GIANT SIZE CRIMINAL #1 – New Comic Review

Giant Size Criminal #1, by Image Comics on 12/3/25, delivers a masterclass in bad decision-making that will make you feel better about your own life choices while emptying your wallet.

Credits:

• Writer: Ed Brubaker
• Artist: Sean Phillips
• Colorist: Sean Phillips
• Cover Artist: Sean Phillips (cover A)
• Publisher: Image Comics
• Release Date: December 3, 2025
• Comic Rating: Mature (language, nudity, violence)
• Cover Price: $5.99
• Page Count: 52
• Format: Giant Size Issue

Covers:

Analysis of GIANT SIZE CRIMINAL #1:

First Impressions:

My immediate reaction to the first few pages was a mix of nostalgia and anxiety. Seeing Ricky Lawless stumble through a hotel hallway while high out of his mind set a chaotic tone that hooked me instantly. It felt like watching a car crash in slow motion, and I could not look away.

Plot Analysis:

Ricky Lawless finds himself twenty-five grand in the hole with his bookie Karl, and he needs a quick score to settle the debt. Karl tips him off that Vincent Gabbo, a three-time world poker champion, is staying at the Vista-Luxe Hotel with a massive payout. Ricky heads to the hotel, breaks into room 1218, and settles into the closet to wait for his mark. It seems like an easy job that will get him back to even.

The waiting game takes a turn when Ricky snorts what he thinks is cocaine but discovers it is actually potent heroin. He spirals into a euphoric haze, ordering room service he can barely eat and losing track of time and reality. He hallucinates or perhaps really sees a woman in the room, and he spends hours watching old cartoons in a stupor. The drugs leave him completely vulnerable when the room’s occupant finally returns.

Gabbo walks in and starts beating the daylights out of the intoxicated thief, but Ricky is too high to register the pain. He laughs off the punches, grabs Gabbo’s backpack, and manages to scramble out the door while Gabbo fires a gun at him. Ricky flees down the stairs and blends in with the hotel guests evacuating due to the commotion. He breaks into a lockbox at the valet stand and steals a Mercedes to make his getaway.

Ricky drives off and opens the backpack, expecting cash, but he finds only useless schematics and formulas for industrial espionage. He calls Karl to explain the situation, only to learn he went to the Vista-Luxe instead of the Monte-Vista. Karl berates him for robbing the wrong man at the wrong hotel and refuses to take the stolen car as payment. Ricky realizes his debt is still unpaid and he has made a powerful new enemy.

Story

Ed Brubaker puts us right inside Ricky’s messy head with narration that is both pathetic and hilarious. The pacing shifts brilliantly from the slow, floating haze of the drug trip to the frantic, violent escape. The dialogue snaps with that trademark noir grit, but it is the internal monologue of a man convincing himself everything is fine while his world burns that really sells the script.

Art

Sean Phillips does an incredible job visually representing Ricky’s altered state without relying on cheap gimmicks. The panels during the heroin trip have a soft, detached quality that contrasts sharply with the jagged, brutal lines of the fight scene. The way the “cartoons” on the TV bleed into Ricky’s memories of his father adds a layer of visual storytelling that deepens the character without a single word of exposition.

Characters

Ricky Lawless is the ultimate lovable loser, and this issue cements his status as a tragic figure who cannot get out of his own way. We see his desperation, his incompetence, and the weirdly sweet memory of his father that humanizes him even as he commits felonies. He is not a cool criminal mastermind; he is a screw-up, which makes him infinitely more relatable and interesting to read about.

Originality & Concept Execution

While the “heist gone wrong” is a noir staple, the specific execution here feels fresh because of the drug-induced unreliability of the narrator. Having the protagonist rob the wrong guy because he mixed up similar hotel names is a dark punchline that lands perfectly. It takes a standard genre trope and twists it into a farce that fits the Criminal world perfectly.

Positives

The sequence where Ricky is high on heroin is the absolute highlight of the book because it manages to be funny, sad, and tense all at once. Brubaker and Phillips make you feel the weightlessness of the high, which makes the sudden violence of Gabbo’s return hit so much harder. The addition of a full tabletop RPG system in the back of the book is a massive value add that makes the higher cover price feel completely justified.

Negatives

The “wrong hotel” twist, while funny, relies on a sitcom-level misunderstanding that strains credibility just a tiny bit for a gritty crime book. It is a convenient plot device that wraps up the issue’s conflict a little too neatly by simply telling us Ricky is an idiot. A slightly more complex reason for the failure would have felt more rewarding than a simple mix-up of names.

Art Samples:

The Scorecard:

Writing Quality (Clarity & Pacing): [3.5/4]
Art Quality (Execution & Synergy): [3.5/4]
Value (Originality & Entertainment): [1.5/2]

Final Thoughts:

(Click this link 👇 to order this comic)

GIANT SIZE CRIMINAL #1 is a mandatory purchase for anyone who enjoys watching people ruin their own lives in spectacular fashion. It offers a perfect blend of noir style and dark comedy that justifies the time and money you will spend on it. If you skip this, you are making a mistake almost as big as Ricky’s.

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