Customer Reviews

King City Volume 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

i just finished reading King City by Brandon Graham... holy crap! this book is the joint! Joe is a Cat Master, like a Green Lantern, except instead of a power ring, he wields a cat that can manifest multiple different powers depending on the injections he gives it. although well-trained, Joe is a listless thief (a cat burglar, if you will) and drifter until he gets caught up in some drama and it gets real!

Masterfully crafted by do-it-all creative monster Brandon Graham (Multiple Warhedz, Escalator), one of those guys who combine manga storytelling techniques with urban style and humor. Although he does include some serious situations, Graham never strays too far from the fun, wittiness that many comics lack!

I love this book, with its futuristic blend of New York/Seattle into the dangerous, bizarre King City, from Joe's initial injury from a well-placed "snot rocket" through the ex-soldier's struggles with flashbacks of zombie killing, to the dramatic rescue where Joe's training takes over and he attacks with a hot bucket of cat. Joe is so human in the midst of all the peculiarity, even to picking his nose (well that's what got him into trouble in the first place) that you can't help hoping he succeeds in whatever nefarious enterprise he falls into next.

King City is an entertaining romp with a unique style that's Blade Runner meets Where's Waldo. Espionage, Action, Adventure, Breakfast, and plenty of funny business. Get one.

This book really blew me away. I now have 2 copies of it in my collection (one that I have for friends to read and one for myself) and I also purchased the Image Comics 12 issue series even though the first 6 issues reprinted this story. This was a fun read and I smiled the whole way through. This is also the first manga size book I've ever purchased and led me to try a few other manga series. Kudos.

This graphic novel is jam-packed with amazingly engaging ideas that dodge cliché and provide about a million hooks for possible story arcs. I'm also a sucker for the sort of bent manga art style.

I only wish there were more.

I love this graphic novel so much. You get totally immersed in the world, and it left me sad that I couldn't turn my OWN cat into different things. The only bad thing about this book is that Volume 2 isn't out yet and I'm tearing my hair out waiting for it!!