The OEL trend continues with this work by American mangaka/cartoonist Brandon Graham.
Recently returned to sprawling and surrealistic King City from secret spy training in the mountains, sullen loner and “angry young man” Joe is taking on any spy or theft-related job he can find. Armed with a mutant cat that can transform into a living weapon or tool with a simple injection, Joe bumbles onto a conspiracy when he finds the mysterious buyer of a key that he’s stolen dead on the street. When the dead man’s femme fatal of a girlfriend hires him to spy on a weird cannibal cult, Joe realizes that the stolen key leads to something weirder and more horrific than he can imagine….
Although King City shows a definite manga influence, it’s clear that the druggy and dreamlike work of American and European cartoonists (Moebius in particular) pervades King City. Likewise, the plot has little in common with traditional manga-style storytelling, instead drawing heavily on the uniquely American hard-boiled style of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett (both of whom happen to be favorites of mine) along with a healthy dose of science fiction. Although a few of the jokes fall flat and the dialog is a little gimmicky at times, Graham brings a uniquely hip-hop and pop-culture influenced worldview to his work that is quite unlike any American or Japanese work currently out there – I look forward to seeing Volume 2.
