Dwight tries to recommend disposing the bodies before anyone suspects anything. Finally, after a tense argument between Gail and Dwight, the girls agree to hide the bodies in the Pits as Dwight recommended.
After acquiring a car, slicing up all the bodies to stuff in the back trunk and leaving Jack in the front seat due to lack of space, Dwight begins the rainy drive to the Pits. On the way there, Dwight begins to hallucinate that Jack is egging him on. Although Dwight knows he is hallucinating, unlike Marv, he cannot quiet the gibbering corpse. With his mind not completely focused, his driving suffers, attracting police attention again. As he contemplates whether or not to kill the cop, he brakes hard. Jack's body slumps forward, hiding the neck wound and the gun casing lodged in his head. The cop looks through Dwight's window and notices the corpse, believing it to be an unconscious, drunken friend. Dwight tells the cop he's the designated driver. The cop then notifies Dwight that he's driving with a broken taillight, and lets him off with a warning.
At the Pits Dwight is attacked by Irish mercenaries. He quickly disposes of four of them, but is knocked out by a grenade and falls into the pit along with the car. The mercenaries decapitate Jack, taking the head and leaving Dwight for dead, sinking into the pits. Miho rescues him and Dwight begins to figure out that there is a snitch in Old Town who informed the mob that a cop was murdered by the Old Town prostitutes. Along with Miho and her driver, Dallas, he takes off in pursuit of the remaining mercenaries.
Back at Old Town, Gail has been ambushed and kidnapped by Manute, who has survived the assaults of Dwight and Miho. Gail is tortured but refuses to "facilitate" the process of surrendering Old Town. It becomes clear that Becky had sold out Old Town for money and her mother's safety. Gail bites and rips a chunk off of Becky's neck in anger, vowing that she deserves worse.
Dwight, Dallas and Miho realize they must recover Jack's head. They cut through backroads to reach the Projects, where they catch up with their targets. Dallas rams the car into the mercenaries' and she ends up getting gunned down by one of them. After dodging some grenades, Dwight corners Brian, the last mercenary, in the sewers. Dwight is caught off guard by more grenades and is about to be cut up until Miho arrives to finish Brian off. With the head in tow they go off to rescue Gail and Old Town.
As the gangsters prepare to further torture Gail, and kill Becky, an arrow shoots through one of the henchmen with a note prompting a trade: Jack's head for Gail's life.
As Dwight stands alone in an alley outside the gangsters' building with the head, outnumbered and outgunned, the trade is made: Gail being freed and the head, now bandaged up, handed over. Becky questions why the head is now bandaged when it wasn't before. Dwight then triggers the grenades stolen from the last mercenary, exploding the head.
The gangsters now realize they are in a trap as the girls of Old Town reveal themselves, heavily armed also, on the roof. Before any defensive measures can be taken, the men and Becky are gunned down.
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.
A notable difference from the comic version is that Becky survives the final gunfight by hiding in a nook in the alley, leaving her alive for the final "epilogue" scene of the movie. It was later revealed in the two disc special edition DVD that Becky died at the end of the film.
That Yellow Bastard
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 was available in July 1997 (ISBN 1569712255).
The story begins with a good-hearted cop, Hartigan (who has a bad heart condition) on his final mission before his forced retirement. Roark Junior, son of one of the most powerful and corrupt officials in Basin City, is continuing his penchant for raping and murdering little girls. It is Hartigan's mission to rescue Junior's latest quarry, skinny little Nancy Callahan.
Hartigan succeeds in rescuing Nancy by disabling Junior's getaway car, and then proceeds to use his revolver to surgically shoot off Junior's left ear, right hand, and genitals. Before he can finish Junior off, Hartigan's corrupt partner Bob, who fears angering Senator Roark, shoots him in the back. Roark Jr. lapses into a coma from his injuries, and Senator Roark takes issue with the abuse of his son. Hartigan finds himself framed for raping Nancy, is branded a pedophile and sentenced to a lengthy prison term amidst a public outcry that brands him one of Sin City's most hated citizens. Despite his innocence and the pariah status he has achieved as a result of his conviction, he remains silent about his pain, knowing that Senator Roark would kill anyone who ever found out the truth. The only one who Hartigan talked in the hospital was Nancy, who snuck out against her parents' wishes to see the man who saved her. Hartigan tells her to stay away from him or else she'll be killed, so Nancy tells Hartigan she'll write him letters instead for forever. She'll sign her name as "Cordelia" so no one who know who it's really from by Hartigan. Hartigan complies and says goodbye to her. Before leaving, Nancy tells Hartigan she loves him.
After his stint in the hospital, Hartigan is seen tied to a chair, cuffed and being beaten by Det. Liebowitz in order to get him to sign a false confession. Even amidst the hours of repeated punching and being tempted by prison luxuries and even sex with an Old Town prostitute, Hartigan doesn't crack under the pressure. Afterwards, he finds himself alone in prison, and abandoned by his wife Eileen (who proceeds to re-marry and finally have children) and friends, he finds solace in the carefully disguised weekly letters he receives from Nancy. Hartigan quickly develops a paternal love for little Nancy, and sees her as the daughter he never had. For eight years, he drags himself through his jail time, his only respite being the letters his young admirer sends him, until finally the letters stop coming. Although he initially believes Nancy has merely outgrown her childhood hero, Hartigan soon becomes increasingly worried that Senator Roark has finally found Nancy. His fears are confirmed when a deformed, hairless visitor with sickly yellow skin who smells distinctly like a garbage can, arrives at his prison cell and punches him out. Hartigan awakens and discovers the same type of envelope Nancy always uses. Except instead of a letter from her inside, it contains an index finger from the right hand of a nineteen-year-old girl.
Believing Nancy to be in imminent danger, Hartigan's passive view of his current incarceration changes. He decides to find some way out, and contacts his lawyer, Lucille (the lesbian parole officer from The Hard Goodbye). Much to his own lawyer's surprise and disgust, Hartigan decides to claim responsibility to the crimes he was accused of. At his parole hearing, he is humiliated again when Senator Roark acts like a good man who's willing to forgive Hartigan. Hartigan knows it's a ruse to insult him, but to show sincerity that he's a reformed man, he asks Senator Roark for forgiveness for what he did to his son. Hartigan is finally released on parole, apparently due to Senator Roark's satisfaction over his confession and submission.
Back on the streets, the elderly ex-con/ex-cop sets off to find Nancy. He looks her name up in a phone book and learns she lives somewhere on North Culver. He goes to her apartment, but finds it empty and in disarray. There's no clues to where she is except for a pack of matches from Kadie's bar. He follows that lead to where Nancy, now nineteen, can be at or at least maybe get more leads. Hartigan finds that she is no longer the little girl he rescued from a child-murderer 8 years ago, but is now a woman who works in the club as an exotic dancer and is unharmed. The envelope containing the finger was merely a ploy to get him to crack and lead Roark to Nancy. Hartigan smells a set-up, and something far worse, the distinct odor of rotting garbage. "That Yellow Bastard", the man who arrived at the cell with the envelope, has followed him, and he has revealed Nancy's position.
Hartigan and Nancy have a quick reunion when she recognizes him and jumps into his arms. They leave Kadies' shortly and get into her car. With Nancy at the wheel, there is a high-speed pursuit with the "Bastard" close on their tail. Hartigan, with Nancy's revolver, fires a precise shot that hits the "Bastard" in the neck, and Hartigan insists on checking to see if he's been killed. Accompanied by Nancy, Hartigan disovers the "Bastard's" foul-smelling blood everywhere, but no body. Eventually, he and Nancy hide out in a motel. There, they share a kiss, where Nancy reveals she is in love with him; but Hartigan refuses to move any further because of the paternalistic nature of his relationship to Nancy.
Hartigan, in the shower, is confronted once again by "That Yellow Bastard", who reveals himself to be Roark Jr. Senator Roark used his vast financial resources to resurrect his son using means outside the boundaries of conventional science, hiring doctors, witch doctors, and gene therapists to bring Junior out of his coma and reconstitute his severed body parts. As a result, Junior lives, but as an unnatural abomination. Junior knocks Hartigan down, lynches him naked with a noose and tells of how in the past 8 years he raped and killed dozens of girls. He then kicks the desk under Hartigan and escapes with Nancy.
Hartigan, after seemingly giving up, awakes in his noose, wills himself back to life, and manages to break free from the rope by breaking a window and using a shattered glass shard to cut the rope around his hands. Junior's henchmen, who had shown up to dispose of Hartigan's body, are quickly subdued, and forced to tell Hartigan that Junior had fled to the Roark family farm (described as a place where bad things happen) with Nancy, presumably to rape her.
Racing to the Farm, Hartigan suffers a severe angina attack, but continues in order to save Nancy. At this time, Nancy is being flogged by Junior and, like Hartigan, won't give her torturer the pleasure of her pain by screaming. Hartigan shows up, takes down a few corrupt police officers guarding the Farm and confronts Junior, who has Nancy at knife point. Hartigan has a heart attack and drops his gun. Junior shoves Nancy aside and decides to slice Hartigan up while he's on the floor. Hartigan suddenly pulls out a switchblade and stabs him in the chest, calls him a "sucker" and then proceeds to castrate Junior a second time with his bare hands and then brutally beat his head into pulp, killing him. Nancy and Hartigan share another kiss, this time without Hartigan's paternalistic feelings getting in the way. Hartigan then tells Nancy to flee, lying to her that he will call up some old police friends of his to clean up the scene of the crime.
With Nancy gone, Hartigan realizes that by killing Roark Jr. he has made a deadly enemy of Senator Roark, who would stop at nothing until Hartigan was dead. Hartigan also realizes that Senator Roark would most likely target Nancy first, in order to make Hartigan suffer for killing his son. In order to spare Nancy this fate, in an act of pure love, Hartigan commits suicide to protect her, blowing his brains out with his revolver.
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. Some notable differences exist in the film version. Mort had been replaced by Bob when Hartigan is released from prison in the motion picture and the theatrical release omits an appearance by Carla Gugino as Lucille which is reinstated in the extended version released to DVD.
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," presumably after Clint Eastwood's character in those films.
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 can't be together and alludes to the solution that he kill 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.
Temporarily overcome with remorse, Johnny realizes that it was all fake and the bullets he shot were blanks. Daddy beats Johnny half to death and it becomes apparent that he is not only her father but also her lover and that the entire ruse was a sadistic form of sexual role-playing. The story closes with Daddy closing his hands around Johnny's throat.
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 malapropisms. 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.
Blue Eyes, the second story, is the first appearance of Delia. It begins as a man named Jim notices 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 steals his drink. They 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 who was none other than the hitman. He gives her an assignment and she takes on the name Blue Eyes, which is what Jim used to call her.
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. [1]
The sadistic war criminal stuffs rats in his oven to eat, and is killed by a mercenary in the exact same way.
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 has just killed his wife. He 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 belly. 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 really 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 Wizard (magazine) #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 Hartigan met back up with Nancy (from That Yellow Bastard). Marv regains consciousness in 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 realizes he must have been watching Nancy at Kadie's...
He gets depressed seeing Nancy leave with Hartigan, seeing as how he always had a crush on Nancy. He gets drunk and steps outside to find some college kids burning drunks to death. He chases them to The Projects, where the overprotective tenants kill several of the kids. Marv kills the last one, but cannot seem to remember where he got his coat or gloves.
Family Values
Family Values was first published in (October 1997). Family Values is the fifth "yarn" in Frank Miller's series of Sin City comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. 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.
Ladies' man Dwight and the silent killer Miho, stars of A Dame to Kill For and The Big Fat Kill, return for a gritty story of revenge and corruption.
After one of the Old Town hookers is killed in the cross fire of a botched Mafia drive-by, Dwight starts asking questions at a run-down diner. After getting the inside dirt from an aging starlet, he follows a lead through Basin City's underworld that ultimately brings him into the upper tiers of the mob and city hall. Watching out for him at every turn, the ninja Miho carves a relentless path of severed limbs on her trusty roller blades. It is finally revealed that Vito, a member of the Mafia, had accidentally killed Carmen, an Old Town hooker, and Old Town wants revenge. Miho, Dwight, and Daisy, Carmen's lover, realize that Don Giacco Magliozzi was behind the shooting. They confront him at his home in Sacred Oaks where he is brutally tortured and killed. Dwight is later reintroduced to the car that he was seen driving in Hell and Back.
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.
Apparently, The Colonel and Liebowitz are a part of this conspiracy. Wallace spends the night in the drunk tank, and upon his release seeks out Esther. He finds her apartment occupied by Delia, who claims to be Esther's roommate. Wallace and Delia are attacked by snipers and mercenaries, but they escape. Wallace meets up with a war buddy referred to only as Captain. He borrows a car from him and Wallace and Delia turn in for the night.
Wallace handcuffs her to the bed for what she believes is foreplay, when he reveals that he knows she can not be Esther's roommate since Esther's clothes would have the smell of Delia's cigarettes on them. Just then, Wallace is drugged by a sniper for the second time. He wakes at the pits, where Delia, Gordo, and a drug wizard named Maxine are preparing to abandon his car in the pits. Maxine gives him a huge dose of something strange and Wallace goes on a trip.
The whole portion of the comic where he is hallucinating is done in full colour. The car hits a tree. He discovers a young girl dead in the trunk, intended to frame him. The police show up, as does Captain. A battle ensues and Captain kills the police. They torture the one remaining policeman and find out where Delia, Gordo, and Maxine were going.
They find them at a gas station, refilling the Hummer they were driving. Gordo kills Captain as Wallace shoots Gordo. At gunpoint, Wallace makes Maxine bring him out of his hallucination hell. As he does, he shoots her in the head and shoots Delia in the chest. He then meets up with another war buddy named Jerry.
They burn Captain's body. Mariah, another female mercenary working for the Colonel, is assigned to Delia's task. The Colonel is killing anyone linking Wallace to him. He even has Mariah break Liebowitz's son's arm. He then threatens Liebowitz's family even further.
Wallace confronts Liebowitz and tries to get him to join the same side. Wallace discovers that the real scheme is an organ harvesting ring of which Liebowitz was unaware. Wallace explains how he had a showdown with Mariah and a bunch of mercenaries. Wallace escapes without saving anyone.
At this point in his story, the phone rings in Liebowitz's apartment. It's The Colonel, telling Wallace where Esther is. She is at the Farm. When Wallace gets her, a police helicopter arrives. Jerry, a veteran, blasts it out of the sky. Wallace takes Esther to the hospital as the many police are brought in on stretchers.
By this time, the police have launched a massive assault on the Colonel's factory, where the Colonel is captured. Liebowitz shoots The Colonel in the head for hurting his son. Wallenquist lets it all be square. He seeks no revenge on Wallace or Liebowitz.
Wallace and Esther drive out of town. He asks her why she wanted to jump and she responds "I was lonely". The final words in the book are internal monologue by Wallace, stating:
"That rotten town. Those it can't corrupt, it soils. Those it can't soil, it kills. That rotten town. Miles behind us now. Fading into memory. A bright day dawns. We talk about all sorts of things."
Booze, Broads, & Bullets
Booze, Broads, & Bullets is a compilation of stories from the Sin City series of comic books by Frank Miller. 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 and Violence)
- Wrong Track (from Sex and Violence)
- The Babe Wore Red (from The Babe Wore Red and Other Stories)
New stories
Frank Miller has confirmed that he is working on new Sin City storylines for the upcoming movies. The following have been mentioned:
- Nancy avenges Hartigan's death by killing remaining members of the Roark family. Miller says this will show "a whole new side of Nancy." This story has been confirmed as one of the main stories for the planned movie Sin City 2. Miller has now confirmed that he will also produce a Graphic Novel of this story.
- A prequel story about Hartigan
- A story with a brand new character
- A story based in the World War II era (1940s-ish)
- A prequel story about Jack
Although there has been much fan speculation on specifics (as well as how many stories Miller will publish in total), few details have been verified thus far.
Compilations
Name | Contents |
Sin City (The Hard Goodbye) | Episodes #1-13 of 13 from Dark Horse Presents issues #51-62 and 5th Anniversary Special |
A Dame to Kill For | Issues #1-6 of 6 |
The Big Fat Kill | Issues #1-5 of 5 |
That Yellow Bastard | Issues #1-6 of 6 |
Booze, Broads, & Bullets | Various |
Hell and Back (a Sin City Love Story) | Issues #1-9 of 9 |
Chronology
While it was the first story written, The Hard Goodbye was not the first story chronologically, with the first section of That Yellow Bastard as the first. The Dwight-related stories fall in between these, with the short stories fleshing out the time between the main stories. Here is a rough chronology of the "Yarns":
- The first section of That Yellow Bastard, wherein Detective John Hartigan rescues Nancy Callahan from Roark Jr., resulting in Hartigan and Junior winding up in the hospital, occurs about 12 years before the events of The Hard Goodbye. Hartigan is framed as a pedophile and charged with raping Nancy Callahan. He is placed into solitary confinement for eight years.
- Three years before A Dame to Kill For, Dwight rescues Miho from two gangsters.
- Ava leaves Dwight and marries Damien Lord. Weeks later, Hartigan finds the 19-year-old Nancy Callahan when he is out on parole. It is on this night that Dwight goes home with Shellie, and sleeps with her (he is seen whining to Shellie when Hartigan enters ‘Kadie’s’). Marv witnesses the reunion of Nancy and Hartigan, as shown in the beginning of Just Another Saturday Night. The remaining events of That Yellow Bastard play out within the next few hours or so.
- Almost four years after the events of That Yellow Bastard, the twins, Goldie and Wendy, take over Old Town. A few weeks later, Ava Lord contacts Dwight and asks to meet him. Ava mentions that it has been about four years since they last saw each other and Dwight agrees. Manute interrupts their meeting. Fearing for her safety, Dwight goes to ‘Kadie’s’ and recruits the help of Marv. Shellie lectures Dwight at having not seen nor heard from him in six months.
- Marv and Dwight attack the home of Damien and Ava Lord. Marv fights Manute, and Manute loses his eye. After Damien is killed, Dwight is taken to Old Town. Dwight begins to be rehabilitated at this point. Gail, Dwight, Miho and Shellie develop a plan to get revenge on Ava Lord. Gail and the others tell Shellie that Dwight is still alive, and brief her on what she should tell the cops. On this same night, Delia is inducted into the services of Wallenquist (Blue Eyes) placing her in league with Manute and the Colonel. Marv is at the bar when Delia sweeps off with her prey.
- Marv meets Goldie. The Hard Goodbye begins with Marv waking up and finding Goldie’s lifeless body.
- In the beginning of Marv’s rampage, he goes to “Kadie’s” to try and draw attention to himself. On the same night, Mort and Bob arrive at 'Kadie’s' (mere seconds after Marv’s arrival) and interview Shellie about Dwight's whereabouts following the murder of Damien Lord. She tells them everything Gail briefed her on in Blue Eyes and sends them on their way.
- A few days into Marv’s rampage, Bob (Hartigan's former partner in That Yellow Bastard) is shot dead by his partner Mort, who takes his own life (A Dame to Kill For).
- Less than three months later, Ava and Wallenquist unite their criminal empires. Dwight McCarthy (with a new face), Miho, and Gail raid Ava Lord’s estate, with Manute being gravely injured by both Miho and Dwight. Dwight kills Ava.
- The Babe Wore Red occurs, and in the story Dwight states that Marv is on death row.
- Eighteen months after the beginning of The Hard Goodbye, Wendy visits Marv on death row. A day later, he is executed, on the second attempt.
- Wrong Turn occurs and Delia kills the wrong target. Delia, the Colonel and Gordo dispose of the bodies. Wrong Turn features the first mention of Mariah, who makes her first appearance in Hell and Back.
- Wrong Track occurs shortly after Wrong Turn, as Delia tries to kill the real target (on his way back from a delivery).
- Following this, Hell and Back occurs. Wallace saves Esther’s life, but she is captured by the Colonel’s men. During Wallace’s search, he comes in contact with Manute and Delia. Manute helps Delia to manipulate Wallace. Wallace kills Delia and Gordo in this story. Commissioner Liebowitz kills the Colonel. Mariah (leopard skin chick) is inducted into the services of Wallenquist. Wallace and Esther leave Sin City.
- The Big Fat Kill occurs. Miho slaughters Jackie Boy and his friends. Dwight, in an attempt to prevent a mob war, tries to dispose of Jackie Boy’s body. The young Old Town girl known as Becky betrays them -- sells them out to the mob (Wallenquist) in an attempt to make money and get out of the prostitution game. Manute, embittered by the death of Ava Lord, captures Gail and encourages a trade: Jackie Boy’s head for Gail’s life. Dwight and Miho arrange the trade, but the Old Town girls kill Becky and all of the other mob men. Manute is finally killed during a shootout.
- Family Values takes place soon after, indicated by Dwight making reference to Miho’s previous killing of a cop (“The Big Fat Kill”), as well as his acknowledgement of Fat Man and Little Boy, who he says he shot in the legs last time he saw them (The Babe Wore Red).
- Behind Door Number Three... occurs anywhere after Marv's capture by the authorities because Wendy is seen wearing Marv's necklace.
It was previously assumed that Wrong Turn and Hell and Back could not be placed. Wrong Turn and Wrong Track occur immediately after one another, because Delia is still after the same target. Hell and Back occurs after A Dame to Kill For because Manute is sporting a fake eye.
The short stories Rats, The Customer is Always Right, Daddy's Little Girl,and Silent Night are the hardest to place in the chronology, as some are not connected to the other stories, or do not give an idea of when the stories occur. We can assume that Silent Night is before The Hard Goodbye, as Marv is still quite alive. We can also assume that The Customer is Always Right occurs in between "That Yellow Bastard" and "The Hard Goodbye", as Robert Rodriguez himself stated this on the Sin City: Recut and Extended DVD Edition.
Awards
Sin City: The Big Fat Kill won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Limited Series for 1996. Sin City: Family Values won the 1997 Harvey and Eisner Awards.
Trivia
- Marv from FRANK MILLER's SIN CITY appears on the cover of Harbinger #8 (part of the UNITY crossover). Miller drew the cover to this issue.
- Several of the Sin City comic books were produced by Miller under the Legend imprint, as were other creator-owned works by artists and writers such as Mike Mignola and John Byrne.
See alfso
Characters
Other
External links
- Sin City page at Dark Horse Comics
- Sin City Introduction - Fan site containing detailed information about characters and locations
- Sin City Timeline, from the personal website of a Hero System game player
- Sin City, from an ad-supported website "devoted to the sophisticated study of comic books"
- Frank Miller: The Complete Works, The most comprehensive listing of all of Frank Miller's works. Includes very detailed information on each book as well as a discussion forum.
- IFILM explore Rats: A Sin City Yarn, The Short Story out of Lost, Lonely, & Lethal.
- Comic book-to-film visual comparisons
- SuperheroHype! Sin City Messageboard, Forums dedicated to both the comics and film.