In this episode, Crimewave!, our series on gritty crime comics, continues with a fictionalized account of the real, ripped-from-the-1930s-headlines case of the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, co-written and "executed" by one of the biggest names in comics before he was one of the biggest names in comics: It's Torso, by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, originally published by Image Comics!

Between 1935 and 1938, a mysterious figure murdered, dismembered and decapitated at least 12 victims in Cleveland, Ohio, preying on the city's growing transient population. Against the backdrop of a corrupt city reeling from the Great Depression, Cleveland's new safety director—former "Untouchable" Eliot Ness himself—and a pair of homicide detectives find themselves investigating a new kind of criminal: America's first serial killer!

Can our intrepid and all-too-human protagonists solve this unsolved mystery, or will their quarry prove truly Untouchable? And can Bendis and Andreyko make it into that lineup of killer crime stories known as ... The Comics Canon?

On the docket:

• Spoiler and content warnings
• Encounter: An Ongoing Online RPG Where Readers Vote on the Story
• Ways the book differs from actual events
• Fortune and Glory: A True Hollywood Comic Book Story
• Brian Michael Bendis's artwork
• "It ain't duck soup!"
• Who was Gaylord Sundheim?
• Similarities to Se7en
• The problem with that ending
• From Hell
• What is Torso about?
• "This Eliot Ness. Who owns him?"
• The Black Dahlia
• Scalped Vol. 1: Indian Country

Join us in two weeks as Crimewave! continues with a look at Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' supernatural noir, Fatale!

Until then, turn some heads with our snazzy Comics Canon merchandise! And why not accessorize with a little King Krackle from our sponsor at Category 4?

Last but not least, don't be a rat. Rate us on iTunes, send us an email, and hit us up on Twitter or Facebook! We may read your comments in an upcoming episode. And as always, thanks for listening!