Seduction of the Innocent

Seduction Of The Innocent #1-4

by Ande Parks, Francesco Francavilla (Artist), Ande Parks

FBI Agent Thomas Jennings has just arrived in San Francisco, fresh-faced and ready to tackle crime in the big city... but he's not nearly prepared for what he's about to encounter. The city's crime lords are being systematically murdered, and those responsible are the stuff of his nightmares. In a desperate race to end the spree killings and rescue two targeted and helpless children, Jennings will be forced to question every belief he holds dear... and struggle to hold onto his humanity. Gritty, sometimes depraved crime fiction in the tradition of James Elroy, Jim Thompson, and EC-era crime and horror comics, Seduction of the Innocent reunites writer Ande Parks and artist Esteve Polls, the acclaimed creative team that brought you The Death of Zorro and The Lone Ranger.

Genres: Comics, Comic Book, Graphic Novels

96 pages, Paperback

First published August 17, 2016

About the author

Ande Parks has worked on several projects with Phil Hester, including Nightbreed (Marvel), Rust (Malibu), Fringe (Caliber), and Freaks Amour (Dark Horse). Currently he inks Anima, Steel and Superboy, all for DC.

Ande Parks (born October 1, 1964) is a professional American comic book artist, known for his work as an inker and writer in the industry. His greatest notoriety has come from his stint with fellow artist Phil Hester on DC Comics' Green Arrow series from 2001 to 2004 and writing the graphic novels Union Station and Capote in Kansas by Oni Press. He grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City and currently lives in Baldwin City, Kansas with his wife and two children.

Parks began his professional career as an inker in comic books with Dark Horse Comics. He has inked the penciled artwork of such titles as Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Superman, Daredevil and Spider-Man. His artistic style has won him praise in the comic books industry, including an industry Harvey nomination as best inker. His idols and influences include Neal Adams, Klaus Janson, Jack Kirby, Dick Giordano, and Mike Grell. Parks has stated in at least one on-line interview that he inks with Hunt 102 and Brause 511 pens and a Raphael #3 brush. For characters from the comic books, Parks has acknowledged he has most enjoyed Batman and Captain America as his favorite characters.

He is probably best known for his work on the relaunched Green Arrow comic book series beginning in 2001, which he inked over his frequent collaborator Phil Hester. On Green Arrow, Hester and Parks worked with writers Kevin Smith, Brad Meltzer, and Judd Winick over their approximate 40-issue run. The book has been collected into several volumes. The American Library Association called it one of the best books for young adults. Parks and Hester have also done work on DC Comics' Nightwing with writer Devin Grayson, allowing Parks to work within the Batman family of characters, and the new revamped Ant-Man comic book for Marvel Comics in 2006-2007.

Although better known for his artwork, Parks considers himself to be more of a writer than artist. He has contributed several articles in comic book trade magazines, such as Draw!, geared towards critiques of artwork and professional tips for inkers. Parks' combined his inking style with his fondness for writing when he created the superhero spoof Uncle Slam & Fire Dog for Action Planet Comics, based to a certain extent on his love of Marvel Comics' Captain America. Uncle Slam appeared in three issues of the Action Planet anthology book series, and in two issues of his own book in the early- to mid-1990s. The character also appeared in a completely on-line comic book for Komicwerks. A new Uncle Slam book, "Uncle Slam Fights Back", was released in the summer of 2008.

For graphic novels, he has often turned to his neighboring region in the Midwest as source material for his writing projects. To date Parks has steered towards writing what is best classified as historical fiction. He has credited Alan Moore's From Hell as being a large influence in his decision to pursue writing in the historical fiction genre. In 2004, Oni Press published Park's first original graphic novel, Union Station. The book dealt with the events surrounding the Kansas City massacre, which took place in 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri, and helped J. Edgar Hoover make the F.B.I. a powerful organization in law enforcement and government for decades to come. Eduardo Barreto provided the artwork, done in black-&-white to give the piece more of a Depression-era period look.

In 2005 Parks returned to the genre of historical fiction with Capote In Kansas, drawn by Chris Samnee. The book details the time Truman Capote spent in Kansas while he worked on his literary masterpiece, In Cold Blood.

Continuing on with the Marvel Universe of characters, Parks co-plotted with Ed Brubaker and wrote "Blood of the Tarantula" fo

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

1953 wird der junge FBI-Agent Jennings nach San Francisco versetzt. Zeit zur Eingewöhnung findet er nicht und auch seine schwangere Frau muss sich alleine zurechtfinden, denn Jennings wird sofort in eine kaltblütige Mordserie verwickelt: gezielt werden führende Gangster und Mafiosi in SF ermordet, und die Täter verschonen auch deren Kinder nicht (kein Wunder, dass den werdende Vater Albträume plagen).
Korrupte Cops und Nazis, die das amerikanische System destabilisieren wollen, sorgen dafür, dass Jennings jugendlichen Idealen nur eine kurze Halbwertzeit beschieden ist.
Ande Parks erzählt die die Story im zynischen Tonfall des hardboiled crime der 50er. Trotz guter Ansätze hat mich die Story aber nicht vollends überzeugt; es gibt die klassischen Noir-Momente, die von Esteve Polls zeichnerisch auch schön umgesetzt werden, aber insgesamt fehlt es der Geschichte ein wenig an Spannung und Eigenständigkeit. Nun punkten die Pulps traditionell zumeist nicht mit Überraschungen und komplexen Persönlichkeiten, aber etwas "moderner" hätte es für meine Geschmack hier zumindest in punkto Storyentwicklung zugehen dürfen.Es gibt ein paar emotionale Momente, aber ansonsten fehlt es der linearen Geschichte für meinen Geschmack an erzählerischer Dynamik.

Fazit: Schnell zu lesender Noir-Krimi, solide, aber nicht herausragend.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark noir comic where things happen that you aren't expecting. Really gritty, hard hitting crime story set in the early 50s with nazis, mobsters and g-men. If you liked the old Golden Age Crime Comics, and don't mind your stories having an edge and not always a happy ending, this series is for you.

[wbforeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a crime detective story I should’ve love this, but I found it very boring. The art was average and it’s about a junior FBI agent trying to save these two children and seeing just how corrupt everything else around him and he’s also dealing with mental scars, but I think I’ve been spoiled by Ed Brubaker’s writing and then I just couldn’t get engage with this character. This character seemed very boilerplate

[Robert Hultman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written very well (except for the scene where the FBI boss says, “the sun will be up soon” with a sunny sky across three or four uncovered windows behind him, and the background story of the killers seems important at the end, but isn’t much of a driver for the story leading up to that point. Well drawn and paced and interesting from start to finish, nonetheless.

[Du · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Ed brubaker has ruined me for reading noir. This is an example of something that should be good but really is mediocre. The art is fine, but the story just is slow and meaningless.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brutal noir crime comic. You start it, read through it and realize you've changed just a bit along the way.