The Crow: Pain, Anger, and Artistic Evolution 

Well done, thank you. ---James O'Barr

So here’s a long short story about how I found this comic. My mother passed of cancer when I was 13. I was so depressed as a kid, no one knew what to do with me. A couple of months later they played the movie on tv and felt some kind of relief and fell in love with the story. Later on I find the comic and bought it without knowing it had came first, the art and different direction, or the tragic tale of the Author. I balled my eyes out after reading the whole book front to back. It helped heal that pain and got me through some very ugly parts in my life. Very ugly. After that I had always prayed to meet James to thank him for getting me through my hard times. After high school, I joined the Marines. Got out Came back home.In 2012 a friend of mine told me they had a special screening of the movie where James was gonna be there to met fans. Couldn’t get to him before the movie. But afterwards, I finally got to meet him face to face. I told him I didn’t have anything to sign because I was just so excited to finally meet him. I said the only thing I have is my bike and helmet and if he can sign them. He just looked at me and smiled and told everyone he was gonna take a 20min smoke break. It was just me, him, and my friend. He sat there and drew The Crow on my fender and helmet (which I still have) I couldn’t believe it. We talked about each other’s past, the Marines, life, music. They finally told him people are waiting and he had to go inside. I bummed a cigarette off of him, shook his hand, and we hugged. 16 years. I had waited 16 years to thank this man for helping a little boy get through the pain of losing his mother and trying to make sense of the world. James, if you see this, thank you.

Rip to the great Brandon lee, great comic, great movie.

As punishingly dark as it is, I ultimately did find reading The Crow to be quite a cathartic experience. It helped me get out of the profoundly negative headspace I was in by realizing that dwelling on pain and anger was ultimately a self-destructive exercise, and that I needed to find a way to break the cycle. Shame that O'Barr didn't find similar relief in creating it.

One of the interesting thing is that The Crow having any kind of weakness only exists in the films. In the comic if he shows up, you have no chance whatsoever.

The Crow would literally be a perfect anime series or cartoon series in general, and I think it'd be nice in homage to Brandon Lee as well, such great potential lost in tragedy

James O'Barr is one of my favorite writers and most approachable people I've ever met at a Convention.

Yes, the Crow shows in perfection that comics can be MORE than stories for children and teenagers.

I was a HUGE Brandon Lee fan as a kid, and when he died, so did a piece of me.

I totally agree... The Crow in both media ( comic/film) evokes a feel and both are 110% a feeling of the 90s

“It’s forever now” still makes me tear up every time I read it.

Its insane that the anguish and pain transcended into real life when the movie was being produced. "If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever."

I actually met the creator of the Crow at a comic convention in Detroit. Super nice guy but bitter over how Hollywood treated his creation. He made not a dime. He told me of one meeting where the producers wanted to use Michael Jackson as the Crow and make it a musical. I laughed and he was serious and got no humor out of it. Still, I'll never forget that meeting.

What I love of this comic is that you can feel how real the feelings he had while drawing it, I also love that Brandon Lee was such a fan of the book that he really advocated it to be shot in black and white, Obarr definitely appreciates his fans I met him and he signed a print, very down to earth dude.

James O'Barr always looks so sad in pictures...

There are innocent victims he saves, Darla and Sherri.

I love The Crow so much. I watched the movie before and got a copy last year to see for myself what the graphic novel was about. I cried about 3 times reading it. It changed my life, James O’Barr says it is a story about love and the way he poured out his emotion is still astounding to me... and I was also ignorant to the fact that he was close friends with Brandon Lee... I have been waiting for ComicTropes to do a video on this dark heartfelt story and I’m glad that it is finally getting more recognition.

I still remember back in 1994 when the movie adaptation of the Crow came out. The soundtrack was awesome.

We were lucky to grow up with the culture we had, we just didn't know HOW lucky.

If nothing else, at least I’m not too depressed to be excited to see a new episode of comic tropes. Thanks for the upload. It was a well needed half hour of escape.

Before I started reading The Crow I wasn't expecting it to be so emotional and sad. By the time I was finished with it I almost cried, you can really feel O'Barr's sadness as you read it. It's that powerful.

I always thought The Crow and Kabuki by David Mack were kind of similar in how they're both B&W comics that are ostensibly revenge stories but are actually just therapy for the author. By which I mean you should discuss Kabuki, wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

I discovered the collected edition not long after it was published when I was 16 and studying art. Made a massive impact on me. The inconsistency and variety of art styles just adds to the dreamlike quality.

I have actually never read the comic at all! I loved the movie as a teen, but never picked up the comic. As a 40 year old man, I’m not sure I’d get the same things out of it if I had read it at 13, but I should at least try.

I'm trapped inside in Tennessee during a ice storm the last 3 days detoxing from heroin and your videos are really really helping me pass the hellaciously slow time thank you bro. Best comic yt channel and probably best yt in general

I like in the original comics, one of his eye is disfigured with a scar running down since in this version he was shot in the back of his head and it ruptured his eye vessel. A denial that has never been in any other Crow comic or movie

I had the pleasure of meeting O'Barr at a convention in 2010 I believe. Real cool guy who at that time vocalized how blessed he was. Was cool to hear and experience meeting an artist whose work meant a lot. Chris, I always look forward to your videos of such enthusiasm and appreciation to a medium we all seem to love.

Thank you James O'barr for giving us a perfect gothic superman comic book.

You're probably right about people favoring whichever medium they first discovered; but I saw the movie as a teenager and I fell in love with it. It haunted me. This was when the Internet was still a new thing, so it took me awhile to discover that the story was based on a graphic novel. I went to my local library and, finding to my dismay that they didn't have the TPB, I had them order it. When I finally got to read it, I fell in love all over again!

Thank you kindly for showcasing this comic and artist. Detroit hometown boi!!

This was the most impactful comic I read in my youth. I watched the movie interview with him like a hundred times. I was in a lot of pain due to a lost loved one and this helped me move past it.

The Crow, is for me, one of the most underrated comic books of alla time, and it is a real master piece. Thank you Chris for talking about it. My favourite comic-book and one of my favourite comictubers....Excelsior :)

Thank you for featuring the Crow on your channel. It has always been an important, deep and personal story for me.

I remember reading this a couple years ago when I was 14 and I was obsessed with drawing The Crow on my schoolwork, and the grieving depressive tone spoke to me more than any other story I had read at the time.

That original Crow graphic novel was a beautiful catharsis for J. O'Barr's pain that he clearly needed to work through. I've been quite taken with it ever since I first read it like a million years ago.

Comic Tropes, the only RU-vid channel where i watch the whole animated intro

*A Man Called Sting involuntarily blares in my head*

The Crow was one of my inspirations for getting into comics. The details, drawings, and storylines always drew me in.

I read The Crow in Jr high. It was my 1st graphic novel. 1st time I read a book with adult content. It left a lasting impression on me and continues to be an influence and inspiration in my own work.

Shelly didn’t become The Crow, because she was able to let go and move on, to accept what happened to them. Eric couldn’t.

excellent job - brought back lotsa memories.... that artwork was always so special!

The Crow is one of my favorite comic books of all time. Also, the most emotional experience I've ever had with a comic book, I went through a lot of crap in my mid-teens and this is one of those pieces of art that got me through them.

The prose of the Crow is so powerful that it justifies some of the most artistically questionable artwork. There is some sort of spell on the pages of the book and it's clear that O'Barr put part of his soul there. The story has no chuckles or tension relief of any kind. It's sadness, anger, violence and despair all the time... yet is SO WELL PACED you can't help but heavily relate to the feelings of the character and the author. Oppressing in its choice of words and its dense environment, one could arguably say that The Crow is like the Silent Hill 2 of comics, and one of the reasons to preserve the independent spirit of sequential narrative. "There is a man, playing the violin, and the strings are the nerves in his own arm". To date I've never read anything, be it Spanish or English, so incredibly STRONG.

My gosh, there is so much tragedy here. Tragic comic with a heartbreaking, true origin. A tragic movie in content, and in the loss of a gifted actor in real life. No resolution for the artist, and a feeling of loss when I recollect watching the movie in my early teens. I certainly make me feel. This weeks fan art was the pick me up I needed by the end there. Thank you, great job as always.

Chris as vamperella was classic but this crow review was stellar

In the graphic novel, he has an introduction about loss and his experience writing The Crow and it had me in tears before I even cracked the book. I know this is heavy, but The Crow is the best indie comic book ever made.

I remember reading this and still have the comic. It's so good still

The Crow is one of my fave indie comics of all time. I bet there are other gems out there that need the recognition they deserve

I was first introduced to the crow in the 90s I was off school for the summer and I was tired of playing revolt ( favorite game) on my 64 so I started scrolling through the TV late at night when I came across the movie, I thought it was a horror movie and I almost changed the channel but, I was curious, and I kept watching. By the end I was blown away. I've never seen a movie like it. Violence, vengeance and ultimately love. As a teenager I finally read the comic and it lead me to read dracula. I get the same vibe from both stories. James O'barr created something so honest, sad, violet and lovely at the same time. To this day it still blows me away.

These are my favorite episodes. When you talk about a particular series that you're super passionate about. I fucking love you, Chris. Best comic book channel on RU-vid.

Oh man...I love this channel! Thanks again for the content!

Met James o barr a few years ago. Super nice and signed my copy of the Crow

Positing the question of why Eric became the Crow instead of Shelly was a thought provoker. I think that if O'Barr was ever going to write any more crow material, it would be cool to eventually reveal that Shelly was resurrected as well, but didn't reveal herself to Eric for a long time, instead observing all his major actions as The Crow(A Crow?) from afar in the shadows as well as doing some crime fighting of her own before eventually revealing herself to Eric.

One of my favourite comics of all time.

Like most kids my age in the mid 90s, I became obsessed with the Crow. I was into comics so I was able to order the first TPB and read it when I was fifteen or sixteen, shortly after watching the movie. You're right, something about this story does resonate when you're younger. I lost the TPB well over a decade ago and decided to re-purchase the TPB again and gave it a read now that I'm in my 40s. The story takes on a whole new depth that you will just never get as a teenager. After living life, finding love, losing love, losing loved ones, the overall sadness and seemingly meaninglessness of life becomes different.

It's fitting that this video was uploaded 3 hours ago this morning, I'm watching Broken Saints 2003 original flash version after I finish.📱💬💭🎭🎵💡💫🌠🕕

I loved this era of comics. I started working at a local comic store at this time and it will always remain very nostalgic to me

The Crow is my #1 Movie of All Time. I'm still collecting the graphic novels that come out till this day. I was 15 when it premiered, so it was a Big deal and i even have a Crow tat which was my first tat. That Soundtrack is STILL BADASS.

Car accidents are any other Tuesday here in Dallas. And I'm not making light about it either. They mostly go unanswered by police.

My aunt loved the Crow so much she named my cousin after Eric

The Crow is definitely one of my favorite books. Not comics, books. It's a work of art

If anyone still can, I highly recommend you get O'Barr unofficial commentary for the film. He used to sell it through his website. Along with that track down the work print of the movie that includes the Skull Cowboy and grocery robbery scene that explains Skank taking so long in the store.

Always thanks to James O'Barr for letting me know comics like this exists. And may Brandon Lee rest in total peace

I quite enjoyed the tv series which starred Mark Dacascos. It went a bit weird, but the martial arts was pretty spectacular in places.

Ahhh....the comic/movie that kicked off my teenage blunder years fashion. I'll enjoy this

Every time I go out to a goth bar I owe basically the entire aesthetic experience to James O'barr and Sam Keith in the late 80s

“Oh, hi! ..You caught me not doing my trademark ‘Oh, hi!’ intro skit.” Good to see you again, Chris, and great thanks for covering my all time favorite anti-hero comic/movie character, (even named my son Raven)! Cheers to you, James O’Barr, Alex Proyas and his staff (except the guy who did you-know-what to you-know-who), and of course, cheers to the late, great Brandon Lee, and by extension, his father Bruce Lee (and Shannon) as well. Cheers from Washington D.C.

Lovely to see a mention of the late Gary Reed, who gave so many of us a start in comics.

My friend who collected indie and vertigo in the 80s/90s loaned me the original issues 14 years ago, it kind of blew my mind just to see them in the original format.

This is the comic that got me into comics & shaped my teen goth look also within a year of reading the comic the film came out and I loved the film it was a perfect storm fit me as well and the soundtrack was perfection and was my gateway into loving bands like NIN. Now as a guy rocking my 40’s I may not have the goth look anymore but this story does remind me of my youth and I don’t think a comic, film and soundtrack has had as much an impact on a young me as the Crow. Music aside if I had to chose I chose the comic run every time I may be a short haired settled dad now with a 9-5 but I will alway have a love for this story , character and dark intense world that it introduced me to showing that comics don’t have to be capes saving the day. Ps great video

So glad you mentioned the soundtrack. I know you didn’t want to stay on the movie for very long. But man was that soundtrack perfect.

One of my favorite comic books of all time, thanks Chris!

Oh hi there! You caught me missing the old intro sketches. Speaking about intro sketches, do you miss them too?

I thought I left a comment but I don't see it. After watching this I had to go back and reread The Crow for the first time in well over a decade, and I'd argue it's made completely clear that Eric in the comic had returned from the dead, as well he survived multiple injuries that could have killed a normal person. This is a good summation, though, and the Crow was pretty important to me when I came across it in 1993.

The Crow is an ultimate example of the reasons comics are made by passion. It's an ultimate mixture of art and story being in full expression. Great read. This is why I love indie comics. Glad Mr. O'Barr achieved success but I'm sad that the process in the creation of the book which he did for healing didn't give him the result that he needed mentally and emotionally.

Several days ago, at a used book/record store on the other side of town, I found The Crow #1 (2nd print), #2 (1st print) and #3 (2nd print) and I still can’t believe it! They are all very high grade (9.2 and up) and were priced at only $2.75 each. Brandon Lee was my childhood hero and he died when I was 14. I was beside myself. The soundtrack to the film got me into rock music and to this day I have no idea what happened to the TPB graphic novel I bought in ‘94. I never thought I’d own these books especially in this condition. I’m over the moon!!

Skipped school to watch movie..STP soundtrack on commercials was hooked..paid 40.00 for vhs copy as it wasn't for normal sale at the time..obviously bought the graphic novel..love it...all of it

Rip Brandon lee and thanks James for your amazing story, RIP the real Shelly and Rip Micheal Massee and Jon Polito

After watching this I think you are my favorite RU-vid channel.

Omg I've been waiting for you to cover this for so long, let's go boiz

I remember when the film was coming out. I hadn't read the comic yet, and decided to wait until we saw the film first. My buddy did the exact opposite, he went and grabbed the trade a week before the movie premiered. I loved the film. Then, as we left the cinema, I went and picked up the comic and loved that even more. Soundtrack too, but that's not germain to my story. I got 2 great experiences from The Crow. First watching it as a film, then delving into the amazing pages of the book. I like the book much, MUCH, more. But I'm thankful that I waited and got to enjoy both without the immediate comparison to the page while watching the film. Especially when my buddy wasn't able to connect as well with the movie since he'd just had the comic fresh in his mind and the film suffered by comparison for him. Also got to meet O'Barr once at a convention. He was pleasant enough, but seemed to be very strained. I wish him the best. His work meant the world to me at that time and still does.

I’m lucky enough to have bought the original issues back in “real time” when they were originally published. But the BEST part was meeting O’Barr at a NY Comic Con way back before they were the “cool thing” to go to. At this sparsely attended event I got my issues signed and spent a very comfortable well over 1/2 hour amount of time having a great back and forth with a very talkative O’Barr. I’m not sure if THIS was ever covered before: We talked mainly how he was Very Happy that the 1st attempt to do a CROW movie had bit the dust. The studio in question did not understand it and he did not have creative control. This version of the movie was to star Christian Slater and have music from Bon Jovi, Warrent, etc. He said he was glad when they dropped it and he had learned from the experience and if the movie ever was gonna be made, he would exercise creative control and the mood and music of the book would Not be compromised. We all know the rest...

The Crow was the first R Rated movie I saw on the big screen. I remember watching updates of filming and the reports on Lee's death on Entertainment Tonight, making it a movie I absolutely had to see, and it became one of my favorites in my adolescent and teenage years. After seeing the movie, I had to get the source, and while the local book store didn't have a huge graphic novel section, they had it. I read the first chapter before we'd left the store. Oddly, as much as I loved it, I only read it the one time until seeking it out again as an adult. While it obviously didn't connect the same way, the emotional resonance was still there. Also, I agree the soundtrack was perfect, and may still be my favorite soundtrack of all time. It's also what got me into a number of bands, namely The Violent Femmes.

The crow literally means the world to me, thank you so much for this

O Barr needs a hug

This comic and movie spoke to me so much in my teenage years. I am very satisfied with your analysis!

Hey Chris! Always a pleasure to spend time with you! 10/10 and as always I love everything you do so thank you good friend!

I was not a fan of the comics but I definitely related to it via cultural osmosis. I'd say that while the film was important, a lot of the music on the soundtrack actually shaped who I am as a person. So it definitely had far reaching effects that a lot of people still probably don't consider.

I purchased all 5 issues along with the graphic novel featuring all 5 stories and side tales, combined...back in 1996 or 97. To this day I still have them in mint condition as among my absolute favorite stories.

When people talk about moview based on comic books this is one of the best, sadly seems like people doesn't known about this

True, true, true. Art indeed.

I saw an interview he gave about creating the comic, like a special DVD feature. So heart breaking. Got to watch this as soon as I can.

Thanks for the vid on a classic, I hope you are doing well Chris!

I always tought The Crow to be Goth Deadman... I'll now check it out.

I saw the movie, but haven't read this comic yet. Thanks Chris

Love the new intro dude!

I forgot about the new intro. I really dig it and that it makes reference to the original at the end. What an absolutely phenomenal episode. Thanks Chris!

The new OPENING is great!!! Congratulations, Chris

This was wonderful. Would you please consider doing an episode on Terry Moore-Abstract Studios/“Strangers In Paradise”?

Now don't go using crow powers to get revenge on the woman who stole a car. It's just a car.