King City

I first heard of Brandon Graham from the pages of Heavy Metal Magazine. He has an excellent style that is part graffiti, part Ninja Turtles, part anime and part video game. He is inspired by everything. If you follow his wordpress, twitter or tumblr you probably already know that.I've been reading the quality comic books by him and his friends since I found out about him. Prophet is another great comic by Brandon. His wife Marian does great comics too like Elephant Men, and his buddy James Stokoe does Orc Stain.The book itself is his Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, it's his breakout work. The story is damn good, the art is damn good. He even had his graffiti artist friends do graffiti for the walls of his fictional metropolis. I love all the different characters, monsters, aliens, robots in this book. I love how Brandon makes little maps and shows you what's in the pockets of his characters' clothes. The topics they cover and hint upon are unique, fresh, and interesting.If you could compare the comic book industry to the movie industry, Brandon does not make corporate bullcrap, but his stuff is really good and worth a look. I like to think of him in much the same vein as Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez.Check out his book Multiple Warheads as well if you like this book, it is very similar.

I too bought this on a lark. Like some of the other reviewers, I was a little disappointed at first. The pacing seemed slow and the dialogue seemed purile. Had to put it down and pick back up a few times after a rest bit. At one point when I was feeling negative I was thinking i bought some silly kid book for adolescent stoners. I kept reminding myself I got this 400 page book for only 11 bucks and so what if i bought a stinker, right? As I kept going, things stabilized and I realized I had a uber-creative, zany, complicated, sophisticated tour de force in my hands. I was able to melt into this world and wrap my head around it. It took me to another reality. I think after another read, a lot more of the subtleties will come to me. There was character development in a way that could have become contrite and cliché, but the author didn't go that way. Kept it human and kept it real. There are tons of clever puns, funny ads, hilarious graffiti and laugh out loud product names all over the city. The art is remarkably detailed and rich. Cityscapes are mind blowing in detail. Grahams renderings of the female form are quite gripping (no pun intended) and the action is good as well. It is an adult book that I enjoyed a hell of a lot more than i thought I was, especially at first. My only complaint is that I felt the ending was kind of abrupt and anti-climactic. I will still give it 5 stars since it was a superbly imaginative book. Bravo!

This is a really great book that deserves much more attention.It's hard to summarize the plot, not because it it's all that hard to explain, but rather because the plot is really secondary to the wonderfully chaotic city it's set in, the surprisingly well-developed characters and the ever-present puns and word play.A very short summary is Joe is a catmaster robbing, stealing and grifting his way through King City, a chaotic future city where aliens, mutants, zombie war vets and ninjas share the streets.But as I said, the plot is almost beside the point, this is a book whose real strength is in the characters and setting. Writer-artist Brandon Graham gives each page more love and attention than some artists give a whole book. They are jam-packed with details, in-jokes, puns and flair. This is a book you have to reread just to catch all the subtle things you missed the first time.Despite the surreal setting the characters are well-grounded and feel like people you know. Yes, even the guy who uses his cat as a weapon, even Xombie War vet, all of them have strong realistic personalities. Graham's style is a bit cartoony but all of the characters look distinct and realistic. The only one close that I can think of is Katsuhiro (Akira) Otomo, Graham's King City at times feels like Otomo's Mega Tokyo on acid.This is really a delightful book and at just $20 a total steal. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for something new and cool in American comics.

Many people find puns distasteful. I don't care for them much myself, even though I do like wordplay more generally, and I also wouldn't think that an indie pseudo-superhero sci-fi comic book would be the best place to find them, but Brandon Graham throws so much wordplay at you and so much nuttiness that you just can't help but have fun reading this book.His art is a weird blend of styles: graffiti, manga, erotica all get mashed together, but it fits his insane writing. The plot revolves around some guys who are thieves doing jobs for criminal organizations but also trying to do their own thing and feeling at least a bit of responsibility towards justice. There are destructive drugs doing harm to their friends and after-effects of a zombie war, and monsters that may or may not be growing in power to take over the city and the world. Most of all there is a super-powered cat who can do almost anything when injected with the right hormones and thrown in the right direction. ("Hot bucket of cat!!")Obviously that synopsis made no sense, and a significant fraction of the book doesn't either, but if that style of insanity sounds appealing, this is definitely a book to get. It's a crazy enjoyable read, and I was cracking up at so many little visual jokes and one-liners that I'm sure I'll have to go back and re-read it a bunch of times to get every detail.Brandon Graham is clearly insane, but also clearly a genius.

I bought this as a gift for a relative and as the person involved has/had not lifted his eyes from its pages so far, its a good indication it very good based on past books of the same or similar content although to be fair its not quite the subject matter I myself would read but everybody to their own I say!. 5 Stars.

Was unsure about this graphic novel until I bought it on whim. One of the best snap decisions I've made. The book has one the most interesting and fleshed wolds I've seen in a long time and in someways it more about the world than the protagonists themselves. It veers away from cliche story lines and make characters who are interesting and likeable, despite their humanising flaws. For me it has been one of my top reads and is a book that is only made better by constantly re-reading as there is always something you missed before. Cannot give this book enough credit.

This book is a must have, the storyline is great, very enjoyable, the characters are likable and funny when needed, the art is fantastic, it’s good to look at. I recommend this book to anyone who loves comics or just interested in getting to know the genre.

The book is lots of fun, filled with silly cat puns and muy bizarro situations. Joe is a cat master whose pet can do just about anything. Opens locks, slices people in half, battle evil old demons, and can kill or render unconscious an entire room of people with just a fart. The book is equally about his friends: Pete, who is desperately trying to make up for a bad deed done in service to some gangsters, his ex-girlfriend who he still holds a flame for, and about King City itself, a surreal place of alien sex and bizarre drugs. The art is okay but not brilliant, but very expressive in service to the story.Definitely worth a read.

read it yourself.