Miss: Better Living Through Crime

Miss: Better Living Through Crime #1-4

by Philippe Thirault

Set during the early 1900s in New York, Miss tells the tale of two unlikely partners in crime, Nola and Slim. Nola is a poor white girl who has learned to survive by hook or by crook since being expelled from an orphanage. Slim is a black pimp with an uncertain past, trying to keep one foot out of the grave. When their paths cross and their options run out, Nola and Slim forge a partnership as murderers for hire. This is their story...what it takes to survive when all you have is a gun.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Historical Fiction, Noir, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding crime stories set in early 20th century New York, about a white woman and a black man becoming business partners in the underworld, and as surprising considering the content, this was originally written in French! A genuinely great read, with foreword by Ed Brubaker. 9 out of 12, a firm Four Star read

2015 read

[Fabian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ultimate mob story, an alternative Great Gatsby. Fast and ruthless, let us call it is essentially pictorial-hash a-la Martin Scorsese. (Burning a striking, autumnal crimson & searing unto your consciousness henceforth.)

Also, it's the last great graphic novel I read this year ('16).

[Vincent Stoessel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the best "crime fiction" novel I've ever read, graphical or otherwise.
It boils down to:
1. Unique and Interesting characters
2. Well researched backdrop of 1920s Harlem,NY
3. Excellent plot

Sometimes funny, sometimes brutal but always interesting and never boring.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly a "Miss" for me. I stopped after book 2.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read that many graphic comics or books because a lot of the subject matters don't personally interest me. At least the one's i have been exposed to - but this particular one caught my attention because it's... French. i love almost everything that's French. It not a reasonable passion, it is just an emotional gut feeling I have. But this very dark Noir narrative is cool and i like the illustrations or artwork as well.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

When this book is on, it is so sharp - witty, harsh, charged with sexuality and excitement. But it also goes through long sequences where characters are thrown at the reader with little introduction, a flaw aggravated by the tendency of the line art and color art to make everybody look all too similar, and sorting it out simply bogs down the reading to an unnecessary degree.

[Sonic · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Ivan Brunetti's Four "C"s, if I recall correctly, is Clarity.

I liked this, but wish it had more clarity.

[StrictlySequential]

somehow receded back into my unread hordes at page 114...
{I combed out all +50%/+100p. read and shelved for motivation}

[kyrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was fine, probably a 2.5 instead. questionable language, interested that it was translated from french. art style hard to follow, so that made it difficult. i only truly understood the last 3rd of the book, but it was easy enough to get through because of all the bad things that happen, it was engaging in that sense i suppose

[Derek Royal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given the high praise from Ed Brubaker in the book's introduction, and I high hopes for this book, especially as a crime/noir narrative. And while I liked the story well enough, it didn't hold up as solidly as it could have. There were spaces between narrative beats that stuck me as a little awkward, where a more thorough (and longer) unfolding might have make the storytelling significantly smoother.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

New York's interwar crime demimonde has been richly treated in fiction and film, and now we can finally add a worthy graphic novel to that list. Set in the 1920s and '30s, it's somewhat surprising to discover that such a stylish story was written and produced by three Frenchmen. Surprising until you consider that the French have always taken the American crime genre much more seriously than Americans themselves. Sometimes that adulation has gone a little overboard, but here it results in a story of great depth and tone.

It kicks off with a quick introduction to Nola, a poor white girl raised by a violent alcoholic father, prostitute/junkie mother, and eventually, nuns. Kicked out of the orphanage as a teenager, she quickly hooks up with shady private eye, and within the book's first twelve pages, she's deep in Harlem, seeing a man about a gun, getting shot at, and meeting a slick black pimp named Slim. A series of misadventures results in Nola and Slim teaming up as contract killers for the upper crust -- a lucrative line of work that allows Nola to escape poverty and Slim to escape his creditors.

The story avoids the traditional odd-couple cliche and doesn't throw them into bed, allowing their relationship to develop nuance and texture. Their race plays a large role in both their business and personal relationship, and is used to confound the reader's expectations when Slim's backstory is finally explained. Similarly, the story avoids easy morality, as it asks the reader to sympathize, and ultimately, root for, two people who unleash a fair amount of coldblooded carnage throughout the book. It's worth noting that the artists do an excellent job with both the action sequences and everything else. Interiors, exteriors, architecture, background -- all are visually compelling despite being rendered in a very stylized manner. There aren't very many good crime graphic novels out there, but this is definitely one of them.

[Michael Doane · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Tarantino wrote a story about a Bonnie and Clyde type couple, it would probably read a lot like this. Slim and Nola are broken, beat up, and enterprising, turning their bad fortune into a booming hire-for-kill business. But they’re not bad in their blood, they’re simply putting their skills where people of their class can make a buck. Admidst the unsettling violence, there are deep messages about poverty, racism, and the cold, hard reality of 1920s America — the ugliness behind the opulence before the big crash. Where this fell short for me was its episodic nature, lack of stakes and secondary character development in many of the beats, and art style that made the story difficult to follow.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blimey, that was grim, gritty and fairly relentless, set in New York in the roaring twenties and then, in the finally section, the Great Depression.
Nola & Slim are definitely cast in the mould of the wise-cracking fast-talking screwball comedies of the time, but with a lot more death by guns than were ever featured in those films.
If want to see a blood-soaked tale that spans the heights to the very lows of NY in the 20s & 30s this is the book for you, with a smattering of social commentary thrown in for good measure.

[Reagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3.75 average rating for this it about accurate.

There's a lot that works for the story and the genre. The casual violence was a bit extreme for me, though, and the art was stylized to the point it was difficult to tell characters apart sometimes. Also there was a weird racist comment the Black main character makes at one point and it felt out of character, like authorial voice rather than character voice. But maybe it was meant to be an in character joke and I read it wrong?

[FM · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I am partial to noir so I knew I was going to like this book. It is well written there are some holes in the narrative that doesn’t hurt the story at all. Race, gender, good versus bad, likable characters in NYC what not to like . Of course now I want to read everything by this author who is French so I want to read them in their original publication. I am on a journey people.

[Janet Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great! White woman pairs with black man to work as a team, and it does a good job of showing both worlds, and the awkwardness that could come with bringing an “other” into them. The art is really nice too— fall colors, all browns and tans and oranges. Worth a read.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the setting, the artwork, and gritty plot. That’s why it was so frustrating that the writing, dialogue, and transitions were a little off and confusing. Despite this, I enjoyed reading. Adored the artwork. The best art and writing is volume 1. Started out so promising!

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well-done crime drama that doesn't go in for any of the usual cliches.

[Juin Charnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be on Netflix. I'll write the series.

[Sugarpunksattack Mick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philippe Thirault has made an outstanding comic that reminds me of Jean-Patrick Manchette's books like Fatale.

[Liz Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, with scrappy characters and cool vibes. But I don't think it'll end up being super memorable, and it didn't give me the rush that my favorite comics do.

[Daryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up a few years ago and left in on my Graphic-Novels-to-be-read-someday shelf for a long time. Let me tell you, I was missing out. I know this book was originally published in France (Humanoids/DC Comics put out this version in 2002), and it's certainly not anything I expected. The story takes place in New York (primarily Harlem) in the late 1920s, and the author and artists have captured that scene well. Anyone with a passing interest in noir-ish crime fiction (done in graphic novel form or not) should love this book. I knew I was in for a treat when, on page 2, the main character/sometimes narrator says "Here's Dad. Mom told me I wasn't his. I believed her." As this is a translation, my admiration goes out to the translators, Justin Kelly & Natacha Ruck as well. Great job. The dialogue and narration in this book is fabulous. The art is definitely European, as it's very detailed and the characters aren't made out to look like models. The coloring is appropriately dark and moody, too. The book is divided into four chapters (about 50 pages a piece) and I wonder if they were originally published separately. No difference, as there is a through-line story that connects the whole book while each section contains several different stories or sub-plots. (If I had a slight criticism, it would be that not everything appears to connect, but maybe it doesn't need to. A more relevant criticism could be levied against the production. The lettering is quite small while the word balloons are large, leaving a lot of open white space. Is this somehow to do with the translation from French? Regardless, it detracts from the overall feel and look of the book.) The book necessitates a careful and slow(er) reading, as not everything is shown or explained, but the connections from one scene to the next (or occasionally one panel to the next) are certainly clear to the careful reader.

[Luis Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really intrigued by this book. I read the first 3 stories and they had a nice unique detached feel. It was full of little suave back and forth between the two main characters. It was a nice ride with the art and minimalist color palette. Unfortunately I peeked at the last section of the book and although supposedly colored by the same person it was horrendous. A few decent pages, but so awful I got turned off. The pen & ink art in the beginning was also better and slowly lost a little of it's charm. I didn't mind much, but the last couple of stories it looked worse. Not sure what happened. This could have been a solid book I'd purchase to read over and over again, but instead it's going back to the library with the feeling of "what if." I really blame the editor for this one. The coloration by far is the most distracting thing. Oh well.

[Margot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story, characters, and art, but the coloring and lettering left a lot to be desired. The hard-bitten noir dialogue is pretty fun, and the translation from French comes across well. A strong female kick-ass character, some examination of race and class, prohibition and vice.

[Nick Kives · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot, only think that would have made it better would have been better transitions between sections.

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these characters. Love love love them. If I were ever to write fan-fiction, it would be about Nola and Slim – the most beautiful, fucked-up romance I've read in a long time.

[Nomad nimrod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading once.