Adventures West Coast #3: Scarface: Devil In Disguise
Scarface: Devil In Disguise was published by IDW during the pseudo-Scarface revival when the video game, Scarface: The World Is Yours, was released. IDW, like a lot of comic companies, LOVES them some licenses. Just as with other companies, some of these licenses make more sense than others. IDW, however, tends to gravitate to prequels and sequels more than direct adaptations.They first released Scarface: The Movie Scriptbook, which was a move that I didn’t really understand. Next, they released Scarface: Scarred For Life, which was considered the sequel to the movie. Basically stealing the same premise as the video game, Scarred For Life assumed that Tony Montana didn’t die at the end of the movie, and had been in a coma under federal protection for several years. I’m not sure where the game took things, but Scarred For Life had Tony at the bottom of the totem pole, trying to work his way back to the top, while learning how much times had changed. The writing was juvenile at times, as it featured Tony killing people with his colostomy bag. It also didn’t help that the art could best be described as “seizured cartoony”. This book didn’t do much, pro or con, for IDW’s profile, but it seemed like the contract called for one more series, which led to Scarface: Devil In Disguise.
Written by Joshua Jabcuga, with art by Alberto Dose, Devil In Disguise was a prequel designed to show us Tony Montana, AKA Scarface,’s childhood, and explain how he earned that infamous scar. What they ended up with was a story that might’ve stood alright on its own, but makes me wonder if anyone involved had EVER watched Scarface.
Where to begin….well, the American mafia decide to take out Castro. They’re upset that he ran them out of Cuba, where they had been running casinos. They decide to cover the assasination under the guise of “patriotism”, but they need a fall guy. Enter Tony Montana. The hit needs to be an inside job, and he’s been promised a green card and transportation to the US, so that he can join Mama and his sister, Gina.
Flashback! You see, Tony had been a bad little kid for some time, so when the first boats left for America, Mama and Gina were on ’em, but they left him behind. He ended up growing up on the streets, but was eventually taken in by members of Fidel’s Revolucion. This is where he mets his partner, Manolo, whom he saves from a gang of bullies. Anyway, the two grow up and Tony eventually joins one of the mercenary armies. Trudging through the jungles, terrorizing peaceful villagers. Eventually, Tony gets fed up and kills his commanding officer, signalling that he’s finally had enough of Castro and his regime. This makes him ripe for the pickings when the mafia comes calling.
Back to normal time! The cries for revolution grow louder, and the people begin to arm themselves for protection. This is how Tony makes a name for himself, as he takes over the gunrunning. It’s at this time that he falls in love with a whore. No, I’m not being disrepectful – she was a prostitute who worked in one of Tony’s brothels. Well, Tony got sloppy when hiring the help because, unbeknownst to him, he hired the brother of the commanding officer that he’d killed in the jungles. The guy kills Tony’s whorefriend, and slashes him in the face, giving him THE SCAR!!! Dun Dun DUNNNNN! It’s really anticlimactic, especially since Tony just cuts off the dude’s hand instead of killing him. Of course, the guy comes back later, but with a hook hand! A fucking HOOK HAND. Don’t worry, another whore, in some kind of act of whorely sisterhood, blows him away with a shotgun.
Man, I’m tired of writing about this book…So, Tony realizes that shit’s getting too hot in Cuba, so he and Manny start plotting to get to the US. They, along with some other Cubans, grab some inner tubes and float away. A couple days later, they wash up on shore in Miami. I shit you not. All of that, spread over 5 issues, at $3.99 each ($17.99 trade). All of that, just to end with Tony washing up on shore, just like every Fox News myth of immigrants:”See? They all just float over here, stealing our jobs. I’ll bet some of them were even criminals back in their countries!”
Like I said before, this story would’ve been fine as an OGN, called “Havana!” or something, but it didn’t really include much to place it in the Scarface canon. Also, it’s timeline is a bitch, because it bounces around between 3 different periods of his life: childhood and criminal rise, with interstitials of a stint as a political prisoner. Like every black man in America, I LOVE Scarface, but I did not like this. A good prequel helps support what you already know about a franchise. This did not do that; this was simply a money grab.
Dear William,
I enjoyed your critique of my book. You raised many valid points.
One correction: the story was initially proposed as a five-issue miniseries, but was later cut to four issues, hence some of the complaints with plotting that you had. Sometimes there are editorial decisions or decisions “from the top” that alter the path the story was meant to take. Also, it was the first major project I worked on, so I was greener than goose $hit.
I can assure you that I am very familiar with the film, and have been a huge fan my entire life. I did my best to support the canon of the franchise and source material. It was also a labor of love…not a cash-grab in the slightest. (If it was a cash-grab, the publisher would have gone ahead with the five issues they committed to.)
Looking back at the project after several years, there are parts that I would change, parts that make me cringe, but overall, I am proud of the work that I did, along with my collaborator, artist Alberto Dose. I think IDW did a beautiful job with the presentation.
Yes, the ending is a bit anti-climatic in the sense that it appears the book ends abruptly, but in truth, the end of the book is precisley where the film picks up. That was one of my goals for this tie-in.
Keep up the nice work on your site. Despite this being what anyone would consider a scathing review, it was very well-written, and not entirely off-base. Josh Jabcuga…writer/Scarface: Devil in Disguise