ALACK SINNER- PI from the darkest Noir

<sub>Alack Sinner - ' Cop or PI '
- Collection in French</sub>

One of the most interesting publications of HB comics in Europe was certainly the work of Muños and Sampayo. These two creators left Argentina, their original country, to live in Spain to escape the political oppression and the brutal dictatorship of the time.
They produced highly interesting comics devoted to crime and HB in series such as Alack Sinner and Joe's Bar, published in the French comic magazine 'Charlie' as early as 1975. The Belgian/French avant-garde comic publishing house A SUIVRE published later, in the early eighties, the bundled stories in books grouping several episodes of the series. One of these books even received a preface written by Jean Vautrin, one of the most original modern French HB writers.

Realism, true Noir and HB inspiration for the settings, pessimistic rendition of the violent lives and deaths among the lower classes in society and all the classic ingredients of solid crime stories, were used to achieve one of the most original comics of the crime and HB type.



_{Image from 'Joe's Bar' -1981 edition}


Jazz musicians, dirty officials, the underworld, junkies, big city infamous surroundings, hookers, small crooks are all masterfully described in the creative graphicism of the drawings. Large patches of deep black color, nervous drawings and settings [ that resemble still shots from Noir films ], are all efficiently contributing to render the atmosphere and somber moods of the different stories.
Crime, misfits, violence and loneliness are the major characters of the moody tales told by Muños and Sampayo.


_{'Fillmore' - Sinner was shot in the shoulder but got the thug...}


Muños and Sampayo were applying techniques from American comic books in images seen under a certain angle and also some drawing styles that were certainly inspired by the underground comics of the 70's.
However they succeeded in creating innovative comic series by adding their own vision, talent and draftsmanship to serve superbly the stories they were telling. Their comic series undoubtedly influenced some comics creators of the today scene in Europe and in the USA.
A first class work!



_{Drinking place in N-Y, 8pm... - Image from 'Pepe the Architect'}

_{Copyright © 1997,1998 E.Borgers for texts and setup. Illustrations belong to the copyright holders
See front page of WEBORGERS - Hard-Boiled Mysteries - for complete disclaimer.
Most recent revision: 14 January, 1998}