Hard Time: 50 to Life

Written by Steve Gerber
Art by Brian Hurtt
I don't know why I never bought this when it was first published - I know it had good press, but I never really bothered with it, which was a mistake.

This is one of Steve Gerber's more coherent pieces of work. It's the story of Ethan Harrow, a 15-year old who is sent to prison for life after he and a friend decide to hold their school cafeteria at gunpoint as a joke, which turned deadly. This book follows Ethan through his first few weeks in prison, and it meets all of the obligatory prison drama standards: racial tension, Aryans (do Aryans exist outside of prisons?), a shower scene, a transvestite, and ineffectual corrections officers and staff.

What makes this book different though is that Ethan is beginning to manifest some type of powers. He seems to be able to leave his body, and float around in the form of a red ghost-like thing, that can beat up his enemies and generally cause mischief.

Ethan is portrayed as a bit of a jerk. We don't get to understand why he pulled his school prank, and he's not terribly kind to the people around him. We sympathize with him, but never actually start to like him, which is, I suppose, further proof of Gerber's ability as a writer.

Brian Hurtt handles the art here (with gorgeous original covers by Tomer Hanuka), and I find this to be some of the best stuff I've seen him do. As this is largely a personal drama, his ability to render faces and emotions serves him well. The muted colours help give the book an institutionalized feel.

I don't believe that DC has ever collected the rest of this title. I know that there were six more issues in the first run, followed by a 'season two'. I guess I'll be hunting for these on Ebay now....