Criminal is a creator-owned multi-Eisner Award-winning comic book series. It was created by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, who wrote and illustrated the series respectively. The initial series, which consisted of two volumes and two miniseries, were published by Marvel Comics' Icon Comics imprint from 2006-2011. Criminal was later relaunched and published by Image Comics from 2015 onwards. The comics were also adapted into a television series of the same name by Amazon, to be distributed through Prime Video.[1]
Issues[]
Icon Comics[]
Volume 1[]
Criminal #1[]
In Criminal #1 we meet Leo, who can plan the perfect heist... but only if he can be convinced the job is safe enough. See, Leo is not a shoot-first think-later guy; Leo is a professional. But to some criminals, even professionals, the right payout is worth almost any risk. So when an old friend and a crooked cop approach him with a plan to seize millions of dollars in contraband from an evidence transport van, Leo must make tough choices, knowing there's nothing you can trust less in this world than a cop on the take.
Criminal #2[]
In Criminal #2 Leo has reluctantly joined on for the heist to end all heists, but nothing is what it seems, and when this job falls apart, it's in a hail of bullets and double-crosses that leave him shattered. What will he do next? Run for his freaking life! But will anywhere be safe, when the cops and the bad-guys are all after him?
Criminal #3[]
In Criminal #3 the heist has fallen to pieces, and Leo and Greta are hiding out, waiting for the smoke to clear. But they have half the take with them, and their "friends" are not happy about that. So while Leo helps Greta heal from her injuries, they plot their next move, knowing any wrong step could mean death for them and the people they care about.
Criminal #4[]
In Criminal #4 Leo's attempt to make a deal goes badly, and the men on his and Greta's trail have made their move, leaving a path of death and destruction in their wake... And bringing Leo face to face with the violence that lurks deep inside his darkest places. What happens next will shock even him!
Criminal #5[]
In Criminal #5 Leo has been backed into a corner, and though his experience and his survival instincts tell him to try to find a peaceful way out, something has been awakened inside the man most consider a coward. Something that he's kept buried almost twenty years... His rage. But will it destroy him along with the men he aims it at?
Criminal #6[]
Criminal #6 introduces Tracy Lawless. Twenty years ago, Tracy traded the crime-ridden streets of the city for a life in the military, and it's a decision he's rarely regretted. But now he's walking out of the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq and back into the world he grew up in, to find out who killed his brother Rick, and why. But truth is one of the few things uglier than family history, and the only thing Tracy has in his favor as he unravels the twisted strands of the criminal life his brother led, is that no one knows who the hell he is. And what they don't know, just might kill them.
Criminal #7[]
In Criminal #7 TRACY LAWLESS has returned from the wartorn deserts of the Middle East to find out who killed his brother, Rick, and why, but to do that, Tracy needs to find out exactly who his brother had become in the 15 years since he'd last seen him. First step -- finding a way onto the remnants of Rick's crew of heisters, and staging a high speed escape from a prison transport. Will Tracy fall back into the life of crime he was raised around, fall victim to Mallory, the woman who shared his brother's bed, or find his way to the truth?
Criminal #8[]
In Criminal #8 TRACY LAWLESS life is getting stranger and stranger as his quest for the truth about his brother's death gets closer to the truth. Operating with a fake name, and now having joined the former crew his brother Rick worked with as their new getaway driver, Tracy is getting deeper into the world of crime he once gave up everything to escape. And now, on top of his own twisted motives, a team of mob hitmen are gunning for him, and seem to know who he really is.
Criminal #9[]
In Criminal #9 Tracy Lawless continues his relentless hunt for the truth about his brother's murder, as he sinks deeper and deeper into the criminal world his little brother lived and died in. Now, as he learns more about the man his brother Rick had grown up into, and as he becomes close to the woman who loved his brother, he realizes that someone in the city has figured out who he really is, and that could mean big trouble. All this, and the Christmas Eve heist to end them all falls into place!
Criminal #10[]
In Criminal #10 Tracy finally comes to the end of the line in his search for answers, but will he want them by then? Or has his entry back into the life his brother led changed who he is? And what about the hitmen on his trail? He'll have to deal with that, too.
Volume 2[]
Criminal #1[]
"Second Chance In Hell" begins the first of three standalone issues, this one focusing on Gnarly the bartenders and telling the story of the last days of his life as a boxer and revealing how the Undertow bar came into his hands. It's a hard-hitting period-piece, set in the grimy early 70s, where crime, seduction and betrayal go hand-in-hand.
Criminal #2[]
In previous arcs of Criminal we've met the man who killed him, and we met his only surviving son... now meet TEEG LAWLESS, thief, murderer, and all around bad mother-#@$%er. Fresh from two tours in Vietnam, Teeg arrives home in 1972 carrying the baggage of war, a drug habit, and an unpaid debt to a local mob boss that's now long overdue. *"Before the Living End"* tells how he goes about finding a way out of his problems and back into the life of crime.
Criminal #3[]
"*Female of the Species*" is the final piece to the noir puzzle of these three stories of crime and murder in the early 1970s. Told from the sympathetic POV of a Femme Fatale on her path to one final score and the revenge she's been waiting years to get. A heartbreaking look into the other side of a noir tradition.
Criminal #4[]
Five years ago, Jake was a happy family man, long-retired from the life of crime he grew up in, and then the police made him the prime suspect in a horrible crime and ripped his life apart. Now, years later, Jake is less than a shadow of his former self, a hopeless insomniac who walks the city streets at night. But one night, he walks into the wrong place at the right time, and his whole life changes again... For the better or the worse, is the question.
Criminal #5[]
The third collection of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' critically-acclaimed noir series follows a different twist of the knife this time -- telling three interlinking stories that take place during the early 1970s and swirl around the fate of a hard-luck Femme Fatale, a boxer and a thief and killer just home from Vietnam. Each story is told from a different narrative point-of-view, so we can see the varied secrets and hidden desires that ultimately lead to a lot of murder and mayhem.
Criminal #6[]
Jacob K. has a special talent, and a dark secret. The beautiful girl who's got him on the run for his life only knows about one of them, and that may be her big mistake. See what these bad nights will bring Jacob, and if he'll get out alive.
Criminal #7[]
What's left of Jacob K.'s life has been ripped apart by a chance meeting on one bad night. But when all the things he's been running from come to the surface, we may just learn the Jacob himself is much more than what he seems.
The Sinners miniseries[]
Criminal: The Sinners #1[]
CRIMINAL's most popular character, TRACY LAWLESS returns in THE SINNERS. It’s been a year since Tracy was forced into working for the bad guys, and now made men are turning up dead all over the city, in what appears to be mob-style hits. But since criminals don’t go to the cops for justice… only Tracy can solve this crime.
Criminal: The Sinners #2[]
Made men are turning up dead in what appear to be mob-style hits, and since criminals don’t go to the cops for justice, TRACY LAWLESS has been appointed the defacto “sheriff” of the criminal underworld by his boss, Crimelord Sebastian Hyde. But Tracy is the ultimate outsider, and the cons, murderers, and thieves don’t like or trust him any more than the police do.
Criminal: The Sinners #3[]
TRACY LAWLESS is tasked with solving the murders of several mobsters in the city, but his own self-destructive impulses are starting to get in his way. Women and Chinese Triad killers are here to complicate his life, especially the women.
Criminal: The Sinners #4[]
Tracy Lawless is getting close to finding the killers he's been searching for... but before he can put all the pieces together, he finds himself in their crosshairs in Chinatown, with enemies all around him.
Criminal: The Sinners #5[]
It's the action-packed and twist-filled finale of THE SINNERS as TRACY LAWLESS finds himself trapped between hardened killers who want to torture and kill him, and a tough Military Investigator who wants to bring him back to the Army in chains.
The Last of the Innocent miniseries[]
Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #1[]
Obsession, sex, money, murder, and nostalgia for days long past all collide in THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT. Riley Richards got it all... The hottest girl in school and a ticket to the big time... so why isn't he happy now? Why is he getting involved in gambling and drugs and shady characters in the city?
Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #2[]
Things are going from bad to worse... One-time All-American Boy, Riley Richards is caught in a brutal murder and double-cross that may be his only way out of the trap his life has become!
Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #3[]
The murder was bad enough, but the coverup will be worse than the crime, especially with a one-time boy detective hot on Riley Richards' trail and Teeg Lawless trying to stir up trouble.
Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #4[]
Riley Richards has committed crime after crime to get what he wants... Now what will he have to do to keep all the things he's killed for? It's a twisted look at crime, comics, nostalgia, and obsession...
Image Comics[]
Criminal Special Edition (One-Shot)[]
It's 1976, and Teeg Lawless is doing 30 days in county jail with a price on his head, his only safe company from the savagery a beat-up old comic magazine his dead cellmate left behind.
Criminal: 10th Anniversary Special Edition[]
Teeg and Tracy Lawless co-star in this one-shot, a twisted 70s noir about a father and son on the run.
My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies standalone graphic novel[]
Teenage Ellie has always had romantic ideas about drug addicts, those tragic artistic souls drawn to needles and pills have been an obsession since the death of her junkie mother ten years ago. But when Ellie lands in an upscale rehab clinic where nothing is what it appears to be... she'll find another more dangerous romance, and find out how easily drugs and murder go hand-in-hand.
Criminal (2019)[]
Criminal #1[]
Teeg Lawless is back in town. But he finds himself in more trouble than ever, thanks to his delinquent teenage son—and this time, fists and bullets may not be enough to solve his problems.
Criminal #2[]
Archie Lewis was the artist’s artist in his heyday, although that’s not what he’s famous for. He’s famous for being a nightmare to work with—and dangerous. So when an old assistant is forced to chaperone his one-time mentor to receive his lifetime achievement award, well… let’s just say things don’t go well.
Criminal #3[]
Part Two-Jacob’s weekend taking care of his old mentor takes a turn for the worse.
Criminal #4[]
A breathtaking single-issue story finds Ricky Lawless caught in the grip of violence and double cross after a robbery.
Criminal #5[]
Dan Farraday, private detective and skip-tracer, comes to town looking for a dangerous woman. This issue begins the long and winding tale of THE SUMMER OF '88... the story of the last days of Teeg Lawless.
Criminal #6[]
Teeg Lawless falls in love for the first time, and it might be the worst decision he ever made. THE SUMMER OF '88 — the story of the last days of Teeg Lawless — continues!
Criminal #7[]
Young Ricky Lawless and Leo (from CRIMINAL, VOL. 1: COWARD) take the spotlight this issue, as the epic story of the death of TEEG LAWLESS continues!
Criminal #8[]
Teeg Lawless is on his way to living the high life, planning the kind of score you can retire on... but only if nothing goes wrong.
Criminal #9[]
Teenage Leo Patterson takes center stage as his best friend, Ricky Lawless, starts to drag him down a destructive path.
Criminal #10[]
The CRIMINAL epic moves toward its brutal climax, as Private Detective Dan Farraday reenters the scene... while Teeg prepares for the biggest heist of his career.
Criminal #11[]
The heist. The most explosive issue of the CRUEL SUMMER arc yet.
Criminal #12[]
The death of Teeg Lawless. The final issue of the CRUEL SUMMER arc.
Collections[]
Trade Paperbacks[]
Criminal was initially collected in a series of six trade paperback volumes by Icon Comics from 2007 to 2012.
Image Comics took over publication of the series in 2015. It was then re-released as a series of seven trade paperback volumes by Image Comics from 2015 to 2016.
Following the production of the television adaptation Image Comics issued a new series of ten trade paperbacks collecting the series in 2025.
Criminal Volume 1: Coward[]
Criminal Volume 1: Coward collects the first five issues of the original Criminal series. The collection was originally published by Icon Comics on 23 May 2007.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics on 10 February 2015 with a new cover.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics again on 4 February 2025 with another new cover.
Criminal Volume 2: Lawless[]
Criminal Volume 2: Lawless collects issues six to ten of the original Criminal series.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics on 3 March 2015 with a new cover.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics again on 4 February 2025 with another new cover.
Criminal Volume 3: The Dead and the Dying[]
Criminal Volume 3: The Dead and the Dying collects the first three issues of the second volume of Criminal, originally published in 2008.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics on 7 April 2015 with a new cover.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics again on 4 March 2025 with another new cover.
Criminal Volume 4: Bad Night[]
Criminal Volume 4: Bad Night collected issues four to seven of the second volume of Criminal. These issues were originally published from July to November 2008.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics on 5 May 2015 with a new cover.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics again on 1 April 2025 with another new cover.
Criminal Volume 5: The Sinners[]
Criminal Volume 5: The Sinners collects all five issues of the miniseries Criminal: The Sinners.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics on 16 June 2015 with a new cover.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics again on 6 May 2025 with another new cover.
After a wave of murders that target various high-profile, supposedly untouchable crime figures, Tracy Lawless is assigned to find the killers and stop them before a citywide gang war erupts, while an Army CID agent arrives at Center City to capture the deserting Sgt. Lawless. He discovers a priest is using children to assassinate the "evil" in his city. Lawless is able to stop this scheme, but not until after Hyde is killed.
Criminal Volume 6: The Last of the Innocent[]
Criminal Volume 6: The Last of the Innocent collects all four issues of the miniseries Criminal: The Last of the Innocent.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics on 14 July 2015 with a new cover.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics again on 3 June 2025 with another new cover.
Owing money to a loan shark and discovering his wealthy wife is cheating on him, Riley decides to murder her and use her money to pay off his debt. The story is inspired by Archie Comics, and features several sequences drawn in the house style of that series.
Criminal Volume 7: Wrong Time, Wrong Place[]
Criminal Volume 7: Wrong Time, Wrong Place collects the Criminal Special Edition (One-Shot) and Criminal: 10th Anniversary Special Edition also known as Savage Sword of Criminal and Deadly Hands of Criminal.
The trade paperback was first published by Image Comics on 13 September 2016.
The trade paperback was republished by Image Comics again on 1 July 2025 with a new cover.
BRUBAKER and PHILLIPS return to their multiple award-winning series for two interlinked tales of the Lawless family in the 1970s. Teeg Lawless is trapped behind bars with a price on his head, doing anything he can to survive, while Tracy Lawless celebrates his twelfth birthday riding shotgun on a mission of death.
Criminal Volume 8: My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies[]
Criminal Volume 8: My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies is a reprint of the content originally published as a standalone graphic novel under the title My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies.
Image originally published the stories as a hardcover under the shorter title on 16 October 2018. They re-released this as a trade paperback on 10 December 2019.
The trade paperback was retitled and reprinted by Image Comics on 5 August 2025 with a new cover.
Criminal Volume 9: Bad Weekend[]
Criminal Volume 9: Bad Weekend is a reprint of the content originally published as a standalone graphic novel under the title Bad Weekend. This includes the second and third issues of the 2019 Criminal series along with additional material and expanded scenes in this storyline. Image first published the reworked stories as a hardcover under the shorter title on 16 July 2019.
They retitled and re-released this as a trade paperback on 2 September 2025.
Hal Crane should know, he's been around since practically the beginning. Stuck at an out-of-town convention, waiting to receive a lifetime achievement award, Hal's weekend takes us on a dark ride through the secret history of a medium that's always been haunted by crooks, swindlers, and desperate dreamers.
Criminal Volume 10: Cruel Summer[]
Criminal Volume 10: Cruel Summer is a reprint of the content originally published as a deluxe hardcover under the title Cruel Summer. This includes the first and fifth to twelfth issues of the 2019 Criminal series. Image originally published the stories as a hardcover under the shorter title on 18 August 2020. They re-released this as a trade paperback on 1 February 2022.
They retitled and re-released this as a trade paperback due for release on 7 October 2025.
Original Graphic Novels[]
My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies[]
The Knives[]
Deluxe Hardcovers[]
Criminal The Deluxe Edition Vol. 1[]
Criminal The Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 was originally published by Marvel under their Icon Comics imprint. It was later reissued by Image Comics with a new cover. The volume collects Criminal (2006) issues 1 to 10 and Criminal (2008) issues 1 to 3 - the "Coward", "Lawless" and "The Dead and the Dying" story lines.
Criminal The Deluxe Edition Vol. 2[]
Criminal The Deluxe Edition Vol. 2 was originally published by Marvel under their Icon Comics imprint. It was later reissued by Image Comics with a new cover. The volume collects Criminal (2008) issues 4 to 7, Criminal: The Sinners issues 1 to 5 and Criminal: The Last Of The Innocent issues 1 to 4. These issues form the "Bad Night", "The Sinners" and "The Last Of The Innocent" story lines.
Criminal The Deluxe Edition Vol. 3[]
Criminal The Deluxe Edition Vol. 3 was originally published by Image Comics on 1 December 2020. The volume collects the Criminal Special Edition (One-Shot), Criminal: 10th Anniversary Special Edition, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies original graphic novel, Bad Weekend and issues 1 and 4 of the Criminal (2019) series. These issues form the "Savage Sword of Criminal", "Deadly Hands of Criminal", "My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies" and "Bad Weekend" story lines.
Cruel Summer[]
The Cruel Summer deluxe hardcover was originally published by Image Comics on 18 August 2020. The volume collects issues 1 and 5 to 12 of the Criminal (2019) series. These issues form the "Cruel Summer" story line.