Hard Time #6 [2004] (Random Comics Theatre)

Random Comics Theatre

Hard Time #6 [2004]

HARD TIME was a series created and written by Steve Gerber and drawn by Brian Hurtt (with some additional writing in later issues by Mary Skrenes and inking by Steve Bird and Rick Burchett), published by DC under one of their shortest-lived imprints, Focus, for twelve issues in 2004, followed a year later by a second series, HARD TIME SEASON TWO, without the Focus branding and lasting seven issues.

The Focus line seemed to try to try to try to target somewhere between DC's then-still Comics Code approved main line and the "mature readers" labelled Vertigo line.  There were three other books in the line, KINETIC, TOUCH and FRACTION, none of which lasted more than eight issues. Among other things they all seemed to have a muted colouring style with a limited palatte (which ended up being less used in the second series).

I kind of think this might have worked better as a Vertigo book, with a lot of sometimes awkward, sometimes ridiculous attempts to avoid "adult" language.

Anyway, the series is about Ethan Harrow, who starts the story as a 15-year-old who gets involved in a school shooting (which he thought was a prank, not knowing his partner-in-crime brought real bullets) and sentenced as an adult to 50 years  of hard time (hey, that's the name of the book).  At the time of the shooting Ethan also started to exhibit a power, an invisible entity that can leave his body and wreak havoc while he's unconscious. Initially completely oblivious to that entity, he gradually becomes more aware of it.

By this issue Ethan is already in trouble with several groups in the prison, in particular the homicidal religious fanatic Gantry, who can sense something about Ethan's entity and thinks it's demonic. For most of this issue Ethan is trying to race back to his cell ahead of Gantry to put some plans in place, but gets distracted by various things, like a visit by his lawyer.  He makes it back just in time, managing to save his own life, but ending up sent to a month in solitary.  There he finds himself increasingly in control of his entity, moving beyond the bars of the prison.

This was a really strong series, obviously influenced by a lot of prison dramas of the era, especially the HBO series OZ.  It developed a lot of interesting characters and balanced the gritty prison elements with the increasingly outlandish fantasy elements.

DC published a complete collection of all 19 issues of both series back in 2020.