PopCultHQ

PopCultHQ received advance review copy of KING OF NOWHERE Vol. 1 TPB from BOOM! Studios. Available December 9th, the creative team for this book features writing from W. Maxwell Prince, art from Tyler Jenkins, colors from Hilary Jenkins, and letters from AndWorld Design.

Here is PopCultHQ’s Spoiler-Free Review of…

KING OF NOWHERE Vol. 1 TPB

Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Tyler Jenkins
Colorist: Hilary Jenkins
Letterer: AndWorld Design

Cover Artists: Tyler Jenkins w/ Hilary Jenkins

SRP: $19.99

Collects King of Nowhere #1-5

In the wastelands of California, a lovable drunk named Denis awakens on the outskirts of an odd little village called Nowhere, home to a friendly populace of deformed, mutated, and just-left-of-normal citizens. Not knowing where he is or how he got there (or if the town is even real), Denis acquaints himself with the townsfolk-but just when he starts to regain his memories, his past catches up with him…

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PopCultHQ’s Comic Book Review:
KING OF NOWHERE Vol. 1 TPB

Nowhere. A word that means so much and yet so little. For Denis, it is also the town he has stumbled or fallen into. And now while unraveling the secrets of this strange new place, he must also deal with demons out of the past. Adventure, mystery and mutants, all wrapped up and waiting to be enjoyed.

Writing: W. Maxwell Prince is no stranger to telling tales that pull the reader in. One only has to look at his other works including The Electric Sublime or Judas: The Last Days for evidence of that. What Prince has done here is taken the story of a man with a bad case of memory loss, and cobbled it together with themes from the hippy, trippy ride of Alice in Wonderland, film noir, and a little of that good old science-fiction. The end result is the contents of this first volume, a veritable cocktail of crazy plot twists, questions, and engaging characters that will leave people begging for more.

Art: Tyler Jenkins. Famed for co-creating the hit series Peter Panzerfaust, he brings his electric art style and pairs it perfectly with Prince’s peculiar plot. There’s no shortage of rich detail in this book thanks to Tyler. Everyone in Nowhere is some sort of mutant, and no citizen looks the same as the other. Tree-men, fish-people, a guy with multiple arms. There’s mutants galore and rich scenery to boot. Gorgeous to gaze it and ghastly at the same time.

Colors: Crazy art needs crazy colors. Hilary Jenkins handles this with amazing attention to detail. Nothing in Nowhere is lacking color, whether it is the pink of Denis’s skin or the deep brown of the tree-man’s bark, or even the hazy colors for the skies over this turbulent town. Hilary handles it all and does a fantastic job of it. There’s a lot of rich color flowing throughout this TPB and will have color-lovers agog with delight at her work.

Letters: Lettering. The all-important final piece of the puzzle. Courtesy of the fine folks over at AndWorld Design, the lettering for Volume 1 adds an extra edge to this already edgy book. It should be noted that AndWorld handles the lettering magnificently. There’s rage, confusion, anger, empathy, all manner of emotions that bubble up from the letters. Not to mention the gritty vibe that comes off the letters for actions and sounds. A grand job to cap things off for a grand book.

PopCultHQ’s overall assessment:

If anyone has ever wondered what it would be like to wake up in a strange town, their memory full of holes like swiss cheese, and be pulled into a crazy adventure involving mutants, mystery, and a little sci-fi/noir thrown in for extra flavor, well, this book is for you. Nothing short of a loud noise will keep readers from putting it down. The script, art, colors, and letters are handled by some brilliant individuals who make a great team and have given the comics world a funky new world to play in. A highly recommended, must-read indeed.

PopCultHQ’s Rating:

5 Out of 5 Stars

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