THE ART OF DEATH
A brief trip into the imagination of Jon J Muth
By Steve Niles

It began a long time ago.

A young couple is brutally attacked by a band of bloodthirsty thugs. The end result is death. Shelly Webster and Eric Draven are found dead, Shelley naked and beaten, Eric thrown from a high window crushed against cold rainy asphalt. The thugs get away clean. Once again there will be no justice.

Not this time.

Draven does not stay dead. A year later he rises from the grave, summoned, accompanied, and driven by a black crow that will guide him on a singular mission that will redefine Eric Draven.

Now he is The Crow. His mission; revenge.

This is how The Crow came to be. Created in the eighties by James O'Barr, the odd independent black and white comic touched a nerve in readers and creators alike. Soon popularity spread and what followed could be called nothing less than a phenomenon. There were more comics, then movies, books and finally as television series.

Now artist, writer and creator Jon J Muth has stepped into the arena with a new comic series for Image Comics that re-explores the origin of the Crow with a fresh eye and takes it a step beyond.

"I felt a kinship with the ambiance of the first story by James O'Barr," say's Muth, "and I liked the idea of re-examining the original story from another perspective."

Muth is well known in the comics industry as the groundbreaking artist of such works as DRACULA; a Symphony In Moonlight, MOONSHADOW and a comics adaptation of Fritz Lang's M, but The Crow marks the first time Muth has ever tackled full-time writing chores, and it is a challenge he greets with open arms.

But does the Crow's saturation, and popularity make this an even tougher assignment?

"The Crow is well-mined territory," he comments, "but that is actually an advantage. If the culture/the public-knows about The Crow, I get to use their experience of the character as an ingredient in telling the story. I did that with Dracula. I could leave spaces which the reader bridges with his or her personal understanding of the character."

"I saw the first Crow movie when it was released and read the original comics when they were published by Tundra, but other than that I haven't been exposed to the other Crow stuff."

With The Crow comes emotional cargo and sometimes unsettling feelings that many readers might not be aware. Creator James O'Barr has openly commented that the events portrayed in The Crow were, in fact, based on events that occurred in his real life. The Crow became O'Barr's outlet, and his voice, and some believe the driving force behind the power of the original Crow series. Was this something that Muth had considered?

"I did know the story was born out of a real experience O'Barr had," Muth explains, " That was what gave this story it's heart. The writing was uneven, the drawing was sometimes beautiful, often clumsy, and the pacing was bizarre, but that book was more powerful than 99% of all the other comics I've read because he was bleeding on the page. He was unflinching. He was giving us his soul. That's the thing comics can do, or used to be able to do, over most other mediums."

With the first two issues of the Crow on the comic store shelves, Muth's intent is clear. The mood is dark, introspective, and engrossing and takes a thoughtful look into the familiar origin of The Crow. There are many voices telling the story; from the cops who follow Draven's bloody trail, to the young girl Sarah who befriended Draven before and after death. But the most surprising and inventive voice of the series is the addition of the black crow itself. This combined with stunning artwork make for a completely original Crow experience.

"The story is about patterns-Now, that's not going to sell a lot of books but bear with me-The Crow has his vengeance-but it's a mistake. Eric's return from death isn't ultimately about vengeance at all." say's Muth, "There are patterns that we as humans don't get to see. Eric is in hell. He is trapped in himself and all he can find in the world he comes back to is horror. It's driving him mad. He's an insane dead person. But he's been given the opportunity to witness those patterns, larger than our own personal desires. To understand that those patterns aren't conspiracies. My story is about how he gets to that."

Muth has also made some very subtle and effective changes to the Crow's sometimes clown-like look. "Instead of make-up I made his crow-face the result of razor wounds he received at the hands of his killers."

The difference in storytelling and Crows appearance won't be the only standout of this series though. The artwork, by Jamie Tolagson, is as gritty and unsettling as the story itself, and the marriage of Muth's words with Tolagan's art makes for an all new, and often mind-blowing comic experience.

But why, you might ask, would Jon J Muth, an experienced and successful artist allow someone else to illustrate his vision? The answer is simple and practical...time, or rather, lack there of.

"But more than that (time) I really wanted to find something I could work on with Jamie Tolagson. He is extraordinary. Amazing. I've seen his work pushed and pulled by better and worse editorial and art direction and I wanted to see his very best work. I knew if I wrote a good story and got out of his way he would do that. And he did. The storytelling is immaculate and the intensity is all there. He will go far if comics companies have the good sense to stay out of his way."

The re-examination of the Crows origin concludes after the third issue at which time Muth, and a new artist, will take the story beyond Draven's quest for vengeance. This is new ground for both creator and readers alike. What does a dead man do when his reason for rebirth is complete? What is his purpose, or more to the point, who will stand in the Crows way, befriend him and define him in an uncertain future?

Muth's mind is racing, and he is ready and raring to venture into this particular unexplored void.

"There are some new characters." he say's, "there is a woman named Sin. She's a collector. She collects sinners like some people collect butterflies. Eric, being vengeance, and dead already, is a prize."

And it doesn't stop there. Muth goes on, "There is a Native American mercenary called The Walker, who has a spirit guide the way Eric has the crow."

"When Eric kills Top Dollar, The Walker is out of a job, so he starts working for Sin. The Walker might know the significance of The Crow and this triggers all kinds of conflicts in him. And Sarah's grandmother is in the 4th issue. I want to look harder at the people who are in the Crow mythos already; Albrecht; Sarah; her mom, Darla; Shelly."

It promises to be an interesting run.

For now, the future awaits fans and the Crow himself, and where it will end, no one can say. The mythology, the legend goes on. But one thing is for certain, just as the Crow began, the Crow continues; Back from the dead and looking for a little blood, vengeance and love.