'' shows Marv walking through the rain.]]
is the title for A Series Of Stories by Frank Miller , told in Comic Book form in a Film Noir -like style. The first story originally appeared in Dark Horse Presents comic book from April of 1991 to June of 1992, under the title of ''Sin City'', serialized in thirteen parts. Several other stories of variable lengths have followed. All stories take place in Basin City, with frequent recurring characters and intertwining stories.
A Movie Adaptation of ''Sin City'', Co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller with "special guest director" Quentin Tarantino , was released on April 1 , 2005 . The ''Sin City'' graphic novels were reprinted with new covers and in a reduced size to coincide with the motion picture's theatrical release. Rodriguez has expressed a desire to begin filming two sequels back-to-back starting February 2006 for release sometime in 2007.
, almost universally referred to by the nickname '''Sin City''', is a fictional town in the American Northwest , located somewhere 40 minutes outside of Seattle, WA . It hardly ever rains, and if it rains it's mostly warm droplets of moisture "that dissolve before it hits the ground". Usually twice a year, a major downpour comes. The Basin City Police are more or less along the lines of paramilitary or SWAT , as they have to deal with incredibly high crime rates and high gun ownership among criminals and civilians alike, which is why they have access to what most would consider "heavy weaponry" and full body armour. Those who make up the force have been described as commonly being lazy, cowardly and/or corrupt. Only a handful of the cops are honest. During the Gold Rush , The Roark Family brought a large number of women to keep the miners happy, turning a struggling mining camp into a thriving, bustling city. These women ended up forming the district of Old Town, the Prostitute quarter. In addition, the people charged with governing the city, most of them from the Roark line, remained in power for generations, running it as they saw fit.
As the various yarns progress, the audience gradually becomes familiar with key locations in and around Basin City.
- , the run-down and poor side of Sin City, is a tangle of high-rise apartments where crime runs rampant. Marv was born in the Projects and they make Dwight sick.
- , a collection of wharfs and warehouses that are local to the Projects. Hartigan and Roark Junior have their first confrontation here in ''That Yellow Bastard'', and Marv drives a stolen police car off one of the piers at the beginning of ''The Hard Goodbye''.
- , a strip club/bar where Nancy Callahan and Shellie work, and Dwight McCarthy and Marv hang out.
- (a.k.a. "The Farm") is located at North Cross and Lennox, this farm shows up in several stories, including ''The Hard Goodbye'', ''That Yellow Bastard'', and ''Hell And Back''. It was also home to Kevin, a Serial Killer with ties to the Roark family. Marv burns down one of the buildings, and the Farm is abandoned sometime after the initial Sin City storyline.
- is the Red-light District and is off limits to the police, unless they're 'shopping'. This is where the city's population of prostitutes reside; it recently came under the control of the twins Goldie and Wendy.
- , home to the rich and powerful of Basin City. This suburb lies outside the city proper, a half an hour drive uphill. A university of some sort is also located there.
- , which has a direct connection to Phoenix .
- , an abandoned amusement park of sorts outside the city, where several Tar Pits are located and dinosaur bones were excavated at some time. After a 'big-budget dinosaur movie' caused a sensation, the county put up concrete statues of dinosaurs there to draw crowds. However, after an old lady fell through a railing into one of the pits and had a heart attack, the place was shut down indefinitely. They are frequently used as a place to dump things that people don't want found; high-schoolers also tend to sneak in there a lot. This is where Delia tells Phil to drive in ''Wrong Turn'' and where Dwight takes the corpses of Jackie Boy and his friends in ''The Big Fat Kill.''
''For full list of characters, see List Of Characters From Sin City .''
Because a large majority of the residents of Basin City are criminals, there are several organisations and cartels central to the stories who are vying for monopoly over the various criminal enterprises in the city. Listed below are crime syndicates, gangs and other low-lifes who figure heavily in the Sin City mythos.
- - So deep does corruption and criminality run in Basin City that even their police officers qualify as a gang of paid thugs, turning a blind eye to the affairs of those too poor to pay them off. Few among them are considered incorruptible.
- - A dynasty of corrupt landowners and politicians whose influence over Basin City has stretched as far back as the days of the Old West. Famous Roarks include a Senator, a Cardinal and Junior, 'That Yellow Bastard' .
- - Populating the region of Basin City known as Old Town are a group of women in The World's Oldest Profession , having made a truce with the cops to allow them to govern and police themselves. As of ''A Dame To Kill For'', they were led by the twins, Goldie and Wendy.
- - A powerful crime syndicate led by Herr Wallenquist, a mysterious crimelord with a broad range of criminal enterprises to his name.
- - The heads of the local Mafia. Whilst they appear in only one story, it is hinted that the Mafia influence in Basin City's underworld is a lot larger than just their family.
Other groups that have been seen or mentioned in the comics include:-
- - Mentioned but not seen as of ''Hell and Back''. Miho's life was saved by Dwight when he secretly protected her during a fight with several Tong gangsters in a dark alleyway.
- - Mentioned but not seen as of ''Hell and Back''. Led by a man named Manuel, whose brothers were also involved. Were taken care of by Dwight prior to the events of ''A Dame To Kill For''.
- - Seen during ''The Big Fat Kill''. Presumably most of them are former IRA soldiers. All are killed by Dwight and Miho.
- - The group of thugs Manute uses as his backup during the events of ''The Big Fat Kill''. All are slaughtered by Dwight McCarthy and the Girls of Old Town.
These are the individual stories, usually referred to as "yarns", set in Frank Miller's Sin City universe. ''For more info see List Of Sin City Yarns .''
While it was the first story written, ''The Hard Goodbye'' was not the first story chronologically, with the first section of ''That Yellow Bastard'' as the first. The Dwight-related stories fall in between these, with the short stories fleshing out the time between the main stories. Here is a rough chronology of the "Yarns":
- The first section of ''That Yellow Bastard'', wherein Detective John Hartigan rescues Nancy Callahan from Roark Jr., resulting in Hartigan and Junior winding up in the hospital, occurs about 12 years before the events of ''The Hard Goodbye''. Hartigan is framed as a pedophile and charged with raping Nancy Callahan. He is placed into solitary confinement for eight years.
- Three years before ''A Dame to Kill For'', Dwight rescues Miho from two gangsters.
- Ava leaves Dwight and marries Damien Lord. Weeks later, Hartigan finds the 19-year-old Nancy Callahan when he is out on parole. It is on this night that Dwight goes home with Shellie, and sleeps with her (he is seen whining to Shellie when Hartigan enters ‘Kadie’s’). Marv witnesses the reunion of Nancy and Hartigan, as shown in the beginning of ''Just Another Saturday Night''. The remaining events of ''That Yellow Bastard'' play out within the next few hours or so.
- Almost four years after the events of ''That Yellow Bastard'', the twins, Goldie and Wendy, take over Old Town. A few weeks later, Ava Lord contacts Dwight and asks to meet him. Ava mentions that it has been about four years since they last saw each other and Dwight agrees. Manute interrupts their meeting. Fearing for her safety, Dwight goes to ‘Kadie’s’ and recruits the help of Marv. Shellie lectures Dwight at having not seen nor heard from him in six months.
- Marv and Dwight attack the home of Damien and Ava Lord. Marv fights Manute, and Manute loses his eye. After Damien is killed, Dwight is taken to Old Town. Dwight begins to be rehabilitated at this point. Gail, Dwight, Miho and Shellie develop a plan to get revenge on Ava Lord. Gail and the others tell Shellie that Dwight is still alive, and brief her on what she should tell the cops. On this same night, Delia is inducted into the services of Wallenquist (''Blue Eyes'') placing her in league with Manute and the Colonel. Marv is at the bar when Delia sweeps off with her prey.
- Marv meets Goldie. ''The Hard Goodbye'' begins with Marv waking up and finding Goldie’s lifeless body.
- In the beginning of Marv’s rampage, he goes to “Kadie’s” to try and draw attention to himself. On the same night, Mort and Bob arrive at 'Kadie’s' (mere seconds after Marv’s arrival) and interview Shellie about Dwight's whereabouts following the murder of Damien Lord. She tells them everything Gail briefed her on in ''Blue Eyes'' and sends them on their way.
- A few days into Marv’s rampage, Bob (Hartigan's former partner in ''That Yellow Bastard'') is shot dead by his partner Mort, who takes his own life (''A Dame to Kill For'').
- Less than three months later, Ava and Wallenquist unite their criminal empires. Dwight McCarthy (with a new face), Miho, and Gail raid Ava Lord’s estate, with Manute being gravely injured by both Miho and Dwight. Dwight kills Ava.
- ''The Babe Wore Red'' occurs, and in the story Dwight states that Marv is on death row.
- Eighteen months after the beginning of ''The Hard Goodbye'', Wendy visits Marv on death row. A day later, he is executed, on the second attempt.
- ''Wrong Turn'' occurs and Delia kills the wrong target. Delia, the Colonel and Gordo dispose of the bodies. ''Wrong Turn'' features the first mention of Mariah, who makes her first appearance in ''Hell and Back''.
- ''Wrong Track'' occurs shortly after ''Wrong Turn'', as Delia tries to kill the real target (on his way back from a delivery).
- Following this, ''Hell and Back'' occurs. Wallace saves Esther’s life, but she is captured by the Colonel’s men. During Wallace’s search, he comes in contact with Manute and Delia. Manute helps Delia to manipulate Wallace. Wallace kills Delia and Gordo in this story. Commissioner Liebowitz kills the Colonel. Mariah (leopard skin chick) is inducted into the services of Wallenquist. Wallace and Esther leave Sin City.
- ''The Big Fat Kill'' occurs. Miho slaughters Jackie Boy and his friends. Dwight, in an attempt to prevent a mob war, tries to dispose of Jackie Boy’s body. The young Old Town girl known as Becky betrays them -- sells them out to the mob (Wallenquist) in an attempt to make money and get out of the prostitution game. Manute, embittered by the death of Ava Lord, captures Gail and encourages a trade: Jackie Boy’s head for Gail’s life. Dwight and Miho arrange the trade, but the Old Town girls kill Becky and all of the other mob men. Manute is finally killed during a shootout.
- ''Family Values'' takes place soon after, indicated by Dwight making reference to Miho’s previous killing of a cop (“The Big Fat Kill”), as well as his acknowledgement of Fat Man and Little Boy, who he says he shot in the legs last time he saw them (''The Babe Wore Red'').
- ''Behind Door Number Three...'' occurs anywhere after Marv's capture by the authorities because Wendy is seen wearing Marv's necklace.
It was previously assumed that ''Wrong Turn'' and ''Hell and Back'' could not be placed. ''Wrong Turn'' and ''Wrong Track'' occur immediately after one another, because Delia is still after the same target. ''Hell and Back'' occurs after ''A Dame to Kill For'' because Manute is sporting a fake eye.
The short stories ''Rats'', ''The Customer is Always Right'', ''Daddy's Little Girl'',and ''Silent Night'' are the hardest to place in the chronology, as some are not connected to the other stories, or do not give an idea of when the stories occur. We can assume that ''Silent Night'' is before ''The Hard Goodbye'', as Marv is still quite alive. We can also assume that ''The Customer is Always Right'' occurs in between "That Yellow Bastard" and "The Hard Goodbye", as Robert Rodriguez himself stated this on the Sin City: Recut and Extended DVD Edition.
''Sin City: The Big Fat Kill'' won the and Eisner Awards.
featuring Marv]]
- Marv appears on the cover of Harbinger #8 (part of the UNITY crossover). Miller drew the cover to this issue.
- Several of the Sin City comic books were produced by Miller under the '' Legend '' imprint, as were other creator-owned works by artists and writers such as Mike Mignola and John Byrne .
- In the book ''A Dame To Kill For'' a poster on Agamemnon's wall shows Elektra of '' Marvel's Daredevil '', probably as an homage to when Frank Miller wrote and illustrated ''Daredevil'' in the '80s, as well as creating Elektra.
- The first Sin City comic (now titled ''The Hard Goodbye'') was supposed to be only 48 pages but Miller says that it was "...all Marv's fault," and that he ran away with it.
- The way Miller draws Wallace is extrememly similar to the way he drew The Atom when he was being kept in a petri dish during the opening of '' The Dark Knight Strikes Again ''. Another parallel is how Miller drew Lex Luthor in ''DKSA'' similar to how he draws Liebowitz.
- Frank Miller apparently enjoys Hellboy as several comics include refrences to it the most obvious being when Wallace Hallucinates that his commander is Hellboy after being drugged. Another two are in A Dame To Kill For where a Tourist wears a Hellboy shirt and one of the Old Town prostitutes has it on her purse.
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