Gravedigger Vol. 1: Hot Women, Cold Cash

The graphic novel "Gravedigger: Hot Women, Cold Cash" collects the two-part "Predators" story along with the earlier "Scavengers" one-shot, and it's a real treat for fans of hard-boiled crime fiction. In "The Predators" our anti-hero, "Digger" McCrae, is framed for the murder of a mob boss's daughter. On the run, Digger gets a helping hand from a mysterious dame while trigger-happy goons are hot on his tail and mayhem ensues. In "The Scavengers," Digger, fresh out of prison, gets involved in a plot to hijack an illicit arms deal in Mexico. The plan goes off without a hitch, but trouble tends to find Digger like pigs sniff out truffles and double-cross follows double-cross, leading to a rather somber conclusion.Writer Christopher Mills has a knack for inhabiting the crime genre, rummaging around, investing its tropes with new life and having a great time in the process. You can tell he's having fun with it, but not in a mocking way. He respects the genre and his love for it is infectious. Artist Rick Burchett illustrates these stories with great skill, perfectly setting the visual mood and bringing action sequences to fast-paced life with panache.If you enjoy this book (and frankly, something's wrong with you if you don't) check out Mills's gravediggercomic.com website, which has links to his online comics (all excellent). Bottom line: fans of detective fiction, crime fiction, film noir, etc., owe it to themselves to get this book. Violent, dark, amoral and cynical as God and Mickey Spillane intended.

Hard-boiled noir graphic stories, with no real resolution to the two stories in this volume, just like real life.The art is great, and fits the stories very well.

A great variation of Lee Marvin's tough guy roles from the sixties. Solid art and a fast paced story make Gravedigger a worthy crime graphic novel.

Loved it, both Art and Story are great! It's like reading Mickey Spillane, or Dashiell Hammett. Really fun! Rick Burchett's art rocked!

Mills wrote a couple great, nourish stories and the book features fantastic Burchett art!! Stylized crime drama at its best!

The first thing you’ll notice about the character, Gravedigger McCrae, is his resemblance to Lee Marvin. In my mind this elicits thoughts of Point Blank, The Killers and Prime Cut, which is quite okay if the story delivers that kind of tough guy mayhem and action. I am happy to report Mills and Burchett knock the ball right out of the park. It delivers exactly that type of action and more!The two stories in this collection, The Predators and The Scavengers are first-rate, tight crime thrillers that are a great deal of fun to read. If you like Richard Stark’s (Donald Westlake) Parker novels – or the aforementioned Marvin flicks you’ll find a lot to enjoy here.I can’t wait for more.

Gravedigger is one of the best examples of crime comics to make the scene in a long time. Mill's writing in this series is on par with the best of Ed Brubaker's Criminal titles, the art is eye popping, and the format exquisitely different. Clearly a five star worthy effort. More please...

If you like Noir. If you like great story telling. If you like comic art. Then... pick this one up. It is fun and entertaining. The good guy is not good, but he is certainly someone to cheer. The art is fantastic. This is a great team that I hope to see more from them soon.

Very Parker vibe.v Love Burchetts art and the stories are tight.b Love that Digger is Lee Marvin. I would recommend especially if you are collecting Cooke's Parker series.