Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 2007.
Synopsis for "The First Book of Blood"
The splash page is a reproduction of a page from the Crime Bible; The First Book of Blood, Chapter 8, Verses 16-27. In it, the Caitiff holds up a blood-stained rock, which he claims to have used to murder his brother, to those assembled. He claims deceitfully that, since he holds Murder in his hands, he holds Murder over everyone. Because they believe him, they are henceforth called the Defile. He then walks amongst the Defile and does whatever he wishes to them. The First (i.e. Cain) appears and upon seeing the sight begins laughing to everyone's frustration. The Caitiff, who does not recognize the First, confronts him in anger but the First shows his blood-stained palm (and the stone shard within it), revealing himself, and declares, "By Deceit ye have freed yourself from the illusion of truth" which becomes the First Lesson of Blood. The First then shoves his rock shard into the Caitiff's eye.
Appearing in "The First Book of Blood"
Featured Characters:
- The First
- The Caitiff
- The Defile
Items:
- Crime Bible
- Crime Bible: Book of Lilith (Behind the scenes)
Synopsis for "The Lesson of Deceit"
Brother Flay leads his congregation in their base on an abandoned ship on the coast of Bangladesh. He announces that he is leaving and that Sister Shard is in charge. Shard expresses her concern citing the parable of the Faceless but Flay dismisses it.
In London, Professor Stanton T. Carlyle speaks at his book signing where he describes and dismisses the Religion of Crime. He calls it a hoax. Renee Montoya is in the audience and asks what if he's wrong and they don't like his book mocking their beliefs. He dismisses her comment with a joke. Later Renee confronts him alone and asks to see his copy of the Crime Bible he must have had in order to do the research. He leaves her and heads home to his wife, Giselle, and son, Antony. Flay is outside the home.
Renee, as the Question, breaks into and searches Carlyle's office. She finds a lined box provided by Watson & Weir. The box is empty. A guard appears but the Question manages to sneak out unseen. The next day, Giselle and Antony are in the park where Antony has a minor encounter with Flay. Renee goes to Watson & Weir to determine what was in the box.
That evening at the Carlyle residence while Giselle is folding laundry, Stanton sneaks up and attempts to stab her with scissors but Question appears and disarms him. She explains that she is aware of Stanton's deception: by publishing a book exposing the Crime Bible as a "hoax", he was actually putting knowledge of the Crime Bible and its contents into the public forum. The murder of his wife and child, which would be attributed to Religion of Crime fanatics, would create a media scandal guaranteeing the book would be successful and widely read. Flay appears and attacks Question. While they fight she identifies Flay as being from the Order of the Stone and he claims she is destined to be so also. Giselle, meanwhile, grabs the scissors and, upon Flay's command, stabs and kills Stanton. She runs towards Antony's room, Question in pursuit. Before she can stab Antony, Question breaks her arm. The ambulance and police arrive and Renee watches chastising herself for not seeing and stopping the crime earlier. Flay is also watching from the shadows and quietly accuses her of deceiving herself.
Appearing in "The Lesson of Deceit"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- None
Antagonists:
- Flay (First appearance)
- Shard (First appearance)
- Stanton T. Carlyle (First appearance; dies)
- Giselle Carlyle (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Antony Carlyle (Single appearance)
Locations:
- England
- London
- Unnamed Bookstore on Oxford Street
- Carlyle Residence
- Professor Carlyle's Office
- Unnamed Park
- Watson & Weir
- London
- Bangladesh
- Shores of the Abandoned
Items:
- Crime Bible (Behind the scenes)
- A Blasphemous Mythology: The Religion of Crime
Vehicles:
- None
Notes
- Renee's self deception at the end of the issue suggests she has learned the First Lesson of Blood. Her saving grace is that while learning the lesson she was trying to uncover the truth.
- A bonus, hidden excerpt from the Crime Bible is provided in code along the borders of the excerpt. The key to solving the code and it's full translation can be found here.
- The scissors were inspired by murderer Peter Kurten.
- Includes DC Nation #85 editorial by Dan DiDio. DiDio discusses the "Death of the New Gods" limited series.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood series
- Images from Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood Vol 1 1