Torture can't stop Johnny. Torture is Johnny's fuel. Torture is how Johnny clambers up the side of a mountain of crates, torture is what gives Johnny the strength of character to execute, to seal-the-deal. And while the pimps and the slashers may seem to have the upper hand, while the streets of the city may be coated in a thick slime of blood, cum and some more blood as well as some beer, because fuck it, mama needs a beer if she's gonna dance for these sumbitches, ya'll out your cracker and curbing gums on the asphalt if you think anybody does this goddamned job sober, and yep, whoever you are, Monkey Dick, we all blame you ...
... [NIGHT BUSINESS is] a throwback to the media produced in good 'ole 1980's pre-Guiliani NYC. I'm talking films like Lucio Fulci's "Night Ripper" or William Lustig's "Maniac." As pastiche, Benjamin Marra's "Night Business" is violent and fun, complimented by the antiseptic drawing that really reinforces its ties to the deluge of black and white independent comics of the era. Even minor details, like the cheap paper stock of the book are represented ...Check out the full post here, which also includes the trailer for Lucio Fulci's "The New York Ripper," which, I confess, I have not seen yet despite repeated recommendations from NIGHT BUSINESS readers.
NIGHT BUSINESS, ISSUE 3, is now available for purchase at the TRADITIONAL COMICS shop. Check out the preview pages below ...
NIGHT BUSINESS, ISSUE 2, and GANGSTA RAP POSSE, ISSUE 1, made it onto Tucker Stone's list of The Best Comics of 2009. They came in at numbers 21 and 22. Here's what Tucker had to say:There's always a couple of comics that bubble up out of nowhere, comics that come bearing descriptions they seem incapable of living up to. Night Business & Gangsta Rap Posse--both the product of Benjamin Marra and his Traditional Comics publishing house--were those two. Could a Skinemax movie delivered in pure Paul Gulacy style really be that good? Did the comics landscape really need to see what would happen inside the wet dreams of an N.W.A. fan? That's what I was asking myself before I read them. Afterwards, all I wanted to know was why the hell these comics weren't being published on the sides of an army of blimps, all of which were hovering over every wi-fi capable coffeehouse in the country. This is how all contemporary fiction should read.Reading those words felt like a mug of hot chocolate being dumped right over my heart while wearing a pair of very supportive briefs. Thank you very much, Mr. Stone. By the by, you can check out more of Tucker Stone's (and friend's) reviews and ideas on many things at his blog The Factual Opinion right here. And the other entries of his column, This Ship is Totally Sinking, right here.
