Kane, Volume 1: Greetings from New Eden Book

#ThrowbackThursday - Back in the '90s, I used to write comic book reviews for the website of a now-defunct comic book retailer called Rockem Sockem Comics. From the February 1997 edition with a theme of "Crime fighters":

GOOD COP, BAD COPS

KANE #1-13 (Dancing Elephant)

While cop series are a staple of television, they are pretty rare nowadays in the world of comics. It just so happens, that one of the few cop books available is one of the best comics being published today.

The title character, Kane, is a detective in the New Eden Police Department. A pariah, he is hated by almost everyone in the department for killing his last partner while trying to arrest him for being corrupt. Kane has betrayed the brotherhood of cops by taking down one of his own. Also making him an outcast is the fact that he has a rigid sense of morals while most of the NEPD are either corrupt, morally bankrupt or ethically challenged. Embittered and aloof, Kane is slow to accept potential allies such as his new partner, the competent Kate Felix, and his captain, the fair and just John Dexter.

Kane has faced many challenges so far. Issue #1 has a kidnaping which turns into a hostage situation. Issues #2-3 have a mad bomber terrorizing the city. Mob surveillance at a restaurant is interrupted by an insane robber in #4. Issue #6 features a cool twist on RASHOMON: we get to watch each character intentionally lie to Internal Affairs about events that occurred during a drug bust where the money has gone missing. In #8, Kane has to talk the star of an old sixties super-hero TV show off the ledge of a tall building. The shooting of mob boss Oscar Darke and its consequences are covered in #9-12.

The series is imbued with a wicked sense of humor to offset the serious aspects. Each issue generally has a comic relief sub-plot. The best ones feature Mister Floppsie Whoppsie, a street performer who wears a pink bunny costume. After one too many comparisons to Bugs Bunny he goes over the edge, declaring, "I'm my own rabbit." His hijinks include making a jailbreak, taking the mayor hostage, and being on the run from loan sharks. Issue #3 features a running gag about a commercial for an indestructible safe which the makers have allowed to be stolen. A hidden camera follows the thieves' attempts to break it open while another camera follows a spokesman to the police station to report the theft. The payoff is great! For SIN CITY fans, issue #7 is a parody of Marv and a tribute to Frank Miller.

The creator of KANE is Paul Grist. From England, Grist is probably not too well known here in the U.S.. He did the art on GRENDEL: THE DEVIL IN OUR MIDST. He collaborated with writer Grant Morrison on a little book called ST. SWITHINS DAY. He did a couple of books about another character he created called Burglar Bill, which was mostly light-hearted stuff. It is with KANE that Grist has become a major writer/artist in my gradebook. His dialogue is terse and witty. His art is cartoony enough to pull off the humorous bits, but is dark enough to match the overall tone of the series.

KANE makes use of many challenging storytelling techniques. Most issues feature two storylines. The first is a self-contained story set in the present and usually lasting only one or two issues. The other is an ongoing unravelling of the past events surrounding Kane's partner's death and its aftermath. Via a series of flashbacks interspersed throughout each issue, Grist keeps adding twists and turns to what at first seemed to be a straightforward event. The transition between the two storylines, as well as scenes within each storyline, can be difficult to track unless you pay close attention. (Grist has provided one visual cue to aid the reader: the pages featuring flashbacks have a wide black bar running vertically down them.) Mob boss Oscar Darke speaks in a slurred mumble which the reader is forced to decipher. While Grist makes each character distinctive, he does not always label or identify them directly in each issue. His characters are not in the habit of giving the awkward expository background speeches such as Chris Claremont used to spoonfeed the readers of UNCANNY X-MEN. Grist expects you to keep track of characters and plots from issue to issue. And he makes it well worth the effort.

His current issues are good ones with which to join the series, as they are each highlighting a different character from the series. For instance, issue #13 follows a veteran and a rookie through a typical night of graft and brutality. Grist puts an interesting spin on the story by fixing the point of view in the back seat of their squad car, allowing us to see mostly the back of their heads and the view through the windshield. It's a hard concept to pull off successfully, but Grist manages it easily.

Indeed, the same could be said of the entire series. Even on television, where there are more series featuring cops, the stories often aren't done very well. With the exception of "Hill Street Blues" and a few others, most simply result in a lost hour. Grist, meanwhile, regularly rewards the comic book reader with a very generous package: 30-32 pages of perfectly amazing story and art.

Grade: A

This series is so amazing and I say that not just because I really, really love crime fiction and graphic novels and this is an amazing blending of both. I love the cinematic quality of Paul Grist's art style and all of the nods he makes to noir film conventions in the series. One of my favorite things about comics is how true masters of the medium can build narrative through the art and Grist's innovative layouts really propel you through the emotions and plots of his stories. He uses the stark black and white of the art and plays with negative space in a really great way. His stories are really intricate and worth reading through a second time to really catch all the details you may have missed during the first read through. And last but not least, I love the character of Kate Felix, who is such a strong, independent female character. If you love Powers and other Brian Michael Bendis joints, I really recommend checking out Kane.