Criminal is the acclaimed, creator-owned noir crime series by Eisner-winning writer Ed Brubaker and masterful artist Sean Phillips, launching in 2006 with interconnected tales of betrayal, fate, and the criminal underworld in a shared gritty universe, starting with arcs like “Coward” (a heist thriller), “Lawless” (revenge in the shadows), and “The Dead and the Dying” (moody ’70s mob stories). Praised for its deep character studies, shadowy art, and subversion of crime tropes (think Jim Thompson meets Sin City), it has won multiple Eisners and Harvey Awards, influencing modern crime comics and even spawning a TV adaptation, essential for fans of unflinching, emotionally raw pulp fiction.