Hell and Back (A Sin City Love Story)
| Hell and Back | |
|---|---|
Cover of the first issue
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Maverick (Dark Horse Comics) |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Limited series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | July 1999 - April 2000 |
| No. of issues | 9 |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Frank Miller |
| Written by | Frank Miller |
| Artist(s) | Frank Miller |
| Letterer(s) | Frank Miller |
| Editor(s) | Diana Schutz |
| Collected editions | |
| Hell and Back | ISBN |
Hell and Back is a nine-issue comic book limited series, first published by Dark Horse Comics in July 1999–April 2000, and the seventh and final volume in Frank Miller's Sin City series.
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. The Colonel and Liebowitz are a suspected part of this conspiracy. Wallace spends the night in the drunk tank, after being dragged out of the gutter by two of Basin City's (notoriously corrupt) police officers, Manson and Bundy, and upon his release seeks out Esther. He is crossed again by police officers after he tells Commissioner Liebowitz he plans to find Esther. He then dispatches them, leaving them bound and naked. After locating Esther's home, he finds her apartment occupied by Delia, who claims to be Esther's roommate.
Wallace and Delia are attacked by The Colonel's new manservant, Manute, but they escape. A sniper attacks from a nearby window, whom Wallace takes out by shooting him through the scope of his rifle. Delia tries unsuccessfully to seduce him as they are pursued by two more assassins in a Mercedes, which Wallace also disposes of.
Wallace and Delia meet up with an old war buddy referred to only as Captain. He borrows a Chevrolet Nomad known as The Heap from him and Wallace and Delia turn in for the night at the Last Hope Motel.
Wallace handcuffs her to the bed for what she believes is foreplay, when he reveals that he knows she cannot be Esther's roommate, because 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 Santa Yolanda Tar 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 a hallucinogenic drug.
A large portion of the comic, wherein he finds himself hallucinating, is then done in full color. After a surreal sequence involving a crashing fighter jet, trash-talking cherubs, and dinosaurs, the car hits a tree. He discovers a young girl dead in the trunk. The police show up, as does Captain, who kills the police. Captain explains he'd have gotten there sooner if it wasn't for snipers establishing a perimeter. They torture one remaining sniper and find out where Delia, Gordo, and Maxine were heading and pursue them. During this sequence the Captain morphs into various pop culture icons, including King Leonidas from Frank Miller's 300, Lone Wolf and Cub, an ED-209 droid from the RoboCop movies, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Captain America, Dirty Harry, John Rambo, Martha Washington from Give Me Liberty, Hägar the Horrible and even Hellboy. This portion is entirely in color.
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