Mind if I copy and paste from what I said on another place?
The Crow by James O'Barr
This is not a book for everyone. Not one for most people who visit here. It's rough, it's grungy, it's violent beyond imagination... but in a cruel, twisted way, it was beautiful. The depiction of Detroit is accurate - even mentioning, drawing places I've personally drawn breath from, adding a layer of realism to the novel. The main character, Eric, is a frightenigly intelligent, realistic, poetic and emotional character [heck, he's even cute with that fuzzy fuzzy hair of his]. Unlike a certain novel many despise, he feels true devotion towards the woman of enjoyable character, whom you only witness through the series of memories that tears him apart.
It is solely an emotional work - the plot is thin and neglible [quite lacking the rising and falling action attributed with most plotlines]. Normally this would be enough to turn me off, but the emotion is incredibly intense. It is a pendulum - swinging from fits of purified rage reeking from the pages, to an empty loneliness that tears at your soul. Each gives to the other, giving the pendulum more and more momentum... until SNAP! the cord snaps and it drops to a level of pure sadness. I cried for a minute. I could not believe everything that I just read and witnessed. Truly, no one could write something that emotional, that true, that strong, without experiencing it themselves. The book itself did not lift the author's spirits, especially with the death associated with it. However, what O'Barr did is take those emotions and put them into a masterful work of art.
Aaaaand I'll add more to my review now:
This is possibly the only thing I've ever read, or really ever enjoyed for all that matter, that I could never really recommend to anyone. It's hard to recommend something like this - it's incredibly violent, with drugs and blood and rape and horrible, soulless people on every corner, but it's also incredibly intelligent, emotional, and it will call you to read it again. I've only bought my copy last Sunday and I've read it through every single day since. The more you read it, the more details you catch, the more you realize that the author truly thought everything through, the more you think about it, and the more you truly love it.
In addition to simply the actual story itself, the art is phenominal. O' Barr is not restricted by medium - throughout the reprinted edition I purchased there were pages done in typical pen, pencil, charcoal, watercolour and acrylics, all with the same level of artistry and attention to detail. People associate The Crow with goth culture, but if you actually read it, you realize that it can, at times, be very beautiful, warm and bright. As you progress through, there are pages that are far more detailed than others, some that feel more angry, or sad, or depressed, or lonely, or even happy. This is truly the first graphic novel I have ever read that has emotion on every single page. The only thing that may make some readers a bit confused is that sometimes his art is not consistent - sometimes a character may look like having regular sized arms on one panel, but notably larger on the next. It's minimal however and does not interfere with the story whatsoever.
Overall this was a brilliant read and was by far my favourite read I got to experience in 2009. His art and story is a true inspiration for the graphic novel I'm working on myself.