With one week until the end of all crime in the United States, can the last heist in American history be pulled off? The Last Days of American Crime is set in the not-too-distant future and as a final response to terrorism and crime, the US government plans in secret to broadcast a signal making it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts. To keep this from the public, the government creates a distraction, installing a new currency system using digital charge cards.

Enter: Graham Bricke. A career criminal never quite able to hit the big score, Graham intends to steal one of the charging stations, skip the country, and live off unlimited funds for the rest of his life. But the media has leaked news of the anti-crime signal one week before it was to go live, and now Graham and his team have just a few days to turn the crime of the century into the last crime in American history.

The first collaboration between Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini — The Last Days of American Crime has returned to print, this time under the Image Comics umbrella. The comic series was first published in three issues by Radical Publishing back in 2010, and the comic has not last anything in the five years since its release. In fact it’s story of a government cracking down on crime, and the Orwellian setting feels only more appropriate.

It’s a fantastic blending of a traditional heist story with tension of American politics playing in the background.

Remender has it all when it comes to a crime/noir comic but at no point does it go over the top. Take all of it with an interesting setting a country where it’s about to become impossible to do bad and you’ve get a sense of foreboding along with the crazy twists and turns. The end has some many you’ll neck will hurt from it all. I really like Tocchini’s art. It fits the setting perfect and is really solid. The use of angles and colors set the mood perfect.

There’s so much this series reminds me of, but at the same time, I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. The story is fantastic, the art great to look at, overall top notch. The two elements together create a fantastic read and a comic that’s fantastic to see back in print. There’s so many extras too, it sort of worth the five year wait. This is classic Remender, and if you’re a fan you should check it out, and if you’re a newcomer to Tocchini’s art, then you should check out this earlier work as well.

I loved these comics when they were first released, I love them now. Here’s hoping we see some of the other comics from Radical released under other publishers, but at least we get this solid one to enjoy. An absolute buy.

Story: Rick Remender Art: Greg Tocchini
Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review