Bad Weekend Graphic NovelThe last two issues of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ creator-owned comic Criminal featured an arc called Bad Weekend, a crime thriller set at an out-sized comic book convention. Now, Image Comics is spinning the two-part story into an expanded Bad Weekend graphic novel.
The book will, fittingly, be out this July, right in time for San Diego Comic-Con. The book will feature all-new content, described in its THR announcement as “expanded and remastered.” This means it will be a standalone hardcover, similar to the duo’s recent My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies graphic novel. The Bad Weekend graphic novel will hit comic shops on July 10 and booksellers on July 16.
For those who missed this excellent story, it’s part of the Brubaker/Phillips’ Criminal oeuvre, a set of loosely intertwined crime vignettes. This one follows a veteran artist named Hal Crane, who is line for a life-time achievement award. Crane is a pastiche of a few Silver Age creators, with accentuated behaviors and character traits, of course.  His plan is to use his award appearance as a chance to recover artwork he believes stolen from him.
Brubaker had this to say about the story via statement in THR’s announcement:

“I feel like this is a comic I’ve been writing in my head most of my career. Hal Crane isn’t based on anyone in particular. But bits and pieces of his history are lifted from sad tales and sordid gossip that you hear over the years in this business, especially about the old days. Gambling. Drinking. Prostitution. Theft. Death. There’s always been a darkness at the edge of comics and I wanted to explore that in Bad Weekend. Is this a expose of the industry? Sort of, but it’s a love letter to the medium, as well.”

This Bad Weekend hardcover can now be pre-ordered on Amazon or though Barnes & Noble, as well as via your local comics retailer.
Also, check out these preview pages:Bad Weekend Graphic Novel 1Bad Weekend Graphic Novel 2Bad Weekend Graphic Novel 3