The Hard Goodbye
| "The Hard Goodbye" | |
|---|---|
Cover of the first edition of the trade paperback collected edition of "The Hard Goodbye"
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| Publisher | Dark Horse Presents |
| Publication date | April 1991 – May 1992 |
| Genre | |
| Title(s) |
Dark Horse Presents #51-62 Dark Horse Presents: Fifth Anniversary Special |
| Main character(s) |
Marv Goldie and Wendy Kevin Cardinal Roark |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Frank Miller |
| Artist(s) | Frank Miller |
| Letterer(s) | Frank Miller |
| Editor(s) | Randy Stradley |
| The Hard Goodbye | |
"The Hard Goodbye" is the first Sin City story. It was serialized, as "Sin City," in the comics anthology Dark Horse Presents by Dark Horse Comics and named "The Hard Goodbye" in the trade paperbacks. It was created by Frank Miller, and led to a metaseries that has been adapted into a movie.
The comic was first published as "Sin City" in Dark Horse Presents: 5th Anniversary Special (April 1991) and then in the continuing series Dark Horse Presents issues #51-62 and 5th Anniversary Special (June 1991–June 1992) and was written, drawn and lettered by Frank Miller.
The original issues were edited by Randy Stradley, and Diana Schutz is editor of the 2005 collected edition.
"The Hard Goodbye" begins with the protagonist, Marv, being accused of the murder of the beautiful prostitute, Goldie. Marv is an ex-military man and a trained professional killer so naturally framing him would be easy. However, he felt connected to Goldie and spent one night with her before her tragic death. The night of her murder she and Marv got drunk, made love, and fell asleep together. Three hours later, Marv wakes up and found Goldie dead. He wondered why she would agree to sleep with him and he referred to her as his own personal heaven in the hell that he called Sin City. Suddenly the cop sirens grew closer and louder, which made Marv slip out on to the streets of Sin City. Marv has become a prime suspect when he is framed for Goldie's murder. During this time, a serial killer is on the loose in Sin City who preys on prostitutes and eats them.
Marv becomes determined to find Goldie's killer and immediately goes to his mother's house to retrieve his gun. His mother informs him that some men came by the house looking for him. By this time, Marv goes to the bar to hide out but unfortunately two assassins come and attack him. Before he kills the two men, he forces them tell him who sent them. Continuing his investigation, he is led to priest who then tells him to question the leading family in Sin City and the cardinal of the church, Roark. Marv follows the trail of clues to an abandoned farm where the serial killer, Kevin, is keeping his victims heads as trophies. He also discovers that Kevin kidnapped his parole officer, Lucille and had eaten her hand. Marv and Lucille manage to escape. Although, when the cops show up to the scene, Lucille is murdered by a corrupt cop. Marv is able to escape the cops but not before he forces their leader to reveal Roark's name.
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Wikipedia