Writer and artist James O'Barr created his character The Crow in the early '80s as a response to a personal tragedy. A self-taught artist, O'Barr first worked on his story of love, death, and retribution while stationed in Berlin with the Marines, where he was on loan to the Army to illustrate hand-to-hand combat manuals. (Warning: Don't get James into a fight; he knows which bones to break.)