When I first discovered Jinx, I thought: at last! A character-driven crime comic set smack dab in the here and now that looks and feels like a classic noir flick right out of the thirties! It was almost too good to be true.

Alas, I was right.

Not that there's anything wrong with the actual book. JULIET "JINX" ALAMEDA is a hard-assed, foul-mouthed female bounty hunter/bail bondsman, working the not-so-nice streets of Cleveland, pushing thirty and getting mighty tired of "the Life."

Once upon a time, she was a tea-and-muffin, keeping a journal kinda gal, who started out in the the biz cutting bonds, figuring she'd help people. But that was a long time ago. Now she's hooked up with Dave "Goldfish" Gold, a grifter with "a rap sheet longer than Tupac" and his slimy, swarmy partner, Columbia, and their hunt for a mountain of money that could be the way out for all of them. Complicating things is the growing relationship between Jinx and Goldfish, and Columbia's ever-growing paranoia. A truly unique comic with a style all its own, a two-fisted stylized montage of art and photos and clipping and dark, dark shadows, all punky attitude and grit. But after a short burst of issues with Caliber, and another short run with Image, the series folded, ignored by everyone, it seems but the critcs and its small cult of fans, who loved it.

Like I said, alas....

Jinx's creator Bendis first entered the comic world with AKA Goldfish, originally published in 1995 as a series of one-shots by Caliber Comics, which first introduced Goldfish and Columbia.

From there it was a short step to Jinx, and he's since has gone on to bigger (but not necessarily better things, IMHO), writing the Spawn spin-off, Sam and Twitch, and a slew of both creator-owned and licensed titles, most notably for Marvel (including The Ultimate Spider-Man and Daredevil. Other crime comics include Scarlet, Torso, Powers and Alias, about a former superhero turned P.I. set loose in the Marvel's comic book universe.

But Jinx seems to have remained close to his heart. In the fall of 2000, a couple of years after Jinx faded away, Berndis revived her in the "Bounty Hunter Wars" story arc in Sam and Twitch, his book about an Odd Couple team of New York cops. And he keeps threatening she'll return one day...

QUOTES

• "That's it, I'm getting a vibrator."
  - Jinx on the men in her life.

UNDER OATH

• "Among the best attempts to do crime noir in comics... ever! Buy them all."
  -- Noir Magazine
  .
• "Distinguished from the rest of Bendis' sharp dialogue, tight storytelling, and crisp, stylized artwork."
  -- Wizard
  .
• "It's Just a great piece of work. The characterization in this book is so much better than in so many comics. It's definitely an original."
  -- Hero Illustrated
  .
• "It's a comic just begging to be made into a movie. In a medium full of talentless imitators, Bendis stands out as an exciting and original shining new star."
  -- Mike Sangiacomo, On Comics
  .
• "Beyond the shadow of a doubt, the best crime series being published today."
  --Feature Magazine
  .
• "These characters are very well written. There's no doubt that Brian Michael Bendis has an ear for dialogue and a real talent for characterization."
  --Comic Shop News
  .
• "Illustration that often stretches the medium's visual limits"
  -- Spin

COMICS

• JINX
  (1995-96, Caliber)
  Written and Drawn by Brian Michael Bendis.

• (Jinx #1)
• Goldy hits on Jinx from a payphone (#2, Jinx )
• The Big Date (#3, Jinx)
• Jinx clocks Goldfish (#4, Jinx)
• Jinx thinks Goldy is cool (#5, Jinx)
• Goldy is kidnapped (#6, Jinx)
• Goldy and Jinx punch Columbia (#7, 1997)
  

• JINX CHARITY SPECIAL
  (1997, Caliber)
  Written and drawn by Brian Michael Bendis.
  A 72 page all star spectacular! All proceeds went to environmental and homeless charities.
  .
• JINX
  (1997-98, Image)
  Written and drawn by Brian Michael Bendis

• 1997, Jinx #1
• 1997, Jinx #2
• 1997, Jinx #3
• Jinx: True Crime Confessions (1998).

• SAM AND TWITCH
  (1999--, Image Comics)
  Written by Brian Michael Bendis
  Drawn by Alex Maleev

• "Bounty Hunter Wars, Part 1" (#15, October 2000)
• "Bounty Hunter Wars, Part 2" (#16, November 2000)
• "Bounty Hunter Wars, Part 3" (#17, December 2000)

COLLECTIONS

• Goldfish Trade Paperback (1996)
  Collects all five Goldfish one-shots from Caliber Comics from 1995
• Jinx Trade Paperback (1997)
  Collects first four installments of Caliber series.
• Jinx: The Essential Collection (2011)....Buy this book
  Collects first four installments of Caliber series.

RELATED LINKS

• JINXWORLD
  The Official Jinx Web Site-as stylish and slick as the comic itself.