'' is a Comic Book series created and written by Paul Chadwick and published by Dark Horse Comics . The Eponym ous central character is a normal man whose Brain was Transplant ed into a large, Stone body by Aliens , and who lives an extraordinary life on Earth following his escape.
The series focuses on the life of Concrete, formerly Ron Lithgow, whose brain was involuntarily transplanted by aliens into a hulking artificial body which is made up of a substance that closely resembles Concrete .
As part of the Back-story , he eventually escaped and made contact with the US Senator he worked for as a Speechwriter . After a prolonged period of scientific tests and examinations, he was allowed to live on his own with the cover story that he was a Cyborg constructed by the government.
In his new body, Concrete decides to use his tremendous strength, endurance and vision for a series of adventures he never thought of in his previous sedate life. Hiring a personal assistant writer and taking a female scientist who is assigned to monitor his body, Concrete has a wide variety of adventures.
During the 90's, Bill Murray was reportedly attached to star in a movie version of the character, but such a film never materialized.
The series won the Eisner Award s for Best Continuing Series for 1988 and 1989, Best Black-and-White Series for 1988 and 1989, and Best New Series for 1988, and their Best Writer/Artist Award for Paul Chadwick for 1989. It received the Harvey Award for Best New Series in 1988, and won Chadwick their Award For Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) for 1989.
They are printed at the correct size, but are missing a few short stories.
- ''The Complete Concrete'' (tpb of the original 1986 ten issue series)
- ''Concrete: Fragile Creature'' (tpb of the 1991 four issue limited series, also with "Fire at Twilight")
- ''Concrete: Killer Smile'' (tpb of the 1994 four issue limited series)
- ''Concrete: Think Like A Mountain'' (trade paperback of the 1996 six issue limited series)
- ''Concrete: Strange Armor'' (tpb of the 1997 five issue limited series)
- ''Concrete: Complete Short Stories 1986-1989''
- ---"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #1, July 1986
- ---"Under the Desert Stars" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #2, September 1986
- ---"The Four-Wheeled Sleeping Pill" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #3, November 1986
- ---"The Gray Embrace" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #4, January 1987
- ---"Burning Brightly Brightly" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #5, February 1987
- ---"Little Pushes" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #6, April 1987
- ---"Water God" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #8, July 1987
- ---"Straight in the Eye" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #10, September 1987
- ---"Next Best" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #12, November 1987
- ---"Now Is Now" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #14, January 1988
- ---"A Sky of Heads: With a Whimper" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #16, March 1988
- ---"A Sky of Heads: Quality Time" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #18, May 1988
- ---"Fitful Sleep" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #20, July 1988
- ---"Watching A Sunset" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #21, August 1988
- ---"Goodwill Ambassador" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #22, September 1988
- ---"Stay Tuned For Pearl Harbor" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #28, March 1989
- ---"Visible Breath" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #32, August 1989
- ''Concrete: Complete Short Stories 1990-1995''
- ---"Fire at Twilight" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #38, April 1990
- ---"Like Disneyland, but Toxic" & "A Billion Conscious Acts" from ''Concrete Celebrates Earth Day'', April 1990
- ---"What Needs to be Done" from ''Concrete: Odd Jobs'', July 1990
- ---"Objects of Value" from ''Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special'', April 1991
- ---"American Christmas" from ''Within Our Reach'', December 1991
- ---"Byrdland's Secret" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #66, September 1992
- ---"King of the Early Evening" from ''Concrete Eclectica'' #1, April 1993
- ---"I Strive For Realism" from ''Concrete Eclectica'' #2, May 1993
- ---"Steel Rain" from ''San Diego Comic Con Comics'' #2, August 1993
- ---"Enough World" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #87, September 1994
- ---"The Artistic Impulse" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #100 {Link without Title} , August 1995
These have been re-sized, slightly smaller, but have collected every 'Concrete' story except one.
- ''Concrete: Volume One: Depths'' collects:
- ---''Concrete'' #1-5
- ---"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", "Water God", "Straight in the Eye" from ''Collected Stories 1986-1989''
- ---"Orange Glow" from ''Dark Horse Presents Annual'' 1999, August 1999
- ---"Sympathy From A Devil" from ''Dark Horse Presents'' #150, January 2000
- ''Concrete: Volume Two: Heights'' collects:
- ---''Concrete'' #6-10
- ---"Now Is Now", "Goodwill Ambassador" from ''Collected Stories 1986-1989''
- ---"What Needs to be Done" from ''Collected Stories 1990-1995''
- ---"The Damp Descent" from ''Concrete Color Special'' #1, February 1989
- ''Concrete: Volume Three: Fragile Creature'' collects:
- ---1991 four issue limited series
- ---"The Gray Embrace", "Burning Brightly Brightly", "Little Pushes", "Next Best" from ''Collected Stories 1986-1989''
- ---"Fire at Twilight", "Byrdland's Secret", "The Artistic Impulse" from ''Collected Stories 1990-1995''
- ''Concrete: Volume Four: Killer Smile'' collects:
- ---1994 four issue limited series
- ---"Under the Desert Stars", "The Four-Wheeled Sleeping Pill", "Visible Breath" from ''Collected Stories 1986-1989''
- ---"Enough World", "King of the Early Evening", "American Christmas" from ''Collected Stories 1990-1995''
- ---"The Lyle Committee", "The Ugly Boy", "Jack O'Fingers" all from ''Concrete Eclectica'' #1, April 1993
- ---"The Dictator's Dream", "The Maiden of Crete" from ''Concrete Eclectica'' #2, May 1993
- ---"Coming Soon: Emptiness", "Life Bomb", "Frozen" from the ''Killer Smile'' series
- ---"The Cave", "The Bore", "Earth's Birthday", "The Wish", "The Arm" from the ''Think Like a Mountain'' series
- ---"Family Night" Dark Horse Maverick 2000, July 2000
- ''Concrete: Volume Five: Think Like a Mountain'' collects:
- ---1996 six issue limited series
- ---"A Sky of Heads: With a Whimper", "Stay Tuned For Pearl Harbor" from ''Collected Stories 1986-1989''
- ---"Like Disneyland, but Toxic", "A Billion Conscious Acts", "Steel Rain" from ''Collected Stories 1990-1995''
- ---"Riotus Life (Lost in Amazonis)" from ''Dark Horse Extra'' #1-4, June 1998
- ''Concrete: Volume Six: Strange Armor'' collects
- ---1997 five issue limited series
- ---"A Sky of Heads: Quality Time", "Fitful Sleep", "Watching A Sunset" from ''Collected Stories 1986-1989''
- ---"I Strive For Realism" from ''Collected Stories 1990-1995''
- ---"A Sky of Heads" ''Concrete Eclectica'' #2, May 1993
- ---"World Beneath the Skin" ''Dark Horse Decade'' #4, October 1996
- ---"Running" and "On Van Gogh's 'The Bedroom'", previously unpublished
- ''Concrete: The Human Dilemma'' collects the six issue limited series
The uncollected story is "Moving A Big Rock" from ''Concrete Hero Special'', April 1995. It was reprinted once, in ''Think Like A Mountain'' #4.
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