Hello, my friends. Even though we’re in a merry time of year, this particular review won’t contain regular snow falling upon the ground. Instead, it will have loads of drugs, bullets and spilled blood all around since an infamous mob boss will have his vengeance-fueled quest along with his youthful rise covered within the pages of a pair of mini-series. On that note, I welcome you to a special article called…
Originally debuting in New York City on December 1, 1983, before getting its general release eight days later, this film was directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone and was a loose remake of the 1932 Howard Hawks movie of the same name (both of which are loosely based on the 1930 novel by Maurice R. Coons a.k.a. Armitage Trail). Made on a budget between $23 million & $37 million, it would ultimately rake in just shy of $66 million in order to become a modest success for Universal Pictures, despite initially receiving mixed-to-negative reviews for its violent content, excessive profanity and its graphic display of drug use. Over the years though, it’s gained a cult following and has even been reevaluated to the point where just like “Die Hard”, it’s become a far-more celebrated entry within its genre. As for what went down within the mainline movie itself, here’s a quick summary. Antonio “Tony” Montana is among a large group of Cubans who came to America via the Mariel boatlift of 1980. While he and his childhood friends named Manolo “Manny Ray” Rabera, Angel and Chi-Chi are held within a Freedom Town, they ultimately manage to obtain their Green Cards after helping a Miami-based drug cartel named Frank Lopez murder a former Cuban general known as Emilio Rebenga. Following a Columbian drug bust that saw Angel get murdered, Tony & company deliver the cocaine to Frank himself where Montana gets taken under his devious wing while also meeting his wife named Elvira Hancock, whom he begins to become infatuated with. Tony eventually meets up with his mother named Georgina and his sister named Gina, both of whom he hasn’t seen for five years. Even though Gina is happy to see him again, Georgina is disgusted with his drug dealings and refuses to accept some money that he offers them, though he does get his sister to discreetly take it. Despite Manny Ray’s initial affection towards Gina, Tony warns him to stay away from her. During a Frank-approved drug trip to Bolivia, Montana’s comrade named Omar gets murdered by a drug kingpin named Alejandro Sosa who informs Tony that Omar was actually a police informant. Montana then pledges his loyalty to Alejandro yet is warned to never double-cross him. Back in the Miami-based Babylon Club, Montana begins to set the groundwork for his own cocaine operations when he’s met upon by a corrupt detective named Mel Bernstein who’s on Frank’s payroll and is aware of Tony’s murders of both Rebenga & the Columbian drug gang, yet he’ll offer to remain silent on it for a certain “tax” upon his drug earnings. Afterwards, Montana spots his sister Gina dancing with a low-level drug dealer whom she likes despite him getting a bit too grabby for Tony’s tastes. As such, he fiercely intervenes before he has Manny Ray drive her home, to which she admits that she actually likes him. Back at the night club, our main man escapes an assassination attempt by two hitmen and assumes that Frank had sent out a hit order on him. As such, Montana takes some of his own men as they confront Lopez and Mel before they ultimately gun them down. From there, Tony marries Elvira, becomes Alejandro’s primary drug distributor and forges his own seedy empire within his own guarded estate. Despite reaching the cocaine-filled top, Montana’s rule begins to falter due to the constant drug use between himself and his wife (which prevents her from properly having a child), his original banker asking for more money due to it getting harder for him to launder his ever-increasing cocaine-fueled profits and Manny Ray & Gina dating each other behind Tony’s back. Once 1983 rolls around, Montana’s attempt to get a new banker gets him arrested during a money laundering sting operation as he now finds himself with a looming tax evasion charge and some potential jail time. Sosa then offers to help him stay out of prison, as long as he goes to New York City and assassinate an activist that’s looking to expose his devious operations. In one last dinner before his northward trip, Tony’s temper flares up since he insults Elvira for not being fertile due to her constant drug use, causing her to leave him. Later, he arrives in New York City alongside Sosa’s henchman named Alberto a.k.a. “The Shadow” in order to perform a key assassination. Despite Alberto placing a bomb underneath the activist’s vehicle, Tony ultimately backs out of the procedure due to the guy riding in the car with his wife and children, resulting in him murdering Shadow in order to prevent him from blowing the man and his family up. Eventually, an enraged Sosa calls Montana up and says that because the activist is now under heavier guard, it’ll be near-impossible to try & bump him off. As such, Alejandro promises to get some bloody retribution. Later, Tony learns from his mother that Gina has gone missing. When he arrives at Manny Ray’s house and discovers that she’s with him (unaware that they had just married each other), Montana finally snaps and shoots his best friend within his cocaine-fueled rage before his men take his sister back to his mansion. Once they return to his home, Sosa’s extermination squad has stormed the compound and manage to shoot Tony’s guards, with one of them even unintentionally murdering his sister. Further fueled by cocaine and rage, Montana engages the squad within a fierce shootout. Despite taking several of the goons out as well as his drug-filled body helping him withstand the bullet barrage, an assassin (who’s ultimately known as “The Skull”) takes him down with one final shot as he falls into his indoor fountain. So, how can he possibly survive all of that in order to have another tale weaved about him? Well, that’s what we’re about to find out.
First up, we have “Scarface: Scarred For Life”, which was originally published from December 2006 to April 2007. John Layman would serve as the writer for this story, Dave Crosland was in charge of both penciling & inking duties, while Len O’Grady assumed his role within the coloring chair. Between all five issues that came out for this tale, IDW Publishing would end up selling 32,092 copies in total. As for the vicious journey that awaits our main man, let’s lock and load up in order to find out.
We open within Miami during the early 1980s as several panels proceed to recap the movie, specifically with Tony’s American life starting with him working within a food stand. Following the incident with a group of Columbian drug dealers, he would eventually move up in the drug world and become his own cocaine-fueled king.
However, Sosa’s extermination squad came a-calling which led to a fierce shootout that culminated with his supposed demise.
Later, the police arrive as a pair of detectives overlook the bullet-riddled destruction. While the black agent asks his partner if he has an idea of what went down here, the white agent says that this was all caused by “some dope pusher scumbag” infuriating “some other dope pusher scumbag”, yet it all works out for them since loads of goons gunned each other down. They then come across Montana’s portrait before the white detective informs his partner about the former drug lord who came from Cuba a few years ago and that despite being “one of Castro’s rejects”, he ultimately worked his way into ruling “the Miami powder trade”. Just as the black detective sneaks in a quick sniff of some of the recovered cocaine, an examiner tells the men that the newly deceased goons who broke into the mansion were from Bolivia. The detectives then realize that Sosa was the one who sent the hit order on Tony before the black agent looks over Montana’s bullet-riddled body and surprisingly discovers that he’s somehow alive.
We then shift over to a hospital where Tony spends the next eight months recovering and within some drug-inspired dreams. He’s then met upon by the two detectives as Montana initially doesn’t remember what’s happened to him. However, he’s able to recall his bullet-filled fall from grace and realizes that Sosa was behind it. The white detective then tells him that he’s going to help them “make a case” against Alejandro. After Tony initially refuses, the two detectives (who finally introduce themselves as Agents Wabash and Tooms) tell him that as of right now, they’re the only friends that he has.
Montana is then informed that after his wife Elvira left him, she took a Trans-American flight out of the country. They also found the bullet-riddled corpse of his sister Gina within his mansion and while they also discovered the body of his friend Manny Ray, they’re unaware of how he met the same bullet-filled fate. Finally, his mother Georgina became so heartbroken by the recent string of events, she ended up going back to Cuba and that she wanted the detectives to give her son a message. Specifically, Wabash ends up spiting into Montana’s face. Tony then briefly flips out before Wabash tells him that he shouldn’t be alive at this moment, since his body was struck by several bullets with a few organs getting hit and two more lethal shells coming dangerously close to his heart. Despite him actually dying twice on the operating table, the excessive amounts of cocaine within his system somehow helped him stay alive. As for the remaining damage, his body now has several scars and two feet of his lower intestines had to get surgically removed. As such, he now has to be attached to a colostomy bag for a month in order for him to properly relieve himself of his bodily waste. Tony then demands to know when he can return home, to which Wabash tells him that he can’t since his mansion, fancy vehicles and especially his drugs have been repossessed. Not only that, but local drug lords Ignacio “El Gordo” Contreras and the Diaz Brothers have each taken some possession of his former operations while the overflow fell into the lap of a Ukrainian Ex-Military Gunrunner. In short, Wabash tells Montana that he has to face the fact that he’s lost his drug empire. When Tony asks him what’s next, the agents inform him that he’ll spend the next several weeks in the hospital in order for the painkillers within his body to completely dissipate. Afterwards, he gets placed within a federal-funded bungalow that sometimes houses “state-sponsored scumbags”. Montana then asks them if he’s being placed there until Sosa is finally captured and brought to trial, to which the agents inform him that they’ll “take care of him” yet they won’t act as babysitters. While he is “free to go”, they strongly advise him to stay inside and lay low, since any criminal that recognizes him could potentially inform Alejandro and he’ll make sure that the proper deathblow gets delivered. Furious by his current situation, Tony decides to throw caution to the wind as he strolls outside into the seedy neighborhood that he now resides in.
He then comes across a pimp who’s just sent his prostitute out for a job before he asks him what kind of drugs he’s got, particularly some “Yeo” (a.k.a. Crack Cocaine). The pimp presents his numerous drugs to him, yet Montana swipes the specific crack from him and tastes it but spits it out after realizing how un-pure it is. Tony then offers to set him up with some pure Yeo in only a week’s time and help him rake in even more drug money, but the pimp refuses as he slaps Montana with enough force to knock him onto the ground before he takes his leave.
Afterwards, he’s met upon by a guy in cowboy boots who recognizes him before revealing himself as Boots Eddie and that he used to work for him. Tony mentions that he doesn’t remember him, to which Eddie proceeds to kick him a few times while mentioning that he used to be his drug mule and that he even lived within his mansion. He then tells Montana that while he’s woefully washed up, his own future is looking bright since he’s going to contact a friend who will call up Sosa and make sure that Tony finally gets rubbed out. Montana then gathers enough strength in order to charge after Boots Eddie and stuff his face into the colostomy bag in order to suffocate him. Afterwards, Issue 1 ends with him proclaiming that he’s back and that he’ll let Miami’s drug-filled underworld know, along with anyone who tries to stop him.
Issue 2 begins several weeks later as we highlight the most notable players of illegal goods. First up, there’s the plump boss known as El Gordo (briefly seen in the film) who’s looking to gain control over Miami’s Coca Trade. Next up, there’s the Diaz Brothers (who were only mentioned in the movie) named Diego and Demario who serve as the local competition. From there, we have a Ukranian guy named General Vitaly Smenchenko who used to be in the military and specializes in illegal arms. Following a brief showing of Alejandro Sosa who’s the “Bolivian Connection” and serves as the “undisputed Cocaine Kingpin” while he brings a lady to his compound, we then shift over to Tony executing a man named T-Long Johnson for refusing to accept his “business proposition”.
Later, Agents Harley Wabash and Deacon Tooms come across T-Long’s corpse. Harley mentions how Montana is unaware that he’s under their custody before Deacon wonders if they should bring him in, yet Wabash says that he’s actually helping them eliminate several more criminals while he tries to draw Sosa out. He then mentions how they could help Tony with his mission if he’s not progressing fast enough for them, but they’ll mainly stay out of his way. During the whole explanation, Tooms discovers a small bag of cocaine on Johnson’s deceased body and discreetly takes it for himself. Over the next several days, they proceed to discreetly observe Montana before they eventually feel like he’s getting “too comfortable” and decide to confront him. While Tony smugly makes a snide remark at them, Deacon tells him that they’re still working together as he gives Montana a phone number that they acquired from their intel’s agency before they head out. From there, Tony arrives at a strip lounge called the Double-D Club, which is owned by the Diaz Brothers as he proceeds to meet up with the head bodyguard in order to see the devious duo.
As the goon informs his dual bosses about their surprise visitor, Montana gets brought in and is immediately held up at gunpoint as the Diaz Brothers are stunned at the fact that he’s somehow alive. Ultimately, they decide to let him explain why he’s here as Tony tells them that they would be wise with letting him live, especially since he could help them deal with Sosa. Specifically, Alejandro supplies the brothers’ main business rivals and prevents them from getting more drug money. Montana then says that they’ll ultimately set their sights on Sosa, but they’ll need to go after his Miami-based supplier in El Gordo. When the Diaz Brothers discreetly mention General Smenchenko, Tony manages to overhear them and says that they’ll eventually deal with him. From there, they agree to Montana’s plan.
We then shift to the night before he sets in plan in motion as Tony is laying low at a motel. He decides to call up the phone number that he got from the D.E.A. Agents before he surprisingly hears Elvira on the other end. He asks for her location and that he misses her, but while she does admit that she misses him, she tells him to never call her again before she hangs up. From there, it’s revealed that she’s living in Bolivia with Alejandro as she assures him that she just got a wrong number before he takes her back to bed with him.
Moving on to the next day, Montana arrives at the restaurant that El Gordo is eating at. After Ignacio’s tracksuit-wearing goons check him over for any hidden weapons, Tony is then brought to their boss as El Gordo is also stunned to see him alive and well. He then learns from his henchmen that they thoroughly checked Montana and didn’t find any hidden weapons on him before Ignacio allows him to sit at his table. As Tony criticizes the obese boss for his poor health and eating habits while mentioning how his true “fatal flaw” is being “a lousy tipper” since it’ll ultimately cost him, the waiter comes in and presents Montana with a stuffed pig (even giving him a discreet wink).
El Gordo feels insulted and decides to murder him, yet Tony reveals that a gun was hidden within his pig as he uses it to murder the obese crime boss along with any other goon that tries to shoot him. As for the tracksuit-wearing goons that remain, Montana assures them that their prior boss was woefully inferior and that they can join forces with him in order to make loads of drug money or meet the same grim fate. From there, Issue 2 ends with him returning to the Double-D Club as he presents the Diaz Brothers with El Gordo’s head and that they can proceed with their business.
Issue 3 opens with El Gordo’s decapitated corpse at the Miami Dade Morgue before it’s revealed that Tony had placed the deceased crime boss’ head into a live a fish tank. Because of the figure’s demise, Alejandro is en route to Miami with Elvira by his side as he looks to deal with this sudden hiccup to his drug operations. As with the Diaz Brothers, they have El Gordo’s head within their fish tank while they plot to hand over Montana as a peace offering.
We then find Tony having already made his way inside General Smenchenko’s hideout in order to make him and his goons an offer, despite all of the henchmen aiming their guns at him. Montana even pulls up his shirt and dares them to shoot at him, to which Vitaly laughs in delight and approaches him while complementing his bold attitude. Unbeknownst to the Ukrainian ex-military gunrunner, Agents Wabash and Tooms are overhearing the conversation via a wiretap communication. As Tony talks with Gen. Smenchenko about the pleasures offered by Miami, he cranks up a boom box in order to drown out their talk from Harley and Deacon. Later, Montana finishes his time with Vitaly before he heads towards the van. Wabash then pulls him into the vehicle and angrily tells him that he’s supposed to help them, especially since the Ukrainian is under their surveillance. Tooms even says that they don’t have a problem with him bumping off minor criminals, but their own superiors do have major concerns with them if he’s out murdering crime bosses. Not only that, but he’s been interfering with their investigations which leads to them being forced to write up several reports to their chieftains. After Harley punches Tony in his stomach, he and his partner tell him that they’ll give him one last chance as they warn him to stay out of trouble before they toss him out of the van.
Later, he returns to the Double-D Club where he celebrates with the Diaz Brothers over the successful renegotiation that he was able to make with Gen. Smenchenko. Specifically, he was able to get a higher cut for the dual dealers. However, they’re stunned by this revelation since they didn’t want him to negotiate and that they only see Montana as “a soldier”. From there, they give him a job where he’s given a briefcase and that he must deliver it to Room No. 358 over at the Hotel De Palms at a certain time to a VIP guest. They then remind him that he’s a soldier who does what he’s told while they play some golf. Not only that, but they tell him that this guest is someone that they want to do loads of business with as he’s forced to hand over his handgun before heading out on his assignment. After Tony takes his leave, the Diaz Brothers talk with each other on how even though he’s just made them loads of money with their new deal, they value their new contact even more as they call up the hotel.
Later at the Hotel De Palms, Alejandro is relaxing by the pool alongside Elvira as he receives a call from the Diaz Brothers informing him of Montana’s incoming arrival. She suspects that he’s getting involved with another one of his “business dealings”, to which he confirms it and tells her to go on a long walk while he takes care of it. Even though she tells him that she doesn’t care about the inner workings of his operations, he tells her that the guy who murdered El Gordo is on his way and believes that he’s doing a simple delivery. As such, he’s planned something grim for the guy as she finally complies and heads out. At that moment, Tony arrives at the hotel while a goon disguised as a bellhop informs Sosa of his arrival. Just then, Montana comes across Elvira as he tells her that he’s running an errand for some guys and that he’s dropping off a package. He then asks her why she’s here, to which she nervously says that she’s in town to visit a friend. He tries to find out if this person she’s meeting is her new boyfriend, to which he then tells her that she’s a “special lady” and that he never told her that enough times while they were married. As Tony heads out, Elvira then recalls their brief partnership that consisted of some poor moments mixed in with some romantic times as well. She then remembers Sosa mentioning how he’s going to deal with a delivery guy who slaughtered El Gordo as she realizes that Montana is Alejandro’s target, to which she warns him that he’s walking into a trap. Suddenly, Tony is confronted by Sosa’s men as a shootout erupts while he discovers that the Diaz Brothers have sold him out.
He then runs out of the hotel, jumps into another person’s car and drives off as the goons give chase within their own vehicles. Eventually, he manages to gun down one group of thugs before the other perps pulls up alongside him within their van as a crony emerges with a shotgun aimed at him. However, he’s out of bullets as Montana shoots the van’s tires and causes the remaining thugs to crash within a fiery explosion. Afterwards, he approaches the lone surviving goon and orders him to reveal who his boss is. After the battered henchman tells him that Sosa was informed by the Diaz Brothers, Tony proceeds to put him out of his misery and executes him.
Later at the Flamingo Isle Golf Resort & Spa, the Diaz Brothers are out on the course before their henchman caddy gets shot in the head by Montana. From there, he shoots the dual leaders in their legs and tells them that he was a loyal servant to them, but they screwed themselves by selling him out to Sosa and his goons. As such, Tony decides to get some payback as he drives a massive lawnmower towards them and reduces them to bloodied remains. Later, Agents Wabash and Tooms arrive at the scene with some police officers as they agree that they were foolish in thinking that they could trust Montana to cooperate with them, especially after what he’s just done. When Deacon asks him what they’re going to do with their subject, Issue 3 ends with Harley saying that they’ll have to kill him.
Issue 4 begins with Wabash and Tooms forcing a random goon out into the middle of a swamp for refusing to cooperate with them. While this is going on, it also reveals a few devious activities that they’ve each done within their occupational positions. Back in the swamp, Harley tosses some fish guts onto the goon before he and Deacon complain over who should get some more. As the perp tries to run away, Wabash tells his partner that they need to get some blood into the water, to which Tooms just shoots the guy in the leg. We then briefly get into the devious D.E.A. agents’ backgrounds, starting with Harley whose authoritative bully mentality began when he was a Hall Monitor and continued to develop while he was a Highway Patrolman. As for Deacon, he did work his way up the police ranks via Homicide, yet he skipped several hard-earned corners along the way. Back in the present, they observe the man getting eaten alive by some alligators as they agree that Tony deserves a similar fate.
Meanwhile, Montana has rebuilt his empire with a new mansion as his base and even some assembled henchmen of his own. From there, his drug operations have been fully restored with a new cash flow as he also returns to his coke-snorting ways. Later, he walks around his mansion with a muscular thug as he tells him that he wants every last inch of the compound to be under complete video surveillance, as well as some fully armed guards that’re also supplied with “enough product” to keep them constantly alert. He even demands for every window to have bulletproof glass, as well as having a high-end, steel-enforced bedroom door. They then spot Gen. Smenchenko relaxing in the pool with a pair of topless women as the henchman asks Tony what he should do with his business partner. After Montana declines Vitaly’s offer to hang out with him and the bare-chested ladies, the henchman informs him that Gen. Smenchenko seems to be abusing his privilege to “make himself at home” within the compound. However, Tony sees this as a non-issue since he wants his new devious dealer to have lots of hospitality and that he feels good with having as many friends as possible.
Meanwhile, Sosa learns via a phone call about what Montana has just done and that they’re going to unleash a heavy-barreled assault upon him. As he hangs up and waits for the proper arrangements to be made, he’s suddenly met upon by Elvira as he assures her that he was dealing with a business dispute. However, she reveals that she’s on to him and that he intends to kill Tony. He then tells her that she has to choose where her allegiance lies, since she’s married to him, yet she warned Montana about the recent trap that he managed to flee from. Alejandro also mentions that Tony wasn’t good to her, yet he’ll do everything and anything for her. Ultimately, she decides to side with Sosa as she tells him to do what he can. Back at Tony’s mansion, he’s met upon by Agents Wabash and Tooms as he tries to play off his lawnmower murder of the Diaz Brothers as accidental, yet they tell him that he’s going for a ride. As Montana gets taken away, he tells his men to get all of the things that he asked for done today. During their drive, Harley and Deacon pretend to be friendly with Tony as they share their fabricated story about how things got “too heavy” for Montana that he ultimately took a plane and left Miami forever.
Later, they arrive at the swamp as Tony gets forced to walk out into it. Despite his dire situation, he doesn’t show any sign of fear, even after he gets chained up to a heavy log. Just as the devious agents are about to head out, Montana asks for one last favor. In particular, he wants to take in some Yeo that’s in his pocket in order “to help take the edge off”. Tooms decides to go help him out, yet he tells Tony that he’s taking the drug for himself. As Deacon begins to reach into his pocket, Montana uses his knee to hit him in the face before he uses his chain to strangle him.
After relieving the devious agent of his gun and freeing himself, he then sneaks up on Wabash and captures him. He then handcuffs the two men to a tree and leaves them to their cruel fate. Even though they tell him that some serious heat will be bearing down on him and that it’s not over, the two agents proceed to be mauled by a large congregation of alligators.
Later, Tony arrives back at his mansion as he discovers his henchmen lying in a gun-filled, bloodied mess. Believing that Vitaly has turned on him, he takes some guns and orders his Ukraninan comrade to properly face him. Suddenly, he gets hit by Sosa as he reveals that General Smenchenko also met the same fate and was actually standing up for Montana, even taking out a few goons before getting gunned down. Tony then tells him to finish him off, yet Alejandro says that he’ll get to that. Before he does so, he smacks Montana with his gun again and knocks him out as Issue 4 ends with Sosa mentioning that he’ll make his former drug partner suffer extensively.
Issue 5 kicks off in San Lunthata, Bolivia as it proceeds to explore how Sosa rose to drug-filled power within the country. Initially, San Lunthata was an incredibly poor and destitute village. As Alejandro came along, he had already established his own coca distribution network within two other continents. As such, he had an infrastructure filled with his own wealth, soldiers and weapons. Through his financial stability, he was able to help San Lunthata and its civilians prosper by having them work within his own devious operations. He would become so influential to them that they would hold an annual spring festival in his honor, swear their continuous loyalty to him and make anyone who refuses to go along suffer a gruesome death.
Back in the present, Sosa proceeds to have an associate named Rafael torture Tony before telling him to beg for some mercy in order to be provided with a quick death. However, Montana refuses as he’s forced to endure another round of painful torment. Just then, Alejandro has to go take care of some business as he tells Rafael to continue with his own fun, yet he wants Tony to be kept alive when he gets back. After the big boss takes his leave, Rafael takes an automated drill and threatens to damage Montana’s kneecaps, yet he responds by spitting some blood onto the devious medic’s suit. Rafael then makes note of Tony’s constant use of the F-Bomb before he takes out an automated whisk and threatens to use it on his groin.
Just as he’s about to engage in some mid-region mutilation, Rafael finds himself shot before he falls over dead as Montana discovers that he’s just been saved by Elvira and a hired gunman. She then tells Tony that while Sosa will be mad at her for what she’s done, he’ll ultimately get over it. However, he’ll do everything he can to smite Montana. As such, she wants Tony to flee towards Chile since she managed to pay for his ticket to freedom and that she’ll also give him a kilo of cocaine to help him once he arrives. She then tells him that he has to disappear and that he can never come back to either Bolivia or Miami ever again. From there, Elvira gives Montana one last hug before he gets escorted away by the hitman.
Afterwards, Tony gets informed that Alejandro won’t be coming after him for a while since there’s a festival going on right now and that he’ll be attending it as the guest of honor. They ultimately reach the dock as the assassin tells Montana to take a boat and head upriver towards Cochabamba in order to make it to a waiting airplane. However, Tony decides to go against his wishes as he opens his package of cocaine, take a huge sniff of it and becomes both greatly enraged & overly determined to finally see Sosa die. After he swipes the hitman’s gun, he runs back into the village and makes his way towards the festival before he finds Alejandro being carted around as the central figure and attempts to shoot him down.
However, the surrounding patrons continue to bump into him and disrupt his aim. At that moment, a henchman reaches Alejandro and informs him about Montana’s escape. As such, he has his men escort him to safety. Just as they reach the limousine, they discover a man holding a giant devil mask and standing in front of them. Suddenly, it’s discovered that Tony is the one behind the false face as he fires his gun through the mask’s mouth and shoots Sosa along with all of his henchmen.
Afterwards, he returns to the mansion as he decides to take control of Alejandro’s operations. Just as he begins to make himself comfortable within his new empire, Elvira discovers him as he tells her that it’s just going to be them from now on and that nothing will stand in their way. Suddenly, he finds himself confronted by a D.E.A. helicopter as a mostly mutilated, yet still-alive Agent Tooms orders him to surrender.
Just then, Montana discovers Elvira holding a gun up to him as she tells him that she was actually happy with Alejandro. However, his return has ruined her newfound life and because of that, she now wants to put him and his stubborn ways out with a bullet. He then takes out his gun and aims it at her before he says that he doesn’t want to shoot her, yet he’s not going to let her execute him. Over on the helicopter, the sniper says that he has a clear shot. However, Deacon takes the rifle from him and says that he’ll do it himself after what Tony did to him and his partner. Back in the mansion, a tearful Elvira tells Montana that he’s finished. However, he tells her that if she shoots him, then the feds will take their aim at her. Even if she does find a way to escape, she’ll have to deal with several well-armed Bolivians for what happened to Sosa. He then says that he’s faced far-worse situations from plenty of people, yet he continues to remain standing and that no one can touch him since he’s Tony Montana. And so, the series ends with an ambiguous gunshot taken.
We then proceed to head back in time as we stand witness to Antonio’s youthful rise within a four-issue mini-series called “Scarface: Devil In Disguise”. Published from July to October 2007, this particular tale would be written by Joshua Jabcuga while Alberto Dose takes on the dual role of artist and colorist. As for what the eventual Cocaine King of Miami went through before his American arrival, let’s head to the Pearl of the Antilles under the familiar dictator’s rule and bear witness to this devious accession.
We open within Cuba as an elderly man listens to his country’s dictator Fidel Castro giving a speech to his citizens, yet the guy shuts his radio off under the belief that it’s the same similar tripe that his ruler has previously uttered. Meanwhile, another guy is watching Castro’s speech via a television broadcast before he notices a letter that was slipped underneath his door. After reading it, he decides to take action against the infamous dictator.
We then shift to a prison located within a forest-like landscape as a guard teases a prisoner by throwing a lit firecracker into his cell. Soon enough, the inmate is revealed to be a young Tony Montana as he mentions in his narration that he’s a political prisoner.
Over in the Miami-based neighborhood of South Beach in 1980, a meeting is occurring between “the old guard of La Cosa Nostra”, unaware that their session is being bugged by a pair of lookout detectives. During their meeting, the head man named Santos says that they should usurp control of Cuba from Castro, especially since a failed U.S.-backed coup of the early 1960s led to Fidel’s continued grasp upon his country. As such, Santos says that if they successfully wipe Castro out, then they’ll be labeled as “heroes” and “patriots”. We then shift over to the Cuban-based La Cabaña Prison (still in 1980) where Tony has been led outside and left tied to the executioner’s post.
From there, we transition back in 1954 in Havana where a kid-sized Montana is sitting on a man’s car before the guy approaches him and tells him that he’s been constantly hanging out around here. He then offers the boy some gum if he and some friends help him deliver some boxes, yet Tony’s mother Georgina comes along and tells him to stay away from seedy-looking men before he takes her leave alongside her son. Back in the present, a tied-up Montana narrates about how he’s failed his mother, especially since she took the slow-and steady, hard-working route while he decided to take “the fast lane” instead. He then mentions that if he ever got to America, then he would make her proud since he would give her and his sister Gina “a ride”. He also mentions that his mother tried to teach him into knowing better, yet he ended up learning other things for the worse. From there, we transition back to 1954 where a kid-sized Tony is pretending to drive the same car, yet the guy tells him that he can only ride with him if he helps him out before sending the boy on his way. However, it’s soon revealed that Montana had rigged the vehicle to explode as the perp meets his crispy demise. Afterwards, he gets paid by a Cuban soldier for carrying out the bomb-filled scheme. Then in 1959, Georgina and Gina are on a boat bound for America as Tony’s narration mentions how he made her make the tough choice to leave him behind.
Back in 1980, Montana gets partially burned by a lit match that was used by a man with a pincer claw for his right hand. He then removes the blindfold from Tony’s eyes before revealing himself as his childhood friend named Jimenez, where he then proceeds to call him out for betraying him by “playing both sides”. We then briefly shift to a familiar man who tells an undercover official to not screw up his assignment before we move ahead several days later as he discards his prisoner outfit and puts on his guard’s uniform in order to carry out his task. As he hides in the back of a military truck and embarks on his assignment, Montana narrates how the mafia had been looking to rub out Castro ever since he came to power. The U.S. Government also wanted him ousted from his position yet aren’t able to “get their hands dirty”. As such, a deal was made for a Cuban to be the one who assassinates Fidel. Soon enough, Issue 1 ends with it being entirely revealed that Tony was the one who took the job, since completing it would earn him his Green Card and allow him to reunite with his mother & sister in America.
Issue 2 begins in 1960 Cuba as a young Montana manages to sneak into a musty, rundown apartment in order to have some relaxing nourishment. However, its true occupant returns and repeatedly strikes at the door as Tony is forced to jump off the second-story balcony and flee. He proceeds to run through the streets before bumping into a military jeep as the officials order him not to move.
We then cut to a series of opposing people (including Montana) who’ve been captured for execution, yet Tony winds up getting interrogated by an official with a familiar tattoo on his hand. He tells the boy that he’s familiar with him and that he’s a huge reason why his immediate family has fled the country. As such, he gives Montana a chance to either pledge his loyalty to Fidel Castro or be left to die with the captured civilians. From there, Tony pledges his allegiance to Cuba’s dictator.
We then shift back a bit to Havana in 1957 as Montana plays some baseball with the neighborhood kids. However, the ball gets thrown right at his crotch as Tony tries to get up and retaliate but falls back down. Just then, a small boy comes in with a bat and demands for the older kids to pitch to him. However, they just laugh at the prospect of beating up an even weaker lad.
Fortunately, this gave Montana enough recovery time as he finally strikes back at the older boys. Afterwards, Tony talks to the small kid and learns that his name is Manolo Ribera a.k.a. Manny Ray. Montana then tells the bigger boy to stay away from his new friend or else. Later, the two new comrades are enjoying some nourishments while overlooking their city. Tony tells the young boy that while he admires his guts, he was still pretty foolish. Thankfully, he’ll have his back from now on. Manny Ray then asks him where they’re going to go now, to which Montana tells him that they’ll go get some cigarettes.
We then shift ahead to 1970 within Northern Cuba’s Yumuri Valley as Tony is among a group of men trekking through a thick forest. They ultimately reach the “tomb-like caves of Bellamar” where they’ve been ordered to round up any rebels, yet one of the soldiers is fearful of the fact that a boa nest could be inside of the cave. The head scout then proceeds to throw his torch inside, which causes a large colony of bats to fly out as one of the creatures gets eaten by a boa. Back with the soldiers, Montana heads inside the cave to begin his search before he and his comrades can set up camp for the night.
We then cut to the next day as the group continues on their way before Tony warns his team of something suspicious from afar as they head out. It turns out that they’ve discovered a group of migrants mainly consisting of a few adults and a large number of children. One of the soldiers proceeds to gun down one of the group’s men named Pedro as well as the distraught elderly lady before he’s ordered to stop firing. As the officials capture the group, we then shift back to Montana’s past where he and his sister Gina were sitting on their mother’s lap as they enjoy the familiar family comfort of being with each other.
Back in the present, it turns out that the captured group of civilians were opposed to Castro’s political intentions for Cuba as Tony narrates about how war comes about due to failed politics and that the people are forced into the horrid conflict in order to “pay the price” with their own blood. As such, he sees his country’s government as a devilish entity. One of the officials then mentions that he’s been ordered to bring them back for detainment and interrogation by Mr. Rebenga. However, he decides to murder one of the civilians himself. Just then, he gets executed by Montana as he decapitates the figure and declares that he’s no longer following Castro’s orders. After he shoots the remaining soldiers, Issue 2 ends with him freeing the captured people since one of them was Manny Ray himself.
Issue 3 opens within Washington, D.C. in 1980 as a man named Mr. Chuck is waiting in a hangar with two muscular men before he asks them if Trafficante (a.k.a. Mob Boss Santo Trafficante, Jr.) & his “Dago Buddies” are going to commit, to which they tell him that the provided tapes and transcripts will inform him of everything. Specifically, it has the mob informing them that they’re going to assassinate Castro and that they want Medals of Honor when they pull it off. Mr. Chuck then checks out the provided photos and see the various steps taken to slay the Cuban Dictator, ranging from a poisoned cigar and a gun that’s disguised as a camera to Fidel’s podium getting rigged with explosives. He then asks the two men if the mob has figured out when, where and who they’ve contracted to carry this plan out, to which he’s informed that it’s going to be an inside job.
We then transition back to mid-1970s Havana where a priest speaks out against Castro as he tells a gathered crowd that they can’t let their own children wind up on the wrong end of their dictator’s capitalistic greed. While he’s also in attendance alongside Manny Ray, Tony narrates about how there’s some that seem innocent on the outside yet can be deceiving as he calls them “Devils In Disguise”, especially since these figures could be staring at them from anywhere. As he convinces his friend that they should leave since he’s not buying this sermon, some of the patrons begin to argue against the priest as they exclaim how Fidel has actually done a lot of good for their country. Later, Manolo is out in the marketplace as he discreetly sells a basket of apples with some hidden handguns to a male customer before he returns to a house that he’s sharing with Montana. When Manny Ray informs him that they’re selling a lot of guns and asks him what they should do if everyone buys one of their weapons, Tony says that they’ll simply expand their business as the comic shows off their small gun-running operation.
We then shift to Angel and Chi-Chi being involved in a nighttime shootout with some men held up within a building. It turns out that they’re trying to force the opposing guys out in order to secure the place for Montana’s new base of operations. Just as they get surrounded by a pair of enemy goons, Tony emerges and executes them.
Deep within the building, we finally get to Pablo Jimenez playing cards with three crime figures. Montana’s narration describes him as his organization’s muscle who’s also a “dirty businessman” as he suddenly aims his guns at two of the goons while his bespectacled comrade swipes the money up for him. From there, the devious pair get shot as Pablo and his partner manage to escape. They then come across a pair of gun-wielding workers as Jimenez uses his comrade as a meat shield while he shoots the waitress and stabs the shotgun-wielding bartender to death.
We then shift to six months later within the outskirts of Havana where Tony has gotten a firm grasp upon the country’s underground market. Montana, Manny Ray and their closest comrades proceed to do some illicit bonking within a brothel, with Tony in particular sharing a wooden tub with a prostitute named Elaina Louisa as she shares some loving feelings for him while he says that he feels tired of both hiding and of feeling like he’s going nowhere. She tells him that Castro’s men have bigger things to worry about and that she can count on him to protect her, but he says that Cuba is big enough and that he can’t change. She then offers for them to leave together in order to have a family and start their new life, but he insults her as she angrily takes her leave.
We then shift back to 1976 (Maybe, as the narration caption says) as a group of Mexican immigrant volunteers are being trained at the Miami Zoo by the U.S. Army to invade Cuba and usurp Fidel from his seat of power. However, it turns out to be a complete disaster as the awaiting Cuban armada easily massacred the incoming group of insurgents within an area of the country called the Bay of Pigs (where the infamously doomed invasion actually occurred in 1961).
We then shift ahead two years later where Montana is within the familiar Havana-based brothel when he suddenly a scream. He goes to investigate before he finds Jimenez holding Elaina Louisa up at knifepoint while having already murdered another prostitute. Tony then asks him why he’s doing this before he mentions that if he’s treating him poorly as a business partner, then he’s willing to negotiate. However, Jimenez tells him that this is about getting some payback for Montana’s lethal actions upon his family, specifically for his brother Guapo whom Tony murdered him within the mountains. From there, he stabs Elaina Louisa in her heart and kills her.
As he silently mourns the loss, he removes the blade from her newly deceased corpse while Jimenez takes out his own knife as a struggle ensues. During their tussle, Jimenez would ultimately be the one who gives Montana his famous facial scar before Tony stabs him in his right arm and even dismembers him. Suddenly, a group of officials burst in and arrest Montana for betraying their dictator. As he and Jimenez are taken away, Issue 3 ends with Tony narrating about how the “Devils In Disguise” must be watched out for at all costs while Jimenez tells him that he’s sold his soul to the devil and that he’ll pay for it for the rest of his life.
Issue 4 begins with Montana as he receives a familiar tattoo scar on his right hand (indicating that he’s an assassin that’s gone to prison). We then shift ahead by ten to twelve years as he and Manny Ray take in an illegal cock fight. Tony then asks his friend if he’s ever thought about leaving Cuba for America, to which Manolo says that even though they would risk getting slaughtered if they stayed put, they would just get deported if they made the attempt in the first place and ultimately wind up back within Castro’s executing sights. Montana says that they’ll just make up some excuses where they each have some physical disabilities. Manny Ray says that they have to wait for another way to present itself, but Tony tells him that they’ll be killed if they continue to stay.
Meanwhile, Jimenez bursts into a private room within a brothel and executes a male customer before holding the mostly naked prostitute up at gunpoint as she begs to help him and spare her life. He then says that he’s looking for Montana before he looks over the bullet-riddled corpse, unaware that she’s grabbed a lamp before she hits him with it and leaves the room. Thankfully for her, another hooker comes to her aid armed with a shotgun as she executes Jimenez as Tony narrates how both martyrdom and forgiveness don’t get to count as “choices” for El Gaucho.
Later, Montana arrives at the hotel bedroom-based gangster’s place as the man (who’s named Chico) calls Tony out for not bumping Fidel off. Montana says that he can give him Castro, but he’s simply waiting for the order to properly go through with it. Chico then tells him that the CIA is expecting them to execute the infamous dictator in their place, to which Tony says that he only agreed to this deal in the name of himself and his family. Not to mention, he’s already paid his debt off to him when he was a child. Just as Chico is about to execute him for not carrying out his deal, a struggle breaks out before he attempts to strangle Montana.
Thankfully, Tony hid a razor blade within his mouth as he uses it to slit Chico’s throat before smashing a TV down onto his head, where it proceeds to set the room on fire while Montana casually walks away.
As a new day arrives, a small group of soldiers arrive at a bar and ask the bartender if he knows where Tony is at, especially since they’ve heard that they were friends and that he potentially owns the establishment. The man tells him that Montana was burned at the stake by Fidel himself, but the official doesn’t believe him as he smacks a saxophone onto the bar. Just then, Montana and Manny Ray emerge from a hidden floor-based door before they gun the soldiers down. From there, Tony tells the bartender that the establishment now belongs to him before he and Manolo take their leave.
We then shift ahead by two months where the two of them, Angel and Chi-Chi bury their weapons in the sand before they begin their perilous swim towards America. And so, the series ends with them washing up on the Miami shoreline before they get caught by the Coast Guard and get brought in for questioning, thus leading into the events of the movie.
Overall, both mini-series provide its readers with some interesting tales despite having their own unique hiccups within their respective presentations. With “Scarred For Life”, we have Tony losing his initial cocaine empire and nearly dying from the result of the film’s climactic shootout, yet he now has to make some necessary arrangements within Miami’s drug-based scene in order to get back on top and potentially get his righteous revenge upon Alejandro Sosa. Despite Agents Wabash and Tooms looking over his shoulder throughout most of the proceedings, their somewhat-uncaring natures allows Montana to mainly operate on his own terms unless his actions causes some major grief to them. Out of the new characters introduced within this tale, they’re the most developed of all due to the brief dives into their past where they’ve had woefully misguided developments towards becoming proper agents. As for the one who gets the biggest development out of everyone present here, Alejandro Sosa gets some nice expansion to his characterization as he becomes a savior for the Bolivian area that he ends up operating in. While it doesn’t explain how he developed enough of a financially-secure, mini-drug operation in the first place before he ultimately moves into the destitute Bolivian village and brings it back from its grim brink, it’s not really necessary for this story. Either way, the overall series does a nice job at displaying the scrappy brand of crafty thinking that helped Montana reach his original peak to begin with as he makes some proper alignments with the right drugs and weapons bosses that took claim of his business space once he had his initial fall from cocaine-filled grace. While General Smenchenko was revealed to be a worthwhile partner for him despite them only sharing a few scenes with each other, Tony’s alliance with the Diaz Brothers ultimately fractured due to the both of them willing to sell him out to Alejandro in the name of doing some devious business for him. As they would find out just like how Frank Lopez and Mel Bernstein wound up in within the movie, the main lesson is that you never make Montana think that you’re screwing him over. If he gets that mindset and he comes across you, you’re not getting out alive. In terms of the series’ narrative progression, it was decently handled and flowed pretty nicely from one event to another. As far as things that I wish that this story would’ve handled differently, then it’s expounding on Elvira’s relationship feelings towards Tony. When I watched the movie in preparation for both mini-series, I didn’t notice too much of their initial love for each other. Sure, he did have some noticeable feelings towards her while he was working for Frank, and she was still married to Lopez. However, the film didn’t showcase too much of them sharing some noteworthy time with each other while they were an official couple. As such, this makes the reveal here of her having some lingering feelings towards him somewhat come out of nowhere. Also, we never really see what Elvira is truly like when she’s able to somewhat operate away from a notable drug lord suitor. No matter whom she ends up with, it seems like she’s perfectly fine with being allowed by her man to live a somewhat laid-back lifestyle of relaxation and drinking. Finally, I do wish that the final confrontation between Montana and Sosa could’ve been a trilling, grind-it-out situation. While it is satisfying that Tony was able to get his bloody revenge against his former boss, it felt more like a quick and abrupt end that kept going for one final scene. In terms of the journey that Montana went through during the film and in this initial series, it felt like a more proper climax could’ve been crafted for this narrative. Maybe it starts off as a shootout and Tony is able to slowly take out Alejandro’s henchmen while the foe manages to deliver some slow-and-sure wounds from afar. After a while, they both run of bullets before the two of them engage each other in an intimate and personal knife fight. As for one last thing that felt somewhat out of place (yet I ultimately adjusted myself towards), the art style felt like it was more out of an adult cartoon instead of the gritty, realistic crime world that we got in the movie. I will admit that the presentation was colorful and helped the preceding events stand out, as well as the action being intense, bloody and even carrying a nice tint of dark humor at times. All-in-all, this five-part arc can serve as an entertaining follow-up for the mainline film in addition to being a finale for the character. While my personal hang-ups about its own execution did weigh it down for me somewhat, it doesn’t deter from the enjoyable read that I got by the end. If you’re a diehard fan of the movie or even a casual onlooker, then give it a lookover and see if it places higher within your drug-filled mind palace. As for “Devil In Disguise”, it does a better job at retaining the gritty serious tone that the movie had. The artwork helps out in that aspect by having some moody shadows at various points, combined with its harrowing 20th Century scheme of having Montana serve as a hired hitman from afar in order to help America bump off Castro without them getting their hands entirely dirty themselves. As for the comic’s portrayal of Tony’s youthful days, they’re pretty decent with showing some sort of interest in the gangster lifestyle while also having the formation of his friendship with Manny Ray. In terms of his business partner Jimenez, there’s not a lot shown with him while he works alongside Montana, thus making his eventual turn being somewhat of an odd surprise. It felt like their time together was delved into a whole lot, thus making their past working relationship something of a mystery to its readers. Even when Tony does dismember him later on, Jimenez never really factors into the main plot in a major way, especially since his hunt for Montana leads to him getting taken out by a prostitute. As for Tony being used as a central ploy in an international scheme to take out Fidel, it seems like he does decide to go along with it since it gives him something to do outside of prison. Once a helpless family and his friend find themselves as the target for his team, that looks like the part where he decides to go into the illegal drug and weapons trade in order to start carving out a name for himself. With governmental factions coming down on him, that’s where Montana realizes that he and his closest friends have to get out of Cuba if they want to strive and survive. This seems to be the strongest part of the narrative and makes it the main reason to check this out, yet outside group meetings may make the story’s overall flow seem a little wonky at first. With a nice cast of characters, a decent situation and some fairly harrowing moments, this makes for a unique experience that’s worth checking out in order to see how Tony made his foundational rise. In conclusion, the film has left an enduring legacy upon popular culture and the two mini-series do their best to continue & expand upon what was done back then. While having their own flaws just like Montana, they still make some strong shots to deliver unique experiences. No matter what we ultimately decide to forge for ourselves moving forward, may we never stoop to the level of cockroaches along the way.
Scarface (the novel) is owned by the Howard Hughes estate, while the 1983 film is owned by Universal Pictures.
