Craig Newman
Natural Born Outlaws takes the normal, bland, run-of-the-mill documentary and creates an intriguing mix of historian commentary, re-enactors, and the most unusual narrative aesthetic of all: Sepia tone motion comic book visuals. The episodes play out with re-enactors portraying their subjects (I.E.: Al Capone, John Dillinger, etc.) and talking directly about their lives and their key moments. Additionally, there are re-enactors portraying their law enforcement adversaries (Eliot Ness, Melvin Purvis, etc.) and talking about their wars to bring these criminals down. Along side of these reminisces and historian commentary, comic book panels stand in for the typical recreation scenes. It's an interesting way of telling these often told stories of classic outlaws and gangsters and there are some nuggets of information that is touched upon but not often talked about. My only knock against it, as a crime historian, is that they also have a tendency to play fast and loose with the details to fit the narrative.
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