Criminal Returns to Shops as Facsimile Editions Sync Up With the Prime Video Series

Image Comics is marking the arrival of the Criminal Prime Video adaptation by putting the series' original first issues back on shelves. Criminal #1, the "Coward Facsimile Edition," and #6, the "Lawless Facsimile Edition," return from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips on January 13 and January 27, 2027 respectively - the same two dates the show's first two installments premiere on Prime Video. Each facsimile issue carries three covers: a wraparound by Phillips, a foil wraparound variant, and a blank sketch cover for commission work.

The timing isn't a coincidence. Brubaker serves as showrunner on the Prime Video series, which has been in production since 2024 and stars Charlie Hunnam, Luke Evans, and Emilia Clarke. "Part One: Coward" and "Part Two: Lawless" map directly onto the two storylines being reprinted, giving new viewers a same-day entry point into the comics that started it all back in 2006.

Issue #1 introduces Leo, a careful career criminal pulled into a heist against his better judgment when an old friend and a dirty cop bring him a plan to steal a fortune in contraband from an evidence transport. Issue #6 shifts focus to open the "Lawless" arc and marks the first appearance of Tracy Lawless, one of the series' other recurring leads. Brubaker has framed the facsimile release as a full-circle moment for a book that started out two decades ago as a small crime comic trying to make its mark - and is now headed to streaming with a cast built for prestige TV.

Source: AIPT