The Crow: Special Edition – The 10 Best Quotes

Created as a form of therapy to deal with the death of his girlfriend, James O’Barr first published The Crow as a story in one of the many great comic book anthologies, Caliber Presents #1, in 1989. The story would go on to have its own series as well as be published across multiple publishers with each adding another piece to the tragic revenge story. The Crow surrounds the character of Eric who returns from the grave to hunt down the criminals who killed him and his fiancé.

The Crow has been adapted multiple times into both film and television, with the most popular one being the 1994 movie starring Brandon Lee. In 2011, gallery Books released The Crow: Special Edition, which had 30 pages of new artwork and stories that added to O’Barr’s gothic poetic journey, including some great quotes.

10 “I Am The Boiling Man…Come To Break The Bones Of Your Sins, Meat Puppet.”

Starting off the Special Edition, the reader is introduced to Eric through the chapter, Inertia, from Caliber Presents #1. Here, Eric stalks the thief, Jones Transfer, after he is able to take hold of a new T.V. Eric manages to leave him alive so that he will send a message to T-Bird and the others that he is coming.

What makes this quote so perfect for the start of a comic is O’Barr’s fantastic word choice. The use of “boiling” is just what the reader gets here. There is violence in these first few pages, but nothing too extreme yet. And much like the warning he sends with Mr. Jones, the reader is informed that Eric’s violent desires will soon boil over.

9 “A Year Ago…A Cold October Night…A Broken Down Car On A Dirt Road…A Man…A Girl…Madness…Pain…And Shadows…My God, The Shadows!!”

With the stage now set, this quote comes as Eric finally has found his first victim, Tin Tin. In a style fitting to that of The Punisher, Eric confronts his criminal, disarms him, and then violently kills the man. However, the painted stalker first makes Tin Tin know who it is that is about to kill him.

This is the first hint at the terrible atrocity the gang has committed to Eric. By having Eric quickly flip from a noir-like hunter to a man ravaged by his memories, readers can start to see the pain behind the makeup. The reader gets small pieces of the story without first being shown anything, something that O’Barr knows will hit harder in later flashbacks.

8 There Is A Man…Playing Violin…And The Strings…Are The Nerves In His Own Arm.

Though not a direct quote from Eric or any of the goons he hunts, this particular line of narration is one of the great examples of James O’Barr’s amazing writing style.

Anger is not the primary emotion that makes up Eric in this story. While sitting alone in the home he shared with his beloved Shelly, the pain and depression that are born from his dark thoughts begin to take hold of him. His one-man crusade against the forces of evil can be considered a suicide venture, but this line is presented as one of the first examples of his personal battle with self-mutilation.

7 “When Sorrows Come, They Come Not Single Spies, But In Battalions. I’ve Allies In Heaven, Jack, I’ve Comrades In Hell…Say Hello For Me…”

When creating The Crow, James O’Barr infused many wonderful quotes from a wide variety of mediums into this work. For example, the beginning of this quote comes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and O’Barr proceeds to mix in his own brand of poetry before Eric is about to kill the criminal, Mad Jack.

O’Barr is able to incorporate a vast array of Bible verses and even quotes from poet Emily Dickinson into opening pages and Eric’s dialogue. By using these well, the quotes are able to set the scene for what is to come in each chapter. And having Eric spout them to his foes right before he murders them adds a new level of intensity that may have been missed with just screaming or silence.

6 “Life Is Lousy With Hurt But It Also Shimmers With Beauty. Don’t Miss Your Chance To Be A Part Of That Beauty. You May Not Get Another.”

Though this sounds like something Dr. Manhattan might say in Watchmen, this is one of the more positive lines in The Crow. After breaking into Gideon’s pawn shop to retrieve Shelly’s old wedding ring, Eric meets Officer Albrect and surprises the cop with the knowledge Eric has about his failed marriage.

Through his tragic demise it is beautiful to see Eric try to pass down the simple, but always forgotten, idea that one should appreciate the loves they have in their lives. This moment comes as the violence has begun to ramp up, and can be viewed as a break to remind the reader that life can be horrific, but does not always have to be this way. Especially when there are loved ones that help keep people from falling apart.

5 “This Isn’t Hell But You Can See It From Here.”

Another quote that may seem a bit drab, this is actually one of the softer moments of TheCrow. While Eric walks his way over to see the criminal, Funboy, he stops and chats with the young girl, Sherri, who is waiting for her mother. Sherri mentions how she thinks that she is no good and was sent to Hell, to which Eric replies with this quote that would make even Billy Butcher shudder.

Eric decides not to attempt to hide Sherri from the evil around her. Instead, he chooses to connect with her and acknowledges her pain, something that Eric knows all too well himself.

4 “Are The Bones Of Your Sins Sharp Enough To Cut Through Your Own Excuses?”

After speaking with Sherri, Eric eventually makes his way to Funboy’s apartment where he finally confronts the morphine-addicted criminal and Sherri’s mother, Sandy. This line comes when Funboy mistakes Eric for another criminal. Eric proceeds to take morphine from Funboy and demands they meet at the Gin Mill.

This is just another example of the character of Eric constantly commenting on the bodies of his enemies. The way he continues to describe them in such cold detail perfectly takes away their humanity, something Eric can identify with after having his old life stripped away.

3 “In The Doorway Of Glory He Finds Death Who Puts His Hands In Hers And Whispers To Him, Not…Come Home, Now.”

In a wonderfully illustrated full-page image of Eric dancing with death, the reader is given this fantastic quote from the narration. A great comic is one that can have the image and lettering complement one another and this is one of those examples.

As Eric prepares to bring his vendetta to a close, he goes through a cycle of activities from self-mutilation, to loading up as many guns as Deadpool. But through all this, he acknowledges his end is near and that he begins to dance one last time in his home before he lights the fire to completely cut ties with the land of the living.

2 “Oh, You Sewer Rats Are So Faithful, You Cause Me To Blush To My Bones…You Never Stop Dying For Me!”

In a seemingly more braggadocious moment for Eric, he has begun a frontal assault on T-Bird and his remaining soldiers instead of taking a page out of Batman’s book and sneaking through the darkness to pick them off one by one. Eric brutally kills a few criminals in their car and forces T-Bird out so he can watch his men be killed.

Eric performs his massacre, brutally murdering each gang member, and leaving T-Bird for last. Aside from mocking each person he kills, this is the angriest and most out of control Eric is shown. If he was boiling at the beginning, he has since spilled over.

1 “Remember When You Said ‘Mine’ And I Said ‘Forever’. You said ‘Only Forever?’ It’s Forever, Now.”

This quote is a callback to earlier in the graphic novel where Eric was thinking about the past with Shelly. Here, Eric answers the question differently than he did before, confirming that it is time for him to rest as he places down a gun beside him.

This idea of everlasting love is even presented in the film adaptation, The Crow, with Brandon Lee. The quote, “Buildings burn, people die, but real love is eternal,” from the movie echoes this very same theme, adding a positive perspective on an otherwise is a dark story filled with extraordinary pain.

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