An intro to Charlatan's Ball
The first tpb of Charlatan's Ball came out a month or two ago I think, but I'd had it on order since.. well, I'm not sure. But a good long while! It was a blind buy - Andy Suriano's blog shows that he can draw, so I gave his book a chance. Was it worth it? YES. This comic is fun. And Andy's work doesn't so much ape Kirby's as it does use Kirby as it's Darwinian ape ancestor (excuse my incorrect biology here; we're talking art, not science). Reading this book makes me cheerful and perfectly happy to not know where it's going. The ride is the destination, yup yup.
The story's about Chuck Amok, a rubbish stage magician with great trousers, and the adventures he and his hat-rabbit Caesar meet when the extra-dimensional Demon Empty picks him as his unwitting pawn in a huge and bizarre tournament. Enjoy!
We start with a demon in an empty castle
And move on to a less-than-palatable bar/strip-club/magic show. Meet Chuck Amok!
He's not so successful. He's taken out to the alley and thugged about a bit; things don't look so good for his immediate future. And then a portal appears! Bye Chuck!
Upon waking up, Chuck discovers that things are unusual. He is attacked by a large and monstrous monster, and saved by.. his bunny?
There's something major going down on Tracy Island, guys!
Chuck and Caesar (the bunny) travel a bit, hearing vague news of a tournament and soaking up the strange new worlds they've landed in. Like this one:
Let's get a bit meta! This is great. Be not ashamed of ye inspirations, but rather glory in them and go forth!