5 out of 5

Dang heck YEAH.

Michel Fiffe turned me on to Revenger, which he dubbed (or perhaps quoted someone else’s dub) ‘Fight Comics.’  I liked Revenger, but I dunno if it exactly fit the bill of what I imagined ‘fight comics’ to be.  Kyle Starks’ Rock Candy Mountain is – plus more.  It also has a story!  And it’s interesting!  And it’s funny!  And it’s researched?!  What the hey?

RCM kicks into gear – post an intriguing cold open featuring a 40’s bolo-wearin’ Satan punching some hobos to bits – with ‘Pomona Slim’ jumping onto a train that also holds the mysterious Jackson.  Jackson may also be wanted by Satan, and by some government fellas, and he may have a serious rep amongst the ‘Bos.  Jackson is searching for Rock Candy Mountain, which the issue’s backmatter tells us – in a well written history by Eric Newsom, which I recommend you glance at before reading the comic – is sort of akin to Hobo Heaven, as illuminated in various song renditions down the years.  Pomona is trying to get back to Kentucky, after a failed Hollywood attempt, and Jackson offers to get him there.  Our first arc of RCM has the duo getting into all sorts of shenanigans on their first leg of travel – almost always instigated by Jackson – including involvements with a Hobo mafia, explaining the difference between ‘Bos, Tramps, and Bums, cage fights, prison breaks, and, inevitably, a showdown with Satan.  Starks never fails to give us the action goods when needed, his art style akin to K.C. Green in its character looseness, but his handle on choreography is leagues and bounds beyond Green, making for stunning sequences that would seem impossible in a comic, such as a clear Old Boy-tribute hallway showdown.  But grounding this is the odd story Starks starts to build around Jackson’s pursuit of The Mountain, and the character work done that prevents the comic from slipping into a lazy Odd Couple format, both informed by the seeming respect Kyle has for Hobo culture, or at least as he represents it in his story, and whatever level of research done to bring it to life.

Breathing even more life into things is an amazing color job provided by Chris Schweizer.  The art style is fairly flat, and the temptation would be to color it that way, but Chris gives it amazing depth without betraying Starks’ simplicity, and also while maintaining an old-timey vibe with the palette.

Finally: props to Dylan Todd for a wonderful, eye-catching design.  Cover to cover, the book gives a distinct impression.

Fight Comics, baby.