In 2019/2020, Gerry Duggan and John McCrea released Dead Eyes, in which Martin/Dead Eyes, who spent his heyday as a “prolific robber and thug” in 90s Boston, dons his old mask again to save his wife. Equally entertaining and action-packed, Dead Eyes is a great noir piece that adds a certain charisma and weight to a typical crime story.
But it looks like Dead Eyes’ retirement will last a little longer, as Duggan and McCree have reteamed for Dead Eyes: Empty Frames. If you read the first volume of Dead Eyes, you may remember that our hooded “hero” found a clue at the end of the story: the hiding place of “America’s largest private art heist.” In Dead Eyes: Empty Frames, he and Wheels track down the culprit, battling both the mob and the cops, and causing even more mayhem and chaos. It’s like Dead Eyes has been turned up the volume and its sleeves rolled up way past its elbows.
Dead Eyes: The Empty Frames #1 hits shelves this week (September 11th) from Image Comics. Ahead of the release, we spoke with both Duggan and McCrea about all things Dead Eyes, their ongoing collaboration, their goals for volume two, their favorite scenes and pages, and what the future may hold for Dead Eyes.
Main cover by John McCrea. Courtesy of Image Comics.
AIPT: How did collaborating on the two Dead Eyes books go? Was it easier or more complicated the second time around?
Gerry Duggan: The concept of Dead Eyes is simple. Our main villain, our fun anti-hero, isn’t the biggest bad guy in the story. He’s a bit of a Robin Hood in a world that is unfortunately messed up. We quickly encountered the unfairness of it all, but I’ve never stopped fighting for this book. I’ve been making it ever since. This comic never fails to break people’s hearts.
John McCrea: I think the collaboration process was much easier with Volume 2 because the characters, the style, and the visuals were all already established, so we just had to tell a new story with our heroes. Jerry mostly writes the story, and I draw the pictures. We might give small suggestions from time to time, but there’s actually a very clear boundary between our two work.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
AIPT: Do you have a different goal in mind with The Empty Frames? How does the story feel (emotionally, aesthetically, etc.) compared to volume 1?
GD: I think this one is funnier and ultimately more heartbreaking. It has an interesting hook into the real world of Boston, a place I know really well. Martin, Megan and Dead Eyes have a big win at the end of the first storyline; we’ll see if their good fortune continues. This one definitely has some of our funniest moments.
JM: The first issue of Vol. 2 was drawn four years ago, and I don’t think I was trying to change the direction of the look or art style at the time. But the whole story has been drawn over such a long period of time that I think it’s inevitable that the art style will change as it goes along, especially after I had a long COVID bout.
AIPT: How do you think Dead Eyes has evolved between the two volumes? Have we been dealing with a masked villain who is, overall, “smarter”?
GD: As for Dobbs, not much time passed between Volume 1 and Volume 2. Has he gotten wiser? Probably not. He’s gotten older and more cunning — yes!
Courtesy of Image Comics.
AIPT: Related to your last question, volume 1 seems like a metaphor for second chances and regaining glory. Is this volume 2 about challenging yourself beyond your capabilities, or what happens when you get what you really wanted?
GD: That’s a good question. Dead Eyes was definitely about defying one’s age and death. I don’t think that theme has changed in this work. There’s always that “big payoff” and I’d say we’ve created something that nobody has seen before. Haha.
AIPT: Do you have a favorite moment or panel/page from issue one that sets the tone and pace of the volume?
GD: I loved the way John set the table in the first sequence to let everyone know about the biggest private art heist in history. It’s a really beautiful piece of work.
AIPT: The Empty Frames feels like an Elmore Leonard-written Deadpool adventure. Were there any particular influences for this second volume?
GD: The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a masterpiece of Boston crime fiction. I also had the opportunity to collaborate with Chuck MacLean between volumes one and two. He’s a brilliant crime novelist. The movie he collaborated on, The Instigators, is on Apple TV. City on a Hill was also really good. Check it out.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
AIPT: It feels like there has been a surge in great crime/noir comics since volume 1. Do you feel like you were a bit ahead of your time, and did you channel any of that “vibe” when creating volume 2?
JM: We may have been a little ahead of our time, but we were still following in the footsteps of some great books, the most famous of which being Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Shawn Phillips.
GD: I usually hit a home run before it becomes popular. Haha. I have a third book planned. I think crime fiction thrives when the world feels most unfair. I’m not sure how that applies.
AIPT: John, the book is as polished and gritty as ever, but it also feels brighter and more alive. Are my (dead) eyes playing tricks on me, or is something new permeating visually?
JM: I think the visual shift in the art is most noticeable at the beginning of issue #4. This ties into what I said in question #2 about me having Long COVID. After a year of being sick, I was able to start working again, but I found myself unable to ink my work with the same meticulous, smooth brushstrokes that I had done in previous issues of Dead Eyes. I couldn’t focus that way, so I had to develop a more sketchy, scribbled style. It had nothing to do with the story, it was all out of necessity.
AIPT: Is there a chance there will be a third volume of Dead Eyes, and if so, any hints as to the direction it might take (I’d love to see something like Ocean’s 11)?
GD: Road trip!
Courtesy of Image Comics.
