Sin City

Sin City is the title for a series of comics by Frank Miller, told in a film noir-like style (now known as Neo noir). The first story originally appeared in Dark Horse's Fifth Anniversary Special (April, 1991), and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51-62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several other stories of variable lengths have followed. All stories take place in Basin City, with frequent recurring characters and intertwining stories.

Story

Basin City, almost universally referred to by the nickname Sin City, is a fictional town in the American west. The climate is hot and arid, although Sacred Oaks is characterized as being heavily wooded. A major river runs through the city, which has an extensive waterfront. Usually twice a year, a major downpour comes, and (in That Yellow Bastard) the city gets heavy snowfall in the winter. In the comics, Basin City has a surreal, pan-American feel. Desert lizards and palm trees are common, while tar pits, desert areas, mountain ranges and flat farmland make up the landscape around the city.

The Basin City Police are more or less along the lines of paramilitary or SWAT, as they have to deal with incredibly high crime rates among criminals and civilians alike, which is why they have access to what most would consider "heavy weaponry" and full body armor. Those who make up the force have been described as commonly being lazy, cowardly and/or corrupt. Only a handful of the cops are honest, though frequently the wealthy of the city bribe the corrupt members of the police into performing their duty (usually as a result of some crime being committed against a member of their family).

During the California Gold Rush, the Roark family "imported" a large number of attractive women to keep the miners happy, making a fortune and turning a struggling mining camp into a thriving, bustling city. Over the years, as the Roark family migrated into other areas of business and power, these women ended up forming the district of Old Town, the prostitute quarter of the city where they rule with absolute authority. In addition, the people charged with governing the city, most of them from the Roark line, remained in power for generations, running it as they saw fit.

As the various yarns progress, the audience gradually becomes familiar with key locations in and around Basin City.

• The Projects, the run-down and poor side of Sin City, is a tangle of high-rise apartments where crime runs rampant. Its inhabitants have apparently evolved their own independent society with almost no legal contact with the outside world. Marv was born in the Projects and they make Dwight sick.
• The Docks, a collection of wharfs and warehouses that are local to the Projects. Hartigan and Roark Junior have their first confrontation here in That Yellow Bastard, and Marv drives a stolen police car off one of the piers at the beginning of The Hard Goodbye.
• Kadie's Club Pecos, a strip club/bar where Nancy Callahan and Shellie work, and Dwight McCarthy and Marv hang out. Though filled almost solely with drunk and violent men, Kadie's bar is one of the safest areas in Sin City. Marv, who possesses an extraordinarily high sense of chivalry, protects the female employees of Kadie's from any violence that makes its way inside.
• Roark Family Farm (a.k.a. "The Farm") is located at North Cross and Lennox and shows up in several stories, including The Hard Goodbye, That Yellow Bastard, The Babe Wore Red and Hell and Back. It was also home to Kevin, a serial killer with ties to the Roark family. Marv burns down one of the buildings, and the Farm is abandoned sometime after the initial Sin City storyline.
• Old Town is the red-light district and is off limits to the police, unless they're 'shopping'. This is where the city's population of prostitutes reside; it recently came under the control of the twins Goldie and Wendy. Though perfectly willing to engage in almost any sexual act for the right price, the women of Old Town show no mercy to those who "break the rules" and back up their independence with lethal force.
• Sacred Oaks, home to the rich and powerful of Basin City. This suburb lies outside the city proper, a half an hour drive uphill. A university of some sort is also located there, and the entire area is patrolled by armed employees of its wealthy inhabitants.
• Basin City Central Train Station, which has a direct connection to Phoenix.
• The Santa Yolanda Tar Pits, an abandoned amusement park of sorts outside the city, where several tar pits are located and dinosaur bones were excavated at some time. After a 'big-budget dinosaur movie' (probably a reference to Jurassic Park) caused a sensation, the county put up concrete statues of dinosaurs there to draw crowds. However, after an old lady fell through a railing into one of the pits and had a heart attack, the place was shut down indefinitely. They are frequently used as a place to dump things that people don't want found; high-schoolers also tend to sneak in there a lot. This is where Delia tells Phil to drive in Wrong Turn and where Dwight takes the corpses of Jackie Boy and his friends in The Big Fat Kill. Frank Miller has admitted the main reason the Tar Pits exist is as an excuse to draw the dinosaur statues.

Character

Because a large majority of the residents of Basin City are criminals, there are several organizations and cartels central to the stories who are vying for monopoly over the various criminal enterprises in the city. Listed below are crime syndicates, gangs and other low-lifes who figure heavily in the Sin City mythos.

The Basin City Police Department

So deep do corruption and criminality run in Basin City that even their police officers qualify as a gang of paid thugs, turning a blind eye to the affairs of those too poor to pay them off. Few among them are considered incorruptible; even the honest officers are unable (or unwilling) to curtail the criminal actions of the dishonest ones. Notable characters in the series who are police include Detective John Hartigan, his partner Bob, Lieutenants Jack Rafferty and Mort, Commissioner Liebowitz, and Officers Manson and Bundy from Hell and Back.

The Roark family

A dynasty of corrupt landowners and politicians whose influence over Basin City has stretched as far back as the days of the Old West. Famous Roarks of this generation include a Senator, a Cardinal, an Attorney General, and Roark Junior, 'That Yellow Bastard'.

The Girls of Old Town

Populating the region of Basin City known as Old Town are a group of women in the world's oldest profession, having made a truce with the cops to allow them to govern and police themselves. As of A Dame To Kill For, they were led by the twins, Goldie and Wendy.

Wallenquist Organization

A powerful crime syndicate led by Herr Wallenquist, a mysterious crimelord with a broad range of criminal enterprises to his name. Interestingly, though one of the city's two "normal" criminal organizations, the Wallenquist management seems to be the most peaceful and forgiving of the various leaders.

The Magliozzi Crime Family

The undisputed heads of the local Cosa Nostra, the Magliozzi family seems to be the purest example of "true" Mafia lifestyle. While they appear in only one story, it is hinted that the Mafia influence in Basin City's underworld is a lot larger than just their family.

Other groups that have been seen or mentioned in the comics include:

Tong gangsters

Mentioned, but not seen as of A Dame To Kill For. Miho's life was saved by Dwight when he secretly protected her during a fight with several Tong gangsters in a dark alleyway.

White slavers

Mentioned, but not seen as of A Dame To Kill For. Led by a man named Manuel, whose brothers were also involved. Were "taken care of" by Dwight prior to the events of A Dame To Kill For.

Irish mercenaries

Seen during The Big Fat Kill, most of them are evidently former IRA terrorists, as evidenced by one of the mercenaries referencing his glee at blowing up a pub (British pubs were often targeted by the IRA). All are killed by Dwight and Miho.

from Wikipedia