KITCHEN SINK PRESS
J.O'Barr's The Crow #0: A Cycle of Shattered Lives
Crow Rating: 4 Crows
Published: Dec 1998
Cover art: Not credited
Author/Artist: See "story overview"
**Note** This comic, distributed by Kitchen Sink Press and overseen by James O'Barr, was to be the start of a new Crow series distributed by KSP. Due to financial problems, KSP closed down its comic operations.
Comic Overview
This volume contains never before seen art from O'Barr's original story. It also gives us a glimpse at the new Crow story that O'Barr is/was working on entitled "October". Also contained in the volume are three original poems by O'Barr. The rest of the volume contains prologue stories from all of the black and white KSP Crow comics: Deadtime, Flesh & Blood, Wild Justice, and Waking Nightmares. All of these were written and drawn by the same people that worked on the original stories.
Personal Thoughts
I enjoyed the never before viewed artwork from O'Barr's original masterpiece and the two storyboards from his newest story "October", which hints at a man and woman coming back to avenge their deaths. The prologue stories help put a little more closure on the original stories. In a few cases leaving openings for possible revisits to the same characters. There is an advertisement for the long awaited "Author's Edition" of the graphic novel (13 previously unpublished, fully restored pages of artwork, new sketchbook pages, and a new foreword by O'Barr) in this volume. However, now that KSP is defunct, this project will again be shelved. This volume was to start what was suppose to be a series of Crow stories overseen by O'Barr himself.
Where to find this comic
Since KSP is no longer distributing these, they are hard to find as a set. The best place to try and find them is your local comic store. Sites such as thecrowfanclub, www.crowfanclub.com (go to the collectibles section) offer the complete volume set of some of these comics. As always, try eBay auction www.ebay.com The graphic novel for 'Deadtime' is offered on Amazon.com.
