This month, the exclusive PopImage lifestyle guide gives you the know-how you need to become... Marv!

The city is called Basin City, but the people who know the place well call it 'Sin City. It's where the very finest whores and the very meanest punks hang out, and that's how the place got its name. The people who know the place really well, they also all know Marv. He's the psychotic scar-faced bruiser at the centre of Frank Miller's eponymous first SIN CITY story, about a deadly vendetta to avenge the death of a girl Marv never really knew. In the story, Marv faces goons, dames, social workers, and a particularly freaky psychopath, and takes his vengeance about as far as any man can. Marv moves through the midnight streets of Sin City with the confidence of a man married to his location. Marv knows Sin City. The city knows Marv.

Whether you live in Shitbread, Wyoming or Angelfaart, Estonia, it's a common enough feeling to want to know your native town inside-out. Man is by his nature a territorial creature. If you know your place well enough, you can pace the streets with real arrogance and pride. You can know the whispers you hear are whispering your name, and the shadows that flicker and shift are trying run from you. Yeah, it would sure feel good to get that kind of respect. Everyone has a part of them that yearns to be a small-town God. So you want to own that city. So you want to be a little local Marv.

Well, we can't help you there, pal. No, we're just here to tell you how to be like Marv. If you're asking us to get you the same kind of respect as Marv, then buddy, you need all the help you can get. We can give you the look and the kit. The reputation? That comes later.

The first thing to get is the look. Weight gain formula or American footballer padding should get you the bulk, but Marv's most distinguishing features are the scarring and the coat. The scarring can doubtless be recreated with the help of a willing or extremely talentless plastic surgeon, for just a few thousand dollars. Alternatively, you could pick a fight in a disreputable drinking establishment and get a bottle broken in your face. In the US, the repairs might just take a small bite out of your health insurance. In the civilised world, it would be free.Either way, you'll end up scarred. Marv's scars probably built up over the years, with more than one bottle finding its way to the bridge of his nose. However, not everyone has his kind of stamina. To be like Marv, you'll also need Band-Aids. Hundreds and hundreds of Band-Aids.

The coat could also be expensive. A decent heavy winter coat can cost hundreds. To find one in Marv's size range, we'd recommend a visit to http://www.kingsizemen.com/. A good coat with good material in a good cut can even cost thousands. Marv has worn some pretty good coats in his time, so you're looking at a hefty bill. Then again, it is entirely possible to get one for free, in much the same way Marv got his. Just find the coat you like, and kill the person wearing it. This will also provide you with another great piece of Marv paraphernalia. A human head. These can be expensive to buy from a medical school, and in most places it's illegal without the proper credentials, so again you'll be making a saving. If the person you kill has a gun, then that's a few hundred dollars right there. A good .45 automatic will set you back the better part of $700. Cheaper on the streets.

Then there's the drugs. Prescription costs vary from country to country, and whatever the cost, you can't get mood stabilisers like Marv's without actually having a few of the right symptoms. Unless, like Marv, you know a social worker with ways and means. Getting a social worker is pretty tricky in itself, unless you're prepared to do the time. And doing the time means doing the crime. Once again, it is free. At least in a budgetary sense. You'll pay in all sorts of other ways. The sharper readers may have noticed, however, that being more like Marv brings with it some very unique and special challenges, especially if you're doing it the economy way. Marv only got to be the way he is through the things he had done. The coat, the gun, the scars, the drugs, the social worker; all these things are the rewards of crime. So if you want to be more like Marv the old-fashioned way, then who are we to stand in your way? Why, on the contrary! We're here to help. Want to go down like Marv went down? We'll tell you what you need to do! First, a hideous murder...

To horribly maim and mutilate your nemesis, you will need:

Rubber Tubing - 20-40 cents per foot
Hacksaw (or similar bone-cutting saw) - $7-16
Five gallon gas canister - $6
Leather gloves - $9
Small axe or hatchet - $30

All prices quoted from Home Depot. Other hardware stores are available.

Razor wire can be bought by the yard from any good fencing store. Handcuffs need to be purchased from specialist shops, such as The American Handcuff Company - all steel construction, fully radiussed edges, non-reflective satin nickel chrome finish, smooth swing through action, exposed rivets for superior cheek plate strength, single and double lock, serial and model numbered, NIJ Certified, and built to military specifications. Then all you need to do is break into the home of someone really important, and maim and murder them as well. But this time it's so horrible, it all happens off-panel, so you'll have to use your imagination when it comes to choosing the right equipment. Do all this right, and you can even share Marv's fate; the electric chair. Note: Marv's fate is only available in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia. Similar fates are available in thirty other US states, including lethal injection, the gas chamber, hanging, and death by firing squad. Yee-ha! On reflection, if you really want to be like Marv, it's probably best to just get the coat. People are always impressed by big smart coats. You really don't need to kill anybody, and we here at PopImage would hate to have blood on our hands. Violence is a bad thing. Murder is a very bad thing. We're a quality publication. We don't endorse bad things.

Violence is never the answer, kids.

Until next time; be good to yourselves, and each other.