Merciless Torpedo

Many comic book artists and writers strive to capture the vibe of noir crime novels and films of the 30s and 40s, or rather, to re-imagine the genre for contemporary audiences. Few succeed in the manner of Torpedo, "a Spanish comic series written by Enrique Sánchez Abulí and drawn by Jordi Bernet, which depicts the adventures of the antagonistic character Luca Torelli, a heartless hit man, and his sidekick Rascal, in the context of the violent organized crime culture of New York during the Great Depression era (Wikipedia)." The books manage to be brutal, merciless, erotic and romantic. The writing is incisive and the art as rugged as the tales. Every Torpedo adventure guarantees a thrilling time for mature audiences. Unfortunately, you will have to read either Spanish or French to get into the title. Torpedo has only been published in those languages, in countries where comics are truly respected as serious adult fiction. As a footnote, in France, beautiful hardbound comic book albums sell twice as many copies as the average novel, with first printings in the hundreds of thousands.