As the events of “Scarface: Scarred for Life” progress, readers get to see Tony Montana return to criminal prominence as he outwits various underworld rivals as well as the two DEA agents pursuing him. Eventually, Elvira realizes she still has feelings for Tony, and while he’s in Bolivia, she helps him escape Sosa, who remains an ever-present thorn in his side. But Tony remains determined to defeat Sosa once and for all, and this leads to a standoff with the feds, including one of the DEA agents who had been pursuing him and had previously been presumed dead.
The ending of “Scarred for Life” sees Elvira, with a gun pointed at Tony, persuading her ex-husband to surrender for his own good. Tony responds by pointing his gun at Elvira, while the DEA agent aims his sniper rifle at the defiant drug lord. After Tony declares that nobody can stop him, a gunshot is fired, and it’s left ambiguous as to who shot who.
That all said, it bears mentioning that the events of “Scarred for Life” are considered non-canon. It also takes on a more darkly humorous tone than the movie, as writer John Layman admitted in an official press release from IDW Publishing (via Comic Vine). “[Y]ou’re going to see some very creative murders— and if you have any sort of decency in your soul, you’re going to feel bad for laughing as hard as you do when you read this stuff,” he teased.
Tony’s on-screen death may have dashed all hopes for a proper “Scarface” film sequel, but if you’re looking for an interesting alternate-history take on one of cinema’s most notorious evildoers, “Scarred for Life” is certainly worth checking out.
