King #1 (comic book) - Paul's Review

*I received this book as an eARC from Jet City Comics via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: King #1
Author: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Illustrators: Bernard Chang and Marcelo Maiolo
Recent Release Date: August 19, 2015

Synopsis: King just wants what anybody wants: not to get fired, eaten, or forced to mate with a cheetah lady. For Earth’s sole human survivor after the apocalypse, life among Los Angeles’s strange new populace ain’t easy. Working for the LA Department of Reclamation, King gets a lot of crappy jobs going on quests and searching for artifacts from the “old world,” which can range from the mythical (Excalibur!) to the absurd (an iPod shuffle—which, let’s be honest, was a terrible, terrible invention). The commute can be a real pain in the asphalt, too; the 405 freeway is filled with mutants, monsters, mayhem, and tentacled Elder Gods. And that’s all before you hit the horrors of the San Fernando Valley. As the world’s freakish inhabitants battle for supremacy, King searches for the “seed of life,” which may give Earth the second chance it probably doesn’t even deserve.

------------------------------------------------------------

Review: This post-apocalyptic comic book starts with a Garfield reference. That pretty much sets the tone. This is not a pure gore or action comic. There's plenty of comedy, too. There was a cataclysmic event caused by aliens, gods, Primordial beings, and maybe more. The protagonist is the only human left on Earth. 

There are a lot of great pop culture references, especially California ones. The 405 is even featured. 

This is only the first issue, but it opens up an interesting world. It is outrageous and ridiculous, but in a completely intentional way. The comic book is the only medium that could pull off a story like this. I give this first issue of King a 3.5/5. 


--PAUL