The Crow

I believe it was around 1991 or so when I first learned of an independent comic book called The Crow. Written and drawn by James O’Barr, it tells of a story about a man and his girlfriend who are randomly killed on the side of the road by a gang of hoodlums.

The man returns from the grave to avenge his girlfriend’s death and is brought into a circle far deeper than a random killing. But it goes so far deeper than just a revenge story. The pain of the memories, both good and bad. It grips you and doesn’t let go.

By the time I heard about The Crow, the finale had not yet been printed. So when final book came out, I was reading in real time.

My ex and I became so enamored with the Crow that we picked up print portfolios and posters and we bought cheap frames and made our Crow Wall.

Then we heard talk about a movie. As Stephen King fans, we dreaded the thought because Hollywood always butchers the original source material.

But late March 1993, we hear the sad tragedy that befell Brandon Lee while on the set. But thanks to Hollywood magic, they were able to finish the movie. It would go on to become one of my favorite movies.

The sequels, both comic book and movies (which none of them really had any involvement of James O’Barr), were a waste of time and I gave none of them a chance and I don’t think many people ever did.

Now a remake is coming out in June. I felt like the trailer strips too much away from the original story and while parts are still there, it’s not the same. At least, it doesn’t feel the same to me. But we’ll see how it goes when it comes out.

I leave you with a classic picture of my ex and I paying homage to the Crow.