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Comic book series created by James O'Barr
the comic book series

The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at the hands of a drunk driver, was first published by Caliber Comics in 1989. It became an underground success and was later adapted into a film of the same name in 1994. Three film sequels, a television series, and numerous books and comic books (published by numerous companies) have also been subsequently produced. The Crow has been translated into almost a dozen languages and has sold around 750,000 copies worldwide.

The Crow first appeared on the back cover of Deadworld #10 (November 1988); James O'Barr provided a back cover to the first comic book Caliber Press published, which contained an advertisement for the upcoming The Crow appearance in Caliber Presents #1. The ads shows The Crow standing with a smoking shotgun in one hand and a samurai sword in the other, with the statement, "For Some Things There Is No Forgiveness". It mentions The Crow appearing in February 1989. The Crow's first in story appearance was in Caliber Presents #1 (January 1989), in the story "Inertia", which serves as a prelude to the main series. O'Barr again provided a back cover for this issue. The character's first limited series was The Crow #1–4 (February–May 1989). Four issues, titled "Pain", "Fear", "Irony", and "Despair", take readers through a series of vengeance tales as The Crow cuts and shoots through Tin Tin, Tom Tom, Top Dollar, Funboy and T Bird, the gang members that attacked and killed him and his lover Shelly. In A Caliber Christmas (December 1989), Eric reflects back on happier times with Shelly in the story "Atmosphere". In The Crow graphic novel, this story is placed between issues #2 and 3. Caliber Presents #15 (September 1990) contained a key preview of The Crow #5, titled "Death" which was left unpublished. The preview was a story to conclude the original arc.

Tundra Publishing later reprinted Caliber's first four issues in two double sized volumes and printed "Death" (also double sized) as the third volume.

In 1993, Kitchen Sink Press collected The Crow into a graphic novel. A limited hardcover edition was also released by Graphitti Designs. From 1996–98, Kitchen Sink published five mini series and a one shot based on The Crow concept with a new avatar in each series.

Following the Kitchen Sink series, London Night Studios published The Crow/Razor: Kill the Pain in 1998, which saw Eric Draven paired with Everette Hartsoe's bad girl character Razor in five numbered issues (#0–4), plus "Finale" and "The Lost Chapter" in February 1999.

In 1999, Image Comics released a new Crow comic series with yet another take on the Eric Draven story. It ran for ten issues, ending in November of that year.

In 2002, Pocket Books re released the original Crow graphic novel after being out of print for several years.

O'Barr revealed in a 2004 interview that an Author's Edition would contain at least "60 pages of new material that no one has ever seen. Half of that are pages that had to be removed for space reasons". O'Barr described the additions as including "more romance flashback scenes between Eric and Shelly", as well as sequences that would make the work "more visually interesting". The Crow: Special Edition was released on July 28, 2011, published by Gallery Books.

In July 2012, IDW Publishing published a new five issue Crow series, The Crow: Death and Rebirth, written by novelist John Shirley (co writer of the original Crow film) and illustrated by Kevin Colden. Six more IDW Crow series followed: The Crow: Skinning the Wolves (2013), The Crow: Curare (2013), The Crow: Pestilence (2014), The Crow: Memento Mori (2018), The Crow: Hack/Slash (2019) and The Crow: Lethe (2020), as well as two IDW one shot issues: The X Files/The Crow: Conspiracy (2014) and The Crow: Hark the Herald (2019).

The story revolves around an unfortunate young man named Eric. He and his fiancée, Shelly, are assaulted by a gang of street thugs after their car breaks down. Eric is shot in the head and is paralyzed, and can only watch as Shelly is savagely beaten, raped, and then shot in the head. They are then left for dead on the side of the road. Eric later dies in the hospital operating room while Shelly is dead on arrival. He is resurrected by a crow and seeks vengeance on the murderers, methodically stalking and killing them. When not on the hunt, Eric stays in the house he shared with Shelly, spending most of his time there, lost in memories of her. Her absence is torture for him; he is in emotional pain, even engaging in self mutilation by cutting himself. The crow acts as both a guide and goad for Eric, giving him information that helps him in his quest but also chastising him for dwelling on Shelly's death, seeing his pining as useless self indulgence that distracts him from his purpose.

The Crow is ranked 37th in IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes.

In 1994, a film based on the comic, titled The Crow, was released to theaters by Miramax Films. The film was both a critical and commercial success, earning $50,693,129 total gross during its theatrical release. A cult following, in part due to the accidental death of its star Brandon Lee on the film's set, has maintained the film's popularity, with a regular staple of movie memorabilia being found at retailers like Hot Topic. Three sequels have been made so far: The Crow: City of Angels (1996), starring Vincent Pérez (as The Crow), Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks and Iggy Pop; The Crow: Salvation (2000), starring Eric Mabius (as The Crow), Kirsten Dunst and Fred Ward; and The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005), starring Edward Furlong (as The Crow), David Boreanaz and Tara Reid. In the late 1990s, a sequel/reboot to The Crow entitled The Crow: 2037 was in the works and would have been set in the future. It was written and scheduled to be directed by Rob Zombie, but was ultimately cancelled. A remake of the original film is in development, with Bill Skarsgård set to star as Draven, FKA Twigs as Draven's fiancée, Rupert Sanders directing, and Edward R. Pressman and Malcolm Gray co producing, scheduled for release on August 23, 2024 by Lionsgate Films.

A television series, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven (1998), was based on the first film with Mark Dacascos replacing Lee in the role of Eric Draven.

From 1996 to 2001, a number of novels based on the world and thematic concerns of The Crow were published, mostly by Harper. Authors of these novels included such notable names as Chet Williamson (City of Angels novelization and Clash By Night), David Bischoff (Quoth the Crow), Poppy Z. Brite (The Lazarus Heart), S. P. Somtow (Temple of Night), Norman Partridge (Wicked Prayer), and A. A. Attanasio (Hellbound). In 1998, O'Barr and editor Ed Kramer asked an array of fiction writers, poets, and artists—including Gene Wolfe, Alan Dean Foster, Charles de Lint, Jack Dann, Jane Yolen, Henry Rollins and Iggy Pop—to interpret this Gothic fiction phenomenon. The Crow: Shattered Lives and Broken Dreams was released by Random House on Halloween; and a year later, in a limited signed and numbered volume, by Donald M. Grant Publishing.

The Crow: City of Angels is a 1997 action video game for Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is loosely based on the film of the same name. The player assumes the role of the hero of the film, Ashe Corven. It received negative reviews. Ojom GmbH released a j2me game called simply The Crow.

The Crow: Shattered Lives & Broken Dreams (Random House, 1999) ed. James O'Barr & Ed Kramer