At last! The long-awaited collection of the complete King City series is here, chock-full of comic book games, puzzles, and wordplay! Joe is a catmaster, trained to use his cat as any tool or weapon. His best friend, Pete, falls in love with an alien he's forced to sell into green slavery, while his ex, Anna, watches her Xombie War veteran boyfriend turn into the drug he's addicted to. King City, an underbelly of a town run by spy gangs and dark dark magic with mystery down every alleyway.
Browse the best books of summer including blockbusters, beach reads, and editors' picks in our Summer Reading Store. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By J. Khalaj
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this graphic novel on a whim, knowing nothing about the premise or author. This was one of the most pleasant surprises I've had in a while. I can't say this story will please everyone, but there's a certain degree of charm in the sheer quirkiness.
The world Brandon Graham creates is so wholly unique and the "powers" of the main protagonists so odd that you can't help but turn the page just to see what the heck is going to happen. I admit a certain reservation as I started reading. It takes a little while to readjust your suspension of disbelief past the normal level one approaches comics with. However, once the world captures you, you just want to learn more about it. What are the laws? What are the rules? What the hell is everyone doing?
The humor is at times subtle, and often very direct but not in a "here's the joke you laugh now" way. Graham presents weird and awkward situations with panache. A scene early on in the graphic novel has the main character using a cat as a periscope with the eye hole being the, umm, cats bum... Normally I find sophomoric attempts like this stale at best, and plain stupid. But there's something about the presentation, the drawings, the situation leading up, the world itself where I couldn't help but laugh.
Graham has created something simultaneously new, irreverent, and intriguing.
The ending of King City felt a little too open ended, but it left me wanting more, and that as far as I'm concerned is a sign of a good tale.
The world Brandon Graham creates is so wholly unique and the "powers" of the main protagonists so odd that you can't help but turn the page just to see what the heck is going to happen. I admit a certain reservation as I started reading. It takes a little while to readjust your suspension of disbelief past the normal level one approaches comics with. However, once the world captures you, you just want to learn more about it. What are the laws? What are the rules? What the hell is everyone doing?
The humor is at times subtle, and often very direct but not in a "here's the joke you laugh now" way. Graham presents weird and awkward situations with panache. A scene early on in the graphic novel has the main character using a cat as a periscope with the eye hole being the, umm, cats bum... Normally I find sophomoric attempts like this stale at best, and plain stupid. But there's something about the presentation, the drawings, the situation leading up, the world itself where I couldn't help but laugh.
Graham has created something simultaneously new, irreverent, and intriguing.
The ending of King City felt a little too open ended, but it left me wanting more, and that as far as I'm concerned is a sign of a good tale.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By E. Herz
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
There is a marvelous, dirty, magical, extremely dangerous city in fiction and it lives in the mind of Brandon Graham. King City in not just a comic book, it is a conglomeration of genre, story, theme and art nicely bound up and selling at the low price of $19.99. In case you could not tell, I really enjoyed this book.
At it's heart King City is a story about Joe, the Catmaster and his friends, Pete and Anna. Joe has recently returned to King City after journeys 'down south' and now needs to figure out where he fits into the place he had spent his youth. In the process he gets involved in a gang of human/owl hybrids, fights an avatar of the elder gods, laments over his ex, ogles every nice ass that passes in front of his eyes and adventures with his fellow 'catmasters.' There is an arc of fighting the ultimate evil and battling addiction of a drug that literal consumes ones body, but these aren't really important. The book really about the characters, letting you glimpse at three unique lives and their interrelationship.
At the heart of the book there are the beautiful lines of Mr. Graham. He has a style that while reminiscent of manga stays uniquely his own. His characters express a wide range of emotion, every page is packed with detailed backgrounds and for the careful reader there is sometimes more text in the background than in the world bubbles. He forces the reader to study each page ensuring you are maximizing your experience. Each panel that Mr. Graham draws is a story unto itself.
You find yourself wanting to know as much as you can about the crazy buildings and lumbering background characters. There are just glimpses of Echhhh Zu: Baby Eater of Shadowtown with its lair of white gold baby souls or corn cult looking to rule the world. Lines like, "The cat doesn't believe the the dark art of Popsicle," or " ... mudd astral projected himself through the back of a camel," make you want to detour out of the story you are locked into and dive down a different rabbit hole. Even after all this you still get to enjoy the hand drawn board game and the connect-the-dots puzzle.
There is so much packed into this book that it would be impossible to capture in a short review. King City is a unique and fresh story. If you want to see what the comic medium is capable of, or you just want to read 500 pages of imagination gone wild, you need to read this book.
At it's heart King City is a story about Joe, the Catmaster and his friends, Pete and Anna. Joe has recently returned to King City after journeys 'down south' and now needs to figure out where he fits into the place he had spent his youth. In the process he gets involved in a gang of human/owl hybrids, fights an avatar of the elder gods, laments over his ex, ogles every nice ass that passes in front of his eyes and adventures with his fellow 'catmasters.' There is an arc of fighting the ultimate evil and battling addiction of a drug that literal consumes ones body, but these aren't really important. The book really about the characters, letting you glimpse at three unique lives and their interrelationship.
At the heart of the book there are the beautiful lines of Mr. Graham. He has a style that while reminiscent of manga stays uniquely his own. His characters express a wide range of emotion, every page is packed with detailed backgrounds and for the careful reader there is sometimes more text in the background than in the world bubbles. He forces the reader to study each page ensuring you are maximizing your experience. Each panel that Mr. Graham draws is a story unto itself.
You find yourself wanting to know as much as you can about the crazy buildings and lumbering background characters. There are just glimpses of Echhhh Zu: Baby Eater of Shadowtown with its lair of white gold baby souls or corn cult looking to rule the world. Lines like, "The cat doesn't believe the the dark art of Popsicle," or " ... mudd astral projected himself through the back of a camel," make you want to detour out of the story you are locked into and dive down a different rabbit hole. Even after all this you still get to enjoy the hand drawn board game and the connect-the-dots puzzle.
There is so much packed into this book that it would be impossible to capture in a short review. King City is a unique and fresh story. If you want to see what the comic medium is capable of, or you just want to read 500 pages of imagination gone wild, you need to read this book.
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By Hayden
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have a on again off again obsession with comics- every 5 years a book comes along and ignites a passion for sequential storytelling. It started with Frank Miller and Batman:Dark Knight Returns, which lead me to Watchmen, which lead me to AKIRA, and then nothing. Then I stumbled upon BONE, which lead me to MADMAN, ZOT, and PAUL POPE. Then I got into Dylan Horricks'HICKSVILLE and SCOTT PILGRIM.
Its been a couple years since something new came along and knocked my socks off, but I am thrilled to recommend KING CITY in the same breath as any of the above mentioned books.
Its simply awesome.
Its been a couple years since something new came along and knocked my socks off, but I am thrilled to recommend KING CITY in the same breath as any of the above mentioned books.
Its simply awesome.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
If R. Crumb and Richard Scarry collaborated on Blade Runner...
...it would start to approach the awesome, fun weirdness of King City. I don't read many comics, but somehow, Prophet ended up on my radar. Prophet, Vol. Read more
Published 19 days ago by TJAS
5.0 out of 5 stars
King City is everything I love, Best comic ever!!
I happened upon this comic by accident and I've become a hardcore Brandon Graham devotee. In his mind is an amazing universe of magical adventure and brilliant detail. Read more
Published 22 days ago by M. Jackson
3.0 out of 5 stars
I'm a Brandon Graham fan, but this book was a chore at times
After I read everything by artist/author James Stokoe, my local comics shop guy recommended I also check out Brandon Graham. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Drewford
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy it
Amazing, great story worth every penny. Also the author make the book interactive making it even more fun to read.
Published 2 months ago by Monique Yuzwak
5.0 out of 5 stars
A hell of a lotta fun!
Read King CIty today all in one sitting and was I extremely, extremely happy with it. It had great artwork, a fun story and very well developed characters. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Donald A. Prentiss
4.0 out of 5 stars
A letdown after Prophet.
Graham has skillz, I just wasn't crazy about the genre.
This is more of a personal reader problem, than a talent problem. Read more
This is more of a personal reader problem, than a talent problem. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jack Siegel
4.0 out of 5 stars
Both good art & a good story -- a rarity to be savored
I've read a fair quantity of graphic novels over the years and I guess I've reached the point where I'm usually satisfied to find either a good story rendered in merely competent,... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Michael K. Smith
3.0 out of 5 stars
An homage?
I've read through a good chunk of this, and correct me if I'm wrong, but am I the only one seeing some serious parallels between this and Jing: King of Bandits? Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dave
5.0 out of 5 stars
if you like the new prophet series
really happy that i got this. it is really inventive and all the background stuff made me giddy like a school girl. the details in this book are super cool. Read more
Published 4 months ago by wesley b
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Highly Overlooked Graphic Novel
I had not heard of King City before browsing Amazon and really just bought it on a whim. Turns out I was buying one of the most well made comics I have read in a long time. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Cody R. Brown
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
