King City
by Pedro Rodriguez
If you have been around manga long enough, then you may notice that Brandon Graham's "King City" did not come from Japan; you might even say that the cover art looks more American, but if an idea like that keeps you from buying the book, then I would like you to stop reading this review, close the browser, and come back when you can say something in Japanese other than Naruto. Are all the kiddies gone? Good.
For most of the first volume, we follow around a group of four young adults who are living their lives in a poverty stricken environment, where you can occasionally come across mutants, aliens, and men in dark suits. The short chapters work really well independently. Then near the end of the book shady people begin to re-emerge and a plot begins to develop.
We are first introduced a guy named Joe; by his own words he picks locks, and he picks noses. Just having returned from a two-year training camp, he is currently working as a safe cracker. Neither outspoken nor timid, his lines make up a majority of the dry humor. Then there is his cat, Mr. Earthling J. J. Catingswoth the Third. Much like his master, the cat has a very reserved personality, and also has a few tricks up his sleeves. Apparently Joe received him during his training, and he uses him as his favorite tool. Joe does this by injecting the cat with an array of needles, which gives the cat the ability to perform an array of unique tasks (i.e. duplicate keys, perform an autopsy, turn into a shotgun).
Shortly after meeting Joe and the cat, we meet Pete, Joe's best friend from before he left. Some of the few things that readers might notice off the bat is Pete is a bit more quiet than buddy, he has beady eyes, and thing for ski masks almost reminds me of Dumb Donald. His own story arc begins shortly after leaving Joe in his apartment, when he is called off to watch over a female water breather until a group of men come to take her away. Unlike Joe’s storyline which consists of creatively breaking into places, and dealing with the changes over the last two years, Pete’s story line is more solemn as his job sometimes conflicts with his morals, especially at the end of his current gig.
The last two main characters are Max and Anna. Formerly Joe’s girlfriend, Anna started seeing Max after Joe left two years ago. Max is a veteran of a war in Korea where he fought against a population that consisted of mostly zombies. He is constantly dealing with nightmares about the conflict and he uses chalk to cope with the flashbacks. Unfortunately consuming the chalk does have the side effects of turning the user into chalk themselves. Currently Anna makes the least amount of screen time; appearing only a second time in the book as things begins to heat up.
The artwork looks like its roots come more from an American style of drawing than Japanese. Like other alternative comics, its use of inking and toning is much heavier than your average manga. The character designs also have a similar feel to underground comic. The writing style also has an American flavor; nevertheless it is pretty tight. Its humor has just the right amount of wit that keeps it from being either childish or unimaginative.
While some readers may criticize Tokyo Pop for publishing yet another non-Japanese title, "King City" is still able to run with the best of them. With a solid story line, and an art style deeply enriched with our own counter culture flavor, this title does deliver the goods. It will be interesting to see how the title is able to shift from several independent story arcs to a main one.
My apologies to any members of the Naruto staff or talent that I may have offended; be they from the anime series or the manga.
| >> To Gallery |
